The Mesmerist

This is a wonderfully entertaining drama, set in 19th century London; and it’s a lovely warm story, full of emotions, light and shade, drama and suspense.
Cordelia Preston and her oldest, dearest friend, Rillie Spoons, were actresses, but they had both had passed the first flush of youth, and they found that that the only roles left to them were hags, crones and elderly mothers; and that they were expected to be so grateful that they could at least still work in small, provincial theatres for derisory – if any – wages.

They dreamed of breaking away, of somehow establishing themselves in a household of their own, but they didn’t know how.

Until Cordelia remembered her aunt – ‘Miss Preston of Bloomsbury’ – who had found show more success as a mesmerist after a backstage accident brought to an end her own acting career. Cordelia had inherited her books, and when she found them and read them, she decided that she and her friend could follow in her footsteps and be mistresses of their own lives too.

She thought that she would be an actress playing a part; but she soon found that she had also inherited skills from her aunt, that she had some sort of healing power in her hands. And so – with the help of the gentleman mesmerist who had loved and supported her aunt – she established a hugely successful business, bringing comfort to the sick, the fearful, and the needy; and counselling young women who were fearful of the pain they would have to endure on their wedding nights.

Her rise was rapid; but there were one or two unhappy customers, and there were people who would hold her past acting career against her.

And Cordelia had a secret. She had children, but they were lost to her. She longed to find them, but she knew that the world must never know that she was their mother, because her notoriety could do them so much harm.

It was, of course, inevitable that a scandal would blow up around the famous Miss Preston; and the story ends in high drama, with a shocking murder, a riveting court case, and that’s not all.

But I don’t want to say too much….

Barbara Ewing tells her story wonderfully well. Her characters are vivid, her storytelling is engaging, and, though there was much that was highly improbable, I was swept along because I was emotionally engaged with the characters and their stories. I always wanted to know what was going to happen, and I was never entirely sure.

The structure is a little messy, and the book feels a little long; but it’s the messiness of real lives, the different strands of the story come together well, and I found that there was no detail that wasn’t important to the story.

The depictions of the theatre world, of the lives of mesmerists, and of London life, are wonderful. And there are some interesting themes threaded through the story, exploring the rigidity and unfairness of the class system, the sexual suppression of young woman, the way society viewed women who chose not to marry, resistance to change and to alternatives to traditional medicine.

And, loveliest of all, this story celebrates friendships between women and the way women support each other, and the gifts that we inherit from those who came before us and can pass to those who will follow us.

It’s packed full of emotions – love, regret, humour, despair, heart-break, fear – and it’s clearly underpinned by a great deal of research.

As the story drew to a close there was too much drama, and I saw rather too clearly that things were being set up for a sequel.

And so I have to say that this book had it’s weaknesses, but I did enjoy it.

And I do want to read that sequel …. show less

I really enjoyed this book, the story of mesmerist Cordelia Preston of Bloomsbury. Barbara Ewing writes in a slightly ethereal style, which took a few chapters to get used to, but it was certainly worth the effort. The plot is complex, but satisfying, with all loose ends tied up. Make time to read this author who is less well-known than she should be.
© Koplowitz 2011

I picked this up in a sale for 33p and wasn't sure what to expect as I had never read Barbara Ewing before. I found it a bit slow reading at first as I couldn't really get interested in Hester and Kitty's story. However when Cordelia's story began to unfold the narrative became not just more interesting but moved at a much faster pace. The story waseventually intriging and I'm glad I stuck with it.

El mesmerismo, la génesis del hipnotismo actual, está en furor en Inglaterra en 1840 y dos actrices desempleadas, Cordelia y Rillie, deciden montar un negocio fraudulento con ello. Cordelia recuerda que su tía solía practicar la hipnosis y se le ocurre la idea de retomar esa herencia familiar y convertirla en un espectáculo. De este modo, Cordelia comienza a ejecutar sus supuestos poderes mesmeristas asesorando a las parejas sobre su compatibilidad y otros aspectos íntimos. Sin embargo, al poco tiempo, el espectáculo acaba convirtiéndose en realidad y Cordelia se da cuenta de que sus poderes no son una estafa, sino un auténtico don que hace que ella y Rillie se conviertan en dos de las personas más populares de Londres.
Pero show more cuando todo parece ir mejor que nunca, comienza a sucederse una serie de acontecimientos que hacen que Cordelia vuelva los ojos al tortuoso pasado que la atormenta, unos acontecimientos que las vincularán con un escándalo que puede arruinarlas y destruir todo lo que aman. show less