A Few of My Favorite Historical Novels with a Supernatural Twist
I love historical fiction that is solidly grounded in time and place but also takes me somewhere beyond. Ghost stories have been told in virtually every culture for centuries, and they seem never to lose their appeal. During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, my best-loved eras, the inevitable clash between established religion and developing science led many to search for ways to reconcile the two. For some, tangible contact with the spirit world, as demonstrated by psychics and mediums, was “scientific proof” that the soul survives death.
Focusing on contemporary authors, here are a half dozen of my personal picks for historical novels that include a touch (or more) of the supernatural:
THE WINTER GHOSTS by Kate Mosse
From the New York Times bestselling author of Sepulchre and Labyrinth-a compelling story of love, ghosts and remembrance.
World War I robbed England and France of an entire generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson’s case, the battlefields took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind. In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution, Freddie is travelling through the beautiful but forbidding French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Freezing and dazed, he stumbles through the woods, emerging in a tiny village, where he finds an inn to wait out the blizzard. There he meets Fabrissa, a lovely young woman also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, Freddie will have unearthed a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries, and discovered his own role in the life of this old remote town.
Be prepared to leave your rational mind behind as you step beyond the boundaries of time to a place where human suffering and the power of love are exquisitely united.
THE LOST ONES by Anita Frank
England, 1917
Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion. Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella—sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs—and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house. Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets. In the classic tradition of The Woman in Black, Anita Frank weaves a spellbinding story of family tragedy, loss and redemption.
A tale in the true gothic tradition. The twists and turns of this imaginative plot will leave you breathless.
THE SPIRITUALIST by Megan Chance
On a cold January morning in 1856, Evelyn Atherton’s husband is found murdered after attending an exclusive séance. Having “married up” into New York society, Evie herself is the immediate suspect. Ostracized and vulnerable, she knows that to clear her name she must retrace her husband’s last steps. And so, joining forces with her husband’s best friend–and the only Manhattan lawyer who will accept her case–Evie dives into the mysterious underworld of the occult. Before long, the trail brings them to a charismatic medium, Michel Jourdain. Evie’s instincts tell her the smooth-talking Jourdain is a charlatan–and her only hope for exoneration. But getting close to Jourdain means embracing a seductive and hypnotic world where clues to murder come through the voices of the dead. Caught in a perilous game in which she is equal player and pawn, predator and victim, Evie finds there is no one to trust, perhaps not even herself. As her powerful in-laws build a case against her, and with time running out, Evie must face the real ghosts of her past if she is to have any hope of avoiding the hangman.
The unforgettable character of Michel Jourdain will fascinate and seduce you—as he does Evelyn Atherton.
AFFINITY by Sarah Waters
An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women’s ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London’s grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by on apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own. Sarah Waters brilliantly evokes the sights and smells of a moody and beguiling nineteenth-century London, and proves herself yet again a storyteller, in the words of the New York Times Book Review, of “startling power.”
Waters will take you on a methodically nightmarish descent into madness.
THE DECEPTION by Kim Taylor Blakemore
A sleight of hand. A trick up the sleeve. A call for the dead. It’s all part of the game in this twisty tale by the bestselling author of After Alice Fell.
New Hampshire, 1877. Maud Price was once a celebrated child medium, a true believer in lifting the veil between the living and the dead. Now penniless, her guiding spirits gone, the so-called “Maid of Light” is desperate to regain her reputation—but doing so means putting her faith in deceiving others. Clementine Watkins, known in spiritualist circles for her bag of tricks and utmost discretion, creates the sort of theatrics that can fill Maud’s parlor again, and with each misdirection, Maud’s fame is restored. But her guilt is a heavy burden. And the ruse has become a risk. Others are plotting to expose the fraud, and Clem can’t allow anyone—even Maud—to jeopardize the fortune the hoax has made her.
A fascinating insider’s view of the art of deception as practiced by many popular mediums at the height of the spiritualist movement.
SISTERS OF CASTLE LEOD: A NOVEL by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard
2022 American Writing Awards finalist, historical fiction
My latest historical novel is inspired by a true story of two sisters who inhabited the iconic Castle Leod in the Scottish Highlands at the turn of the twentieth century. Lady Sibell Mackenzie is a spiritualist, believer in ghosts and reincarnation, and a popular author of mystical romances. Lady Constance, swimming champion and big game hunter, is a rebellious beauty with a penchant for scandal. When Sibell inherits the entirety of their late father’s titles and estates, her intention is to be a kind and generous protector of her younger sister. But when tragedy strikes, robbing Sibell of what she most loves, there seems no explanation other than her sister’s treachery. What follows is a long estrangement during which both women struggle to find meaning and redemption, but, ultimately, their reconciliation requires what could be an impossible leap of faith.
“Sisters of Castle Leod is a work of historical fiction that is, on the surface, about the fraught relationship between the two sisters. However, written in the first person, using Sibell’s voice, it is by all accounts a story of her journey by way of introspection, spiritualism, and philosophizing…The thought-provoking questions Sibell asks of herself and her subsequent epiphanies give the book a real depth…This, together with the poignant ending, leaves the reader with plenty to ponder.” —fictionaltraits.com
Sisters of Castle Leod release date is January 19, 2023.
Be among the first to receive your copy!
