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The Somnambulist

by Essie Fox (Goodreads Author)

3.31 of 5 stars 3.31 · rating details · 701 ratings · 141 reviews

When seventeen-year old Phoebe Turner visits Wilton's Music Hall to watch her Aunt Cissy performing on stage, she risks the wrath of her mother Maud who marches with the Hallelujah Army, campaigning for all London theatres to close. While there, Phoebe is drawn to a stranger, the enigmatic Nathaniel Samuels who heralds dramatic changes in the lives of all three women. When...more

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published May 26th 2011 by Orion Publishing Group

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Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

TV Book Club 2012

4th out of 19 books — 22 voters

Great Victorian Mysteries

15th out of 21 books — 17 voters

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Jan 16, 2012 Blair rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, read-on-kindle

As a fan of Victorian gothic, I knew I'd want to read The Somnambulist the moment I heard about it. Aside from the great title and gorgeous cover, the plot sounded appealingly twisted and involving in a Sarah Waters kind of way (which, I'm pretty sure, is the effect the author was going for). The protagonist, and the narrator for much of the story, is Phoebe Turner, a seventeen-year-old girl who idolises her glamorous aunt Cissy, a singer and actress. Her mother, Maud, couldn't be more of a cont...more As a fan of Victorian gothic, I knew I'd want to read The Somnambulist the moment I heard about it. Aside from the great title and gorgeous cover, the plot sounded appealingly twisted and involving in a Sarah Waters kind of way (which, I'm pretty sure, is the effect the author was going for). The protagonist, and the narrator for much of the story, is Phoebe Turner, a seventeen-year-old girl who idolises her glamorous aunt Cissy, a singer and actress. Her mother, Maud, couldn't be more of a contrast: an evangelical and pious woman, still in mourning for Phoebe's long-dead father, who decries the theatre as immoral and ungodly. When Cissy dies, Phoebe is granted a lifeline by Nathaniel Samuels, an enigmatic businessman who may have been her aunt's lover, and to whom Phoebe finds herself strangely drawn. Employed as the companion of Nathaniel's ailing wife, she travels to the family's could-be-haunted country pile, Dinwood Court, where she begins to make a series of momentous discoveries about her own history.

This book was full of elements I'm always attracted to, and I did enjoy reading it, but it was all just so... muddled. There were far too many twists and turns piled on top of each other and I could feel the plot creaking and near-collapsing beneath the weight of them all. The problem was that many of these twists, particularly those regarding Phoebe's true provenance, were largely predictable. There were a few I hadn't anticipated, but there were so many of them altogether that these didn't really register: the story was completely saturated with unexpected developments, which both removed the element of surprise, and distorted some of the characters beyond recognition. Nathaniel, for example, (view spoiler). I also felt Phoebe's reactions often seemed inappropriate for the situations she found herself in - considering how many terrible things she had heaped upon her, she rarely seemed to exhibit the shock or despair I would have expected.

I liked this book when I was immersed in it - it had a good momentum and was grimly absorbing, and the ending was well-crafted and nicely subtle. However, overall I think it was just another largely forgettable historical drama which didn't do enough to distinguish itself from the many similar books I've read in the past. None of the characters have left a particular impression on me and although it was a decent enough read, nothing about the plot hooked me as I hoped. The epitome of an averagely good, three-star book.(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 27, 2012 Kari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loved it! It took a while to get going but when it did it didn't hold back! A brilliantly woven story of family secrets, betrayal and forbidden love with characters that leapt off the page. I found them completely real and believable as well which can sometimes be hit and miss with a new author trying too hard to impress. Thankfully this isn't the case for Essie Fox in this her first novel and she will definitely be someone to watch out for. Puts me in mind of Sarah Waters or Shirley Jackson for...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Sue Uden rated it 5 of 5 stars

It is a little while since I finished it, but I loved everything about The Somnambulist. As the elaborately attractive design on the cover suggests, it gives an intricate insight into life in the East End of Victorian London. And there I met Phoebe Turner and her controlling, Hallelujah Army flag waving mother, Maud, and her ever fun-loving actress sister, Phoebe's Aunt Cissy. I can remember having to ignore a lot of the other mundane stuff going on around me, as each new mystery unfolded and un...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Ant Harrison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

