Selina could be interpreted as a woman choosing one of the few independent, legal professions available to her outside of servitude. It is telling, in the context of the novel, that many spiritualists were women, who supported the abolition of slavery and female voting rights. Spiritualism is a religious belief that souls exist and can communicate with the living. The labyrinthine corridors led to warders getting lost, and prisoners were able to communicate between cells as sound carried. Historically, the design of Millbank was not ideal. Spiritualist and medium Selina Dawes has been imprisoned in the historic prison of Millbank for fraud and assault due to the actions of her ‘spirit guide’ ‘Peter Quick’. Suicidal noblewoman Margaret Prior has recently lost her father to cancer and her lover to her own brother. Set in the Victorian era, this is a tale of two women trapped by circumstances. A rich, beautiful, haunting novel by an excellent author, set in the late 19th century. Reality, voice and oppression – not to mention manipulation – are the key themes in this stunning lesbian Victorian ghost story. An interweaving tale of two entrapped women a suicidal noblewoman with no purpose and an imprisoned spiritualist claiming innocence.
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