‘The Blackheath Séance Parlour’ by Alan Williams + Competition

Cutting Edge Press very kindly sent me a copy of ‘The Blackheath Séance Parlour’ when I expressed my interest in it.  I was immediately drawn both to the cover and the title.

It is 1842 in Blackheath and Judy and Maggie Cloak’s family chocolate shop is doing badly.  Whilst drunk the sisters decide on their future together.  They hardly have any money to buy food with and they know drastic action has to be taken before they starve to death.  Judy has come up with what she considers to be a very good idea, but Maggie isn’t so keen on it and puts her foot down immediately.  Judy doesn’t give up though and is determined to get her way.

A month later and with the help of a medium called Netta Walters, a séance parlour comes to Blackheath Village much to the shock and dismay of the locals.  Curiosity soon gets the better of people though who want to be able to contact their loved ones and the shop starts doing really well.  However, a rift starts to develop between the sisters.  Judy writes a novel and gets it published, meets a lovely man and seems to have more of a gift for contacting the dead.  This creates jealousy with Maggie deciding something more needs to be done.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book especially as it’s a subject I am interested in.  I really liked Alan Williams’ writing style throughout.  I found him to be very descriptive right from the first chapter where he described the storm over the heath.  I am not far from Blackheath and know the area quite well so I recognised a lot of the places mentioned in the book which to me made it even more interesting to read.

Judy was my favourite character in the story and I so wanted her to be happy.  Maggie with lots of practice developed the ability to be able to contact the dead which did actually help, but things went too far and I couldn’t help feeling bad for her.  This story seemed so real to me at times and I don’t think I will ever look at Blackheath in the same way again.

I give this book 5 out of 5.

 

For those of you who like the sound of this book and would love to read it I am running a competition.  5 lucky people have the chance to win a copy of ‘The Blackheath Séance Parlour’.  Just tell me which kind of shop you would open if you decided to run your own business.

Terms and Conditions

This competition is open to UK residents only.

The closing date is 11:59 p.m. on the 24th November 2013.

Winners will be notified within 7 days and their details will be passed on to the publisher who will send the prizes out.

Good Luck!  🙂