The Somnabulist by Essie Fox is another take on the increasingly popular Victorian gothic melodrama. It concerns Phoebe, the daughter of Maud Turner, who lives with her mother and aunt in the east end of London in the 1880s. The backdrop is Victorian music halls and spiritualism, with the usual (very heavy) dose of family secrets, strange happenings, mysterious characters and misplaced lusts.
Fox has written a real potboiler, I guess trying to emulate the melodramas of Collins and Dickens; convo...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Maggieg rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11565870

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Apr 15, 2013 Free rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lovers of Victorian era novels

(This is a copy of my review on Amazon)

I actually purchased this book in error, intending to purchase another book of the same name. So my first attempt to read the book was confusing, to say the least.

Once I realised my mistake, I again started reading. This book starts slowly, and I was tempted to quit reading at first. (I am not sure how much of that was the book, and how much was the fact that I intended to buy a different book with a very different plot.) But I kept on, and I was rewarded w...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Hebe (The English Student) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is a fairly Gothic book, about a seventeen-year-old, Phoebe Turner (whose father's name is William Turner. Spot the reference.), who goes to work as a lady's companion to the wife of the enigmatic Nathaniel Samuels, discovering some fairly unpleasant truths about her own family en route. The first half of the book feels very much like Jane Eyre : the mysterious master of the house, the unfriendly servants, the madwoman. Then, mercifully, it turns out that The Somnambulist is not going to...more This is a fairly Gothic book, about a seventeen-year-old, Phoebe Turner (whose father's name is William Turner. Spot the reference.), who goes to work as a lady's companion to the wife of the enigmatic Nathaniel Samuels, discovering some fairly unpleasant truths about her own family en route. The first half of the book feels very much like Jane Eyre : the mysterious master of the house, the unfriendly servants, the madwoman. Then, mercifully, it turns out that The Somnambulist is not going to be a rerun of Jane Eyre. It is, in fact, even more Gothicly unpleasant than that. Incest. Rape. Murder. You name it, it's in there. And the Salvation Army gets it pretty bad, too. For some reason, Essie Fox thinks it's all right to amend this by writing in the notes, "I sincerely hope that my fictional representations cause no offence to current Church members, for as Phoebe Turner says in the novel, "The Hallelujahs [the fictional equivalent of the Salvation Army] do a great deal of good.""
That's all right, then. An entire novel of portraying the Salvation Army as nutters and prudes can be amended by a single sentence at the back.
And time in the novel is really annoying. Fox misses whole episodes out, and then goes back to explain them, which means it's quite hard to sort out where you are in the storyline. There doesn't seem to be a good reason for this, and it happens quite a lot. And the occasional third-person chapters scattered through the mainly first-person narrative completely destroys the illusion of the diary.
Oh, and Fox springs a little surprise on us at the end: (view spoiler)
The good thing about this book, though, was the Victorian detail: the sights and smells of the East End, the characters and glamour of the theatre. That's basically why I've given it three stars. It is well researched, and the detail is exquisite. It doesn't make up for shoddy storytelling, though. (less)

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Jun 01, 2012 Carrie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I waited 48 hours after finishing this book to write this because I wanted to be sure that I would not change my mind, and I didn't. I don't normally review books that I do not care for because it just seems a not very nice thing to do. After all, someone put a lot of time and effort in to create something I assume they are proud to present for my enjoyment. Really and truly though, I thought this was just awful. I have read some of the other glowing reviews and am beginning to wonder if maybe I...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Rachel rated it 1 of 5 stars

