A Buzzfeed Best Gift Book of the Year“A dark, atmospheric, and feminist story of three women in New York City’s Gilded Age, each determined to thrive in a society hell-bent on keeping them down, and using their coven to do so.” —BuzzfeedINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERRespectable Lady Seeks Dependable Shop Girl. Those averse to magic need not apply. New York in the spring of 1880 is a place alive with … Shop Girl. Those averse to magic need not apply.
New York in the spring of 1880 is a place alive with wonder and curiosity. Determined to learn the truth about the world, its residents enthusiastically engage in both scientific experimentation and spiritualist pursuits. Séances are the entertainment of choice in exclusive social circles, and many enterprising women—some possessed of true intuitive powers, and some gifted with the art of performance—find work as mediums.
Enter Adelaide Thom and Eleanor St. Clair. At their humble teashop, Tea and Sympathy, they provide a place for whispered confessions, secret cures, and spiritual assignations for a select society of ladies, who speak the right words and ask the right questions. But the profile of Tea and Sympathy is about to change with the fortuitous arrival of Beatrice Dunn.
When seventeen-year-old Beatrice leaves the safety of her village to answer an ad that reads “Respectable Lady Seeks Dependable Shop Girl. Those averse to magic need not apply,” she has little inclination of what the job will demand of her. Beatrice doesn’t know it yet, but she is no ordinary small-town girl; she has great spiritual gifts—ones that will serve as her greatest asset and also place her in grave danger. Under the tutelage of Adelaide and Eleanor, Beatrice comes to harness many of her powers, but not even they can prepare her for the evils lurking in the darkest corners of the city or the courage it will take to face them.
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I didn’t finish it it could not hold my attention.
Started it, didn’t like it
AmI McKay’s fiction is always intelligent and intriguing. I highly recommend all of her books.
This was my first reading of the author. The book was entertaining, but found my mind wandering…A little light in plot….
I haven’t got it but i think it looks cool and whimsical
I liked the fantasy aspect which made it not quite believable, sort of like Harry Potter.
Magical realism at its best. Historical building of the world of 19th and early 20th century New England and New York with all the fin de siecle weirdnesses of the 1890s: seances, electricity, mesmerism, witches, coupled with the ongoing problems of women: the need to get pregnant, the need to lose an unwanted pregnancy, the need for self autonomy, the need to rebel against domination by religious and male figures. Really the book is more than the sum of its parts. I like these women characters. I would like to know them in real life.
I could not put it down with all the twist and turns.
I liked the mixture of period information and how the author used both the Comstock decency investigations and the spiritualist leanings of the time juxtaposed against the witch hunt.
We need more witches – we can all be witches
Downright delightful!
Started pretty slow. I almost gave up but author finally found the story.
Before every new century, there seems to be an exceptional interest in the occult. New York was no different. While the 3 main female characters identify as witches, it seems as though all of the female characters have a touch of the sight. Strong female characters throughout the story. And Perdu, the raven, I believe will eventually tell his story. Well written and captivating.