The London Seance Society

I continue to be on a streak of books that I haven’t enjoyed much. The latest is Sarah Penner’s “The London Séance Society.” I wanted to read this book since I enjoyed her other book, “The Lost Apothecary,” so much. It was advertised on Goodreads, Amazon, and other book lists as a “most unusual mystery” and a “spellbinding tale” set in 1800s London. Alas, I found the mystery neither unusual nor spellbinding. In fact, if I had to classify this book, I would say it’s equal parts mystery and soft LGBTQ+ romance. I don’t mind either genre, but I feel like I ordered a good steak in a restaurant and was given a mediocre surf-and-turf combination instead. Neither genre was well-represented, so that’s the best way I can describe my disappointment with this book. As far as the plot, yes, it does involve seances, which were common in Victorian London. The main characters are two women: one is a gifted medium and the other is a skeptic-turned-believer (and of course, these two women eventually find love, move to Paris where “that kind of relationship” is more accepted, and live happily ever after). The first-person narrator also switches each chapter, going between the skeptical woman and the man who heads up The London Séance Society itself. All in all, I did finish this book, but I have a feeling it will quickly fade from memory. I suggest reading Penner’s “The Lost Apothecary” instead.