I picked this up while traveling so I would have something to read on the train; it sounded intriguing and easy to read, and when the shop girl at the bookstore recommended it, I decided to buy it even though I hadn't heard of it before. I found this book hard to finish. The characters were two-dimensional and mostly annoying, particularly the protagonist, Phoebe, who was naive and helpless to a point that made me despise her. There were 'plot twists' that could be sussed out from the first chap...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Harriet rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book revolves around Phoebe Turner, a 17 year old girl living in the London East End in the Victorian era with her bible bashing mother Maud and her 'delightful' Aunt Cissy. The first chapters of the book build a picture of the dysfunctional family dynamic, and love/hate relationship between Phoebe’s mother and aunt. Maud thinks that anything fun or joyful is a sin. She is also a bit of a hypocrite with a penchant for the devils juice. Aunt Cissy is an actress/ singer who is oh so delicate a...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 25, 2011 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am so pleased that The Sonambulist caught my eye. It is a lovely piece of Victoriana, and a quite wonderful debut novel.

I fell in love with the heroine. Phoebe Turner was just seventeen years old, and she was warm bright and thoughtful. In some ways she was very mature for her years, but in others she was very innocent, and as I learned more of her background I could understand why.

Phoebe grew up, in the East End of London, with her mother and her aunt. Maud, her mother, was a member of The Ha...more

7 likes · like · see review

May 23, 2011 Deborah Swift rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was excited to hear about the Virtual Victorian's new novel The Somnambulist, and when it popped up as a selection for Amazon Vine I could not resist.

And what a gem it is. Bravo to Essie Fox, it is a long time since I have enjoyed a debut novel so much. It is literate, engaging and atmospheric. What's more, it has a plot that kept me turning the pages, and just when I thought I had discovered all the secrets of the book, there was one more twist in the tale.

Phoebe's journey to uncover her past...more

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 02, 2012 Kate Mayfield rated it 5 of 5 stars

Essie Fox's beautifully drawn characters in her Victorian novel The Somnambulist lead you into an era and story that easily draw you in.

It is a gripping read, atmospheric in settings from London's East End and the wonderfully evoked Wilton's Music Hall, to an enchanting stately home in Hertfordshire.

The tension that is felt from unrevealed secrets residing within the characters who live in the beautiful hidden gem Tredegar Square is palpable. The Somnambulist has everything required for a fantas...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Martha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: on-the-shelf

How to rate this book ... I really liked it but I might be biased because parts of the story hit close to home. And I know that's not a good thing if you've read this book but there are some things you grow fond of if only for the fact that it reminds you of something from the past.

I randomly picked this up because I was curious about the cover and the title. And then I read the teaser at the back ... I thought it was Jane Eyre-ish and I really liked that one so I went ahead and bought it but I...more How to rate this book ... I really liked it but I might be biased because parts of the story hit close to home. And I know that's not a good thing if you've read this book but there are some things you grow fond of if only for the fact that it reminds you of something from the past.

I randomly picked this up because I was curious about the cover and the title. And then I read the teaser at the back ... I thought it was Jane Eyre-ish and I really liked that one so I went ahead and bought it but I think the only similarity is that they are both Victorian gothic. Still, I'm a fan of the Victorian era so the setting fascinates me.

This is tagged as historical fiction by a lot of people but I don't quite agree. The only historical part here are the references to violence against Jews but I'm not even sure the dates are accurate. I'm no expert but I think those years were when Jews are actually given civil rights (?) and citizenship in most parts of Europe and the violence didn't start again until early 1900's up to the holocaust. If I'm wrong then I'd love to be enlightened (anyway I'll just read about that history later on lol). As for the other parts, I think every story has some sort of history to it. If you chose a specific decade for the story that is not the present (that is from the past) then it's already a history. It's just a setting. I think the genre is mostly mystery, family drama, intrigue and romance.

The story telling is mostly first person, with the main character narrating but there are parts told thru a third person which is kind of confusing at first and when I got over the confusion it turned awkward. It's as if it was just plastered there just because. I guess it's because the distribution isn't even.

As for the story it was so obvious from the very beginning what Phoebe's identity was but I suppose that's what the author wants. It's not like a real secret because everyone around her knows except her. It's the consequences of hiding her identity that's actually heavier and there are other buried secrets that are more disturbing than that and that caught my attention as well. I don't think that it was stupid that she didn't know (as per the other reviews I've read) when everyone does because that's the point. Everyone else is hiding it from her.

