The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods
Fans of historical fiction will be entranced by Caroline Woods new novel, THE MESMERIST. Set in Minneapolis in the late nineteenth century, the story is based on the real-life Bethany House, a home for wayward mothers.
When Faith runs away from an untenable home situation, she finds herself easy prey for Harry, an unscrupulous (and worse) criminal who casts her as a fortune teller in a bordello house. But Faith is no match for the witless Harry and soon she finds that her own intuition and cunning give her the unique abilities of a mesmerist, though not before he impregnates her. When she escapes the bordello and turns up at the Bethany House, the matron takes her in, hoping to give her a chance at a new life after her baby is born.
When May is abandoned by her fiancé after becoming pregnant, she too, finds herself at the Bethany House. Though her pregnancy is determined to be a false pregnancy, the empathetic matron, Abby, allows her to stay for a year. With time running out, May must find a new prospect or she will face an uncertain future on the streets. When she meets Harry, she is taken under his spell, convinced that he loves her and will marry her. But Harry is nothing more than a con man and Faith, who has befriended May, is determined to save her from a dire fate.
The novel starts with a slow burn as we are introduced to the characters, the women’s impossible situations, and the setting and role of the Bethany House, but Caroline Woods quickly adds fuel to the fire -- the body of a prostitute washes up on a nearby shore – and Faith is the prime suspect. I was mesmerized by Faith’s commitment to her friend May, even when May is suckered in by Harry and is anything but a true friend to Faith. The Mesmerist is a reminder of the impossible living situations unwed mothers found themselves in and the dire situations that drove them to eek out a living any way they could, often endangering their lives in the process.
This is Lin Salisbury with Superior Reviews. Listen to my author interviews on Superior Reads the fourth Thursday of every month at 7pm and the following Saturday at 6am. Tune in for my interview with Caroline Woods on September 26 at 7pm.
