Author: Michael Schmicker

Source: Netgalley

Published: January 2015

Italy 1899: Fiery-tempered, seductive medium Alessandra Poverelli levitates a table at a Spiritualist séance in Naples. A reporter photographs the miracle, and wealthy, skeptical, Jewish psychiatrist Camillo Lombardi arrives in Naples to investigate. When she materializes the ghost of his dead mother, he risks his reputation and fortune to finance a tour of the Continent, challenging the scientific and academic elite of Europe to test Alessandra's mysterious powers.

I'm not one for believing in ghosts or the paranormal, but I definitely am one for conspiracy theories and the research around them, and The Witch Of Napoli has definitely got me itching to research into the "idea" of calling the spirits of the dead. The story - which is based on true events - was extremely compelling from the word go, and had me hanging onto every word until I finished it (again) in a little over 24 hours. There are a lot of people nowadays who are very much into the paranormal, and it's quite commonplace for two different people to have two opposing ideas of the subject. However, back when this book was set at the end of the 1800s, it didn't have such a big following; religion was seen as the main force. It was exciting to read of the coming to fame of this unknown phenomina in such a stubborn society.

The lead roles of Alessandra, Lombardi and Tomaso (the up and coming newspaper photographer) were equally as enchanting as the story was. Alessandra's (and Tomaso's) rags to riches, and Lombardi's gradual change of tune from his usual dismissal of the spirit world, were subtly woven into the story. It was so gradual that I realised towards the end how much had changed and how much I hadn't actually realised at the time. This proves how wonderfully intriguing Schmicker's writing was.

Throughout the book, you, and the other characters, are constantly questioning Alessandra's abilities as a medium. In the back of your mind you're wondering yourself whether this is all a farce, and you don't ever quite know how the story is going to play out as there are so many different ways that it could go. As the seances progress and the dismissals come in thick and heavy, you start to feel Alessandra's frustration, despite not being quite sure yourself what is real and what is fake. You quickly go from taking the side of the "against" party to the "for" party, back to the "against" in a matter of pages, which constantly keeps you on your toes with what's happening. Schmicker's novel is thought-provoking without preaching; he doesn't tell you that mediums are fake and he doesn't tell you that what they do is real. He leaves it up to the reader to make up their own mind.

I'm not normally one for historical fiction but I was pleasantly surprised to absolutely love this novel and it's encouraged me that branching out of my comfort zone is definitely something I need to look into doing more often.