I liked the characters, the intrigue, the setting and I guess the story overall. I'd like to read her next books too. :)(less)

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Feb 03, 2012 D.E. Meredith rated it 4 of 5 stars

OK. I'll fess up. I know Essie so that makes it hard to review but I will say in all honesty, I LOVED this book. The characters leapt off the page and it has a wonderful dynamic verve about it. I raced through this novel in just a few days and some of the most powerful scenes - I'm not giving anything away in what is a deftly handled, complex plot - will stay with me a long long time. Shocking family revelations. Dark and light. Sequins on alabaster skin. Nom Nom descriptive writing, here. Lots...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Emma Glaisher rated it 2 of 5 stars

By the end of chapter 1, I think I know exactly where this book is heading, and I'm not impressed. But it was lent to me by a friend I love and respect, so I'll plough on.

End of chapter 10 - the writing is driving me crazy. It hops about in a random way, some sentences don't really make sense. Sentences go on, and on, with commas here and there, and far too many ands, so I begin to wonder, if she had an editor!

Finished. OK, it kept me reading. But WTF? The structure was obviously deliberate - ju...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Jules rated it 5 of 5 stars

La sonnambula di Essie Fox è uno dei romanzi pubblicati nel 2011 che più mi ha incuriosito, attratto e, una volta letto, stregato.

Le motivazioni che mi hanno spinto verso questo libro sono molteplici: innanzitutto l’ambientazione scelta dall’autrice per la sua storia, l’Inghilterra vittoriana e l’ambiente dei music hall hanno un fascino misterioso e sempre unico; altro aspetto attraente è la presenza, già dal titolo, del dipinto di Millais raffigurante la ormai celebre sonnambula durante le sue...more La sonnambula di Essie Fox è uno dei romanzi pubblicati nel 2011 che più mi ha incuriosito, attratto e, una volta letto, stregato.

Le motivazioni che mi hanno spinto verso questo libro sono molteplici: innanzitutto l’ambientazione scelta dall’autrice per la sua storia, l’Inghilterra vittoriana e l’ambiente dei music hall hanno un fascino misterioso e sempre unico; altro aspetto attraente è la presenza, già dal titolo, del dipinto di Millais raffigurante la ormai celebre sonnambula durante le sue peregrinazioni notturne.

La carica evocativa del pittore preraffaellita, di cui apprezzo immensamente la sua altrettanto famosa Ofelia, unita alle misteriose vicende che ruotano intorno alla vita di Phoebe e alla Londra che si avvia verso la fine dell’Ottocento (la vicenda e di poco antecedente agli anni di Jack lo Squartatore) hanno agito su di me come un canto delle sirene catturando completamente la mia attenzione. A completare l’opera concorre anche una copertina davvero particolare che ricorda le vecchie locandine degli spettacoli ottocenteschi delle lanterne magiche.

Definire questo romanzo non è facile, per certi versi può iscriversi nei romanzi storici vista la precisione dell’autrice nel descrivere gli ambienti, gli usi e i costumi di quel periodo prestando attenzione agli accadimenti reali verificatesi in quel frangente. Per altri versi la storia di Phoebe è certamente un mystery dal gusto retrò, che ammalia il lettore grazie una storia complessa e non scontata con una punta di magia che rende il tutto più interessante. Ma La sonnambula è soprattutto un Bildungsroman, la storia di una ragazza e della sua crescita come persona e come donna, delle sue cadute e delle sue ascese, delle sofferenze che la vita le infligge e del coraggio di affrontarle.

Al centro della narrazione troviamo, quindi, la potenza dei legami familiari, dei legami di sangue e dei segreti che possono essere nascosti all’interno delle anime delle persone. Tacere può far più male di una rivelazione scomoda e questo è quello che Phoebe imparerà dalla vita. Con una madre fanatica religiosa che la trascina a predicare per la strade la perdizione della carne e una zia dolce e misteriosa che brilla sui palcoscenici dei varietà londinesi, la giovane Phoebe sente che la sua anima è divisa tra ciò che vuole veramente e ciò che è costretta a fare.

