BOOK REVIEW: The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

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Title: The Somnambulist




Author: Essie Fox




Publisher: Orion Publishing




Age Group & Genre: Gothic Historical Mystery





The Blurb:

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox is a Victorian gothic mystery – a spellbinding tale of lost love, murder and madness that sweeps from the boisterous music halls of London's East End to a desolate Herefordshire mansion as seventeen-year old Phoebe Turner embarks on a journey to unlock the darkest of family secrets.





What I Thought:



I really bought The Somnambulist because of the cover – I really love the use of silhouettes on book covers, they always seem old-fashioned and mysterious.



I had never heard of the book or of the author, and so I came to the reading of it with absolutely no pre-conceived expectations.



It was a pleasant surprise, containing so many elements that I love – an atmospheric historical setting, a young woman on the brink of growing up, art and theatre, family secrets, mysteries and suspected murders …



Here’s the basic storyline. Phoebe Turner is seventeen years old, and innocent for her years thanks to her strange upbringing. Maud, her mother, is a member of The Hallelujah Army, and marches the streets crying out against the evils of drink, the theatre, prostitution and general immorality.



This sets up an immediate tension in the family because Phoebe’s beloved Aunt Cissy sang for her living, in theatres and music halls. 

The story really begins when Cissy dies, though it takes a while to get there – there’s a lot of complex back story and a wide cast of memorable characters to introduce first, though luckily the writing is so vivid and the foreshadowing of the mystery to come so intriguing, the slow pace is easily forgiven. And Essie Fox does a brilliant job of recreating the time and place! You can smell the yellow fog, and hear the clacking or carriage wheels on the cobblestones.



Cissy’s death means that Phoebe and her mother are in financial trouble. So when Mr Samuels, a rich and mysterious friend of Cissy’s, offers Phoebe a job as the companion of his invalid wife, she eagerly accepts the offer.



The action moves to Dinwood House, a grand gothic house in the countryside, with magnificent gardens, woods, crags, caves and waterfalls (I wanted it!)



However, the place is haunted by the strange death of Esther, the young daughter of the house …



There are many twists and turns in this story, some truly surprising, and Essie Fox does not shy away from introducing a few darker elements. These only add to the shadowy Gothic atmosphere, however.



I really enjoyed the book and thought it an assured debut – I’m looking forward to her new book, Elijah’s Mermaid, which is described as ‘in this bewitching, sensual novel, Essie Fox has written another tale of obsessive love and betrayal, moving from the respectable worlds of Victorian art and literature, and into the shadowy demi-monde of brothels, asylums and freak show tents - a world in which nothing and no-one is quite what they seem to be.’



Sounds wonderful!



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