Today I’m joining the blog tour for The Fascination. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Victorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions…

Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn’t grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’.

Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name.

Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts.

But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know…

Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, The Fascination is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath…

Review:

Before I start writing my review, can I just say how absolutely beautiful the cover is? It really made me want to discover the secrets and magic inside, and boy, are there secrets and magic! 

I don’t read a great deal of historical fiction, so it has to be something quite special to turn my head and The Fascination is definitely special. Essie Fox is an amazing writer whose detail and talent for choosing exactly the right word at the right time allows her to take the reader to Victorian England and be completely immersed in the lives of the characters. She has researched the subjects about which she writes impeccably and allows the reader to learn from this without ever feeling overwhelmed. 

As a disabled person myself, I’ve always been interested in the concept of the Victorian “freak shows” and I love that Essie Fox has the imagination to bring this to the page so vividly. I took the performers to my heart very quickly and was rooting for them as they sought to understand, if not always accept, their differences. However, there are plenty of villains and these made my skin crawl. The author has created a cast of really strongly developed characters that help to bring her ideas to life. 

The Fascination is narrated partly by Keziah, and partly in third person from the perspective of Theo. At the beginning, it is difficult to see how their stories will be connected, but when they do come together, the story gathers pace and it is difficult to turn away from it. There are a few surprises along the way and I really enjoyed being part of the journey. 

The Fascination is available from Amazon.

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