Il bigottismo religioso spesso maschera sentimenti meno nobili e puri di quanto si vuol far credere e quando il mondo si spalanca attraente e brutale davanti agli occhi della ragazza le litanie delle donne vestite di nero e urlanti slogan come “Dio è la tua salvezza” non possono funzionare contro il richiamo ammaliatore della vita. Phoebe è attratta dal teatro, dalla vita segreta di sua zia Cissy e dall’uomo che lei ha sempre amato, l’emblematica figura dietro la quale si nasconde un’identità sconosciuta quanto sconvolgente.

Sono tanti i personaggi che ruotano intorno alla giovane ragazza e tutti contribuiscono a formare parte del suo carattere ponendola al centro di un’intricata vicenda che la vede protagonista sua malgrado. Essie Fox ci narra una storia densa di pathos e di sentimenti contrastanti che delineano i personaggi del romanzo in modo vivido e realistico. La gioia, il dolore, le passioni sbocciano ne La sonnambula con una carica espressiva che guida il lettore per tutta la narrazione con un ritmo sostenuto e avvincente.

Luci e ombre di un passato sepolto ma non dimenticato ora riaffiorano tra le pagine di questo romanzo, dove è la protagonista a condurci narrando in prima persona, salvo alcune brevi parti in cui il punto di vista è espresso in terza persona prendendo a protagonista un altro personaggio del racconto.

Un esordio di tutto rispetto capace di ricreare atmosfere passate senza mai sembrare sopra le righe, una storia che non smette mai di stupire e che ci mostra cosa si può nascondere tra le pieghe dell’animo umano. Passioni e perversioni, bugie e verità si alternato dando vita a un romanzo misterioso e affascinante come La sonnambula di Millais.(less)

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Sep 03, 2011 Sienna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, library

Lovely and haunting, much like the Millais painting for which it was named — and the cover design, for that matter. Essie Fox has a real gift for both characterization and scene-setting. Her major players are all complex and vividly crafted, and even the descriptions of minor figures have the ring of truth. The historical backdrop reveals the same thoughtful, unaffected attention to detail, complete with theatrical productions, table-tipping and a set of endnotes to distinguish truth from artist...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Mary Aris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Mary by: The TV Book Club

In her debut novel, The Somnambulist, author Essie Fox writes a gothic tale about seventeen year-old Phoebe Turner living with a puritanical mother, Maude, whose prude ideas and values motivates her to go about East London engaging in activism, vowing to shut down theatres. Phoebe’s Aunt Cissy, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Phoebe’s mother - an actress and singer performing at Wilton’s Musical Hall. Aunt Cissy takes Phoebe to Wilton’s Musical Hall often and introduces her to man...more

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May 04, 2012 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed

Ooh, ooh, I really want Ms Fox's marketing team. That way I'd become Supernurse Extraordinaire: celebrities would discuss me on television, my research papers would get little Specsavers-sponsored stickers on the front and get their own wee display in the library, and people would flock to my blog on catheterisation (um, OK, maybe not the last one). Ahh, the life I would lead...

Because really, when it boils down to it, this isn't a very good book. Meticulously researched, certainly, but the exec...more

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Apr 03, 2012 David Hebblethwaite rated it 3 of 5 stars

The East End of London, 1881: when her beloved aunt Cissy, a music-hall singer, dies, it becomes increasingly difficult for Pheobe Turner and her mother Maud to make ends meet. A way forward comes in the form of Nathaniel Samuels, an old acquaintance of Cissy’s, offers Phoebe a job as companion to his wife at the Samuels’ Herefordshire house – but the girl has no idea what secrets are set to be revealed.

I’m ambivalent about The Somnambulist. On the one hand, Phoebe’s narrative voice is great at...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Minna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-stars, coming-of-age, disappointing, gothic, tstl-heroine, weird

It was okay; I did not particularly care for the story. The main character (told in first person), Phoebe, has practically been brainwashed into thinking she is a gigantic pit of sin and is headed straight for hell... which did not particularly make her easy to identify with or fun to read about. The other main character, Nathan Samuels (told in third person), was slightly more sympathetic, although his pedophiliac tendencies certainly squashed the majority of any goodwill I as a reader felt.
And...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Elizabeth Murphy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wanted to like this book but it failed to deliver for me. Where it promised a Victorian ghost story I didn't even feel one chill, even when the mystery surrounding Lydia and Esther came into play. All the plot twists were easy to spot long before they were revealed and even the main characters came across as two dimensional.

