Selene
of the Spirits
by Melissa Pritchard
Barnes and Noble "Discover Great New Writers" selection, 1999-2000
The
Ontario Review Press
Princeton NJ, 1998
Hardcover
Set in the romantic world of Victorian London, Selene of the Spirits is the fascinating story of a beautiful young woman with psychic powers who acquires sudden fame as a medium in the spiritualist circles of the day. Just as precipitous is Selene's fall from grace after the revelation of her love affair with a renowned scientist. Exiled to the Welsh countryside, she learns more about the spiritual, and carnal, side of life than she ever had in London, as she is transformed by the fulfillment of her love. Richly detailed and haunting, Selene of the Spirits is unforgettable.
"A distinctive achievement, both as a historical
novel and a romance. Fit to strand on the shelf with Fowles's The French
Lieutenant's Woman and Byatt's Possession."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Selene of the Spirits is a beautifully textured
fiction, vividly imagined, from the Crystal Palace to the Welsh bogs to
the pins in a woman's hair. Melissa Pritchard brings science and spiritualism
together, and out of the storm of their mingling arises a tragic, remarkable
love."
--Joanna Scott
"I have admired Melissa Pritchard's writing for
several years now for its wisdom, its humble elegance, and its earthy
comedy. Selene of the Spirits amplifies these accomplishments in
a compelling tale of 19th-century spiritualist hucksterism, the limits
of science, and family life. And best of all, Pritchard's voice here is
as dazzling as the story."
--Rick Moody
"With a kind of ferocious serenity, Selene of
the Spirits effortlessly draws us into the haunted world of Victorian
spiritualism and by means of a thousand gleaming details invokes an unexpected
and mysterious grandeur. Melissa Pritchard's imagination brings to live
all it touches. This is a breathtaking, profoundly experienced novel,
and Melissa Pritchard is a writer of immense talent."
--Peter Straub