The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale

The Haunting of Alma Fielding

by Kate Summerscale

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE

'A page-turner with the authority of history' PHILIPPA GREGORY
'As gripping as a novel. An engaging, unsettling, deeply satisfying read' SARAH WATERS

London, 1938. Alma Fielding, an ordinary young woman, begins to experience supernatural events in her suburban home.

Nandor Fodor - a Jewish-Hungarian refugee and chief ghost hunter for the International Institute for Psychical research - begins to investigate. In doing so he discovers a different and darker type of haunting: trauma, alienation, loss - and the foreshadowing of a nation's worst fears. As the spectre of Fascism lengthens over Europe, and as Fodor's obsession with the case deepens, Alma becomes ever more disturbed.

With rigour, daring and insight, the award-winning pioneer of historical narrative non-fiction Kate Summerscale shadows Fodor's enquiry, delving into long-hidden archives to find the human story behind a very modern haunting.

'An empathetic, meticulous account of a spiritual unravelling; a tribute to the astonishing power of the human mind - but also a properly absorbing, baffling, satisfying detective story' AIDA EDEMARIAM

A PICK OF THE AUTUMN IN THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER AND THE GUARDIAN

Reviewed by brdsk on

1 of 5 stars

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Abandoned at 33% for being a bore. Oh well.

I do think that deep fans of the genre would still appreciate it.

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  • 18 December, 2021: Reviewed