The text was clunky and the constant shift from the first person point of view with Phoebe to the third person point of view from others made it feel as though the...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Lorraine RushHourReads rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely hated this book. The dialogue is plodding, the storyline flows badly and the characterisation is terrible. I struggled to understand the responses of the characters to events around them. The lead charachter, Phoebe, is an annoying, passive girl who seems completely oblivious to the obvious twist and seems bizarrely unaffected by all the terrible things that seem to regularly happen to her. It's just...annoying! I'm afraid that once the storyline became too soap opera, I realised I...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Rebecca Cartwright rated it 3 of 5 stars

Review
I’m not really a fan of gothic horror so I could have done without some of the more supernatural elements of the plot but they weren’t such a major part that they spoiled the story for me.
The combination of the music hall storyline and the young girl living with a variety of people involved in bringing her up reminded me a lot of Ballet Shoes which is one of my favourite books. This is obviously aimed at an older audience but I do think that the similarities are there.
I thought that the st...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Michael Moseley rated it 4 of 5 stars

This Victorian child/girl has a greater affinity with her aunt than her own mother. The book explores the discovery of her true identity following her aunt’s death. Big secrets that go back to yet more. Working for (unbeknown to her) fathers as a paid friend she is partially raped by het half brother. With overwhelming horror at the discovery of her real identity she is tossed around in an emotional nightmare. Peace comes in the end, of sorts. The enormity of what he has done keeps the brother a...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Ann Schwader rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, general-fiction

This is very much a book one has to be in the mood for -- and I was, thus four stars rather than three. If you're looking for Gothic Victorian atmosphere, detailed research deployed well, & remarkably twisty plotting, you'll probably enjoy The Somnambulist. If, however, you have a problem with the time-honored device of a young woman in a creepy country house with Something Odd Going On, you'd do better to stay away.

The best way I can describe this novel is Victorian Beach Read -- or rainy s...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, 2012

I really enjoyed The Somnambulist and was impressed to discover it was Essie Fox's first novel. Fox is definitely someone to watch out for. The writing style and the plot were both excellent and I really enjoyed the characters of Phoebe and Cissy. It's set in the East End of London and Fox really brings it alive, it's like you are stepping back in time.

The reason I gave it four stars and not five is not a fault of the author or the book. It's solely because I was very busy when I started readin...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Greycloud rated it 1 of 5 stars

pass me my smelling salts dear i'm feeling faint

well......mucho hysterics about nothing - an excuse to troll thru the authors florid victoriana notebook (people called 'cissy' and on and on about 'barley-twists design' (at least 6 mentions according to my e device)) an achingly predictable plot, plodding storyline and if it had been a tv programme i would have switched channels after 5 minutes

i learnt nothing, constantly wanted to slap the heroine and kept checking how long there was til the end...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

In an interview about this book, the author says she thinks the best novels 'wear their research lightly' and I think she really achieved that with this novel: it is set in the Victorian East End of London and a country house in Hertfordshire and contains spiritualism, the music halls and Millais' portrait 'The Somnambulist' yet manages to weave an intricate story around these topics without losing the reader! It is essentially a gothic tale in a similar vein to Bronte(particularly Jane Eyre) an...more

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About Essie Fox

Essie Fox is the author of The Somnambulist, and now, Elijah's Mermaid, both of which are darkly sensual Victorian gothic mysteries.

The Somnambulist was chosen as one of Channel 4's TV Book Club's best reads of 2012, and was then shortlisted in the National Book Awards in January 2013 in the category of best Debut fiction.

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9895397-the-somnambulist?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328376071l/9895397.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9895397-the-somnambulist?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Somnambulist by Essie Fox[/url]

The Somnambulist

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