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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Other Side of Mrs Wood in Books
Aug 15, 2023
I’ve read a couple of books recently with mediums front and centre, and I really enjoyed The Other Side of Mrs Wood.
Mrs Violet Wood is one of the best known mediums in London, if not the whole country. People come to her for solace and pure entertainment, and the local Mediums meet up regularly to practice their skills on one another. Feeling her age (bearing in mind she’s not 40 yet - and this really got my goat, if I’m completely honest!), Mrs Wood agrees to take on an apprentice who has been standing outside her seances, hoping to be noticed. Emmie Finch is a very keen pupil. Or is she?
We all know that seances are pure showmanship, and highly unlikely to actually make contact with the dead, but these women really believe what they’re doing - even as they set up the room to cheat those who were paying for their services. The seances where the mediums are there on their own would make anyone think that they believed 100% in what they were doing. Clearly they had their own moral codes, and no one appeared to be cheated out of money (but if you have someone paying you regularly for work that isn’t genuine, are you cheating them?!).
I did feel for Mrs Wood as she was pushed out of her position by the upstart Emmie, and could understand how she worried about losing her livelihood and her house. Mrs Wood descends into a bad place and pushes all of her friends away for a time. This seems out of character, but she’s being pushed to her limit. She doesn’t have the backstop of a husband to save her if everything goes wrong. Self-sufficient women of means were probably few and far between at this time, and if you lost everything it was a long fall.
I read this with The Pigeonhole, who again helped me with my NetGalley reads (I do like reading along with everyone else on there, it really adds a different perspective to the books I read). Many thanks to the author, Lucy Barker, Fourth Estate and to The Pigeonhole for serialising this fascinating book.
Mrs Violet Wood is one of the best known mediums in London, if not the whole country. People come to her for solace and pure entertainment, and the local Mediums meet up regularly to practice their skills on one another. Feeling her age (bearing in mind she’s not 40 yet - and this really got my goat, if I’m completely honest!), Mrs Wood agrees to take on an apprentice who has been standing outside her seances, hoping to be noticed. Emmie Finch is a very keen pupil. Or is she?
We all know that seances are pure showmanship, and highly unlikely to actually make contact with the dead, but these women really believe what they’re doing - even as they set up the room to cheat those who were paying for their services. The seances where the mediums are there on their own would make anyone think that they believed 100% in what they were doing. Clearly they had their own moral codes, and no one appeared to be cheated out of money (but if you have someone paying you regularly for work that isn’t genuine, are you cheating them?!).
I did feel for Mrs Wood as she was pushed out of her position by the upstart Emmie, and could understand how she worried about losing her livelihood and her house. Mrs Wood descends into a bad place and pushes all of her friends away for a time. This seems out of character, but she’s being pushed to her limit. She doesn’t have the backstop of a husband to save her if everything goes wrong. Self-sufficient women of means were probably few and far between at this time, and if you lost everything it was a long fall.
I read this with The Pigeonhole, who again helped me with my NetGalley reads (I do like reading along with everyone else on there, it really adds a different perspective to the books I read). Many thanks to the author, Lucy Barker, Fourth Estate and to The Pigeonhole for serialising this fascinating book.
Rickey A. Mossow Jr. (689 KP) rated 365 Days (2020) in Movies
Jul 15, 2020
Beauty and the Beast 2020: a Lifetime/Law & Order: SVU/Pornhub production. Had to watch this because the Mrs. had heard it was good. What a waste of 2 hours of my life. The movie is everything we're supposed to hate about male/female relationships these days. And the acting, if you can call it that, makes Lifetime movies look Oscar worthy.
Guy Maddin recommended Day Of Wrath (2006) in Movies (curated)
The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated The Secret Life of Mrs. London in Books
Oct 7, 2020
(3.5/5) This biographical, historical, women’s fiction novel is about the woman who loved the prolific Jack London, Charmian. Overshadowed by her famous husband, with her debut novel “The Secret Life of Mrs. London,” Rebecca Rosenberg brings her front and center. Take a look at my review of this novel here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2019/06/27/an-almost-famous-woman/
Lindsay (1812 KP) rated Twice a Bride (The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek, #4) in Books
Feb 15, 2018
This is fourth of the series and I loved it every much. This book deals with Sinclair's sister father and Willow. Mrs. Hattie is also involved as well. The sisters all face different things in the book.
You learn about Ida and Tucker Raines a bit about them. You lean about each of the Sinclair sisters or about their family. This book is mostly about Harlan Sinclair and Mrs. Hattie, mostly about Willow Peterson as well. Tucker's sister.
The book is about two widows and a second chance at love. There are other surprises though out the book. I really enjoyed this book along the with the series. Now understand that I have yet to read the first two books in this series. I read and own the last two books. Those books are called "The Bride That Wore Blue", "Twice the Bride".
You learn about Ida and Tucker Raines a bit about them. You lean about each of the Sinclair sisters or about their family. This book is mostly about Harlan Sinclair and Mrs. Hattie, mostly about Willow Peterson as well. Tucker's sister.
The book is about two widows and a second chance at love. There are other surprises though out the book. I really enjoyed this book along the with the series. Now understand that I have yet to read the first two books in this series. I read and own the last two books. Those books are called "The Bride That Wore Blue", "Twice the Bride".
The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook
8.0
Rate It
Book
Bangers and mash with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Hogwarts dining hall. A proper cuppa tea and...
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier and Sally Beauman
8.6
Rate It
Book
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again ...Working as a lady's companion, the orphaned heroine...
The Christmas Spirit
Book
SOMETIMES IT TAKES ONE BROKEN HEART TO HEAL ANOTHER. Courtney Winston is a writer on a deadline....
Adult Contemporary Romance Seasonal
wallajay (8 KP) rated Beauty and the Beast (2017) in Movies
May 23, 2017
Belle and Beast were awesome (1 more)
Gaston was bad ass but still guiltily lovable
loves it!
I'll be honest this was my favourite Disney movie and I was worried the movie would suck. So when it was AMAZING I cried in the movie theater along with every other female in the cinema at the time it was great!
