Mrs Wood is a well respected medium in London along with her assistant Miss Newman they hold sèances for the wealthy people of London. Mrs Wood decides to take on an apprentice Miss Finch but is she all she makes out to be.

I really enjoyed this book an easy 5 stars to give. I loved Mrs Wood's character along with Miss Newman. Every chapter was just as good as the last I couldn't put it down. What a great debut novel can't wait to read more from Lucy Barker.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Other Side of Mrs Wood
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Lucy Barker
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Historical Fiction
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 22nd June 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 28th May 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.25/5

I really loved the premise of this novel; two female rival spiritualist mediums fight it out for the best patronage in Victorian London. However, I think my trouble with enjoying this book stems from the characterization of the main character and the pacing of the story.

It wasn’t until the halfway mark for me that I was able to become fully immersed in this story. The first half seemed really slow and I was procrastinating picking the book up again until it hit around the 60% mark when the stakes were peaking and the secrets were beginning to stack and I was fully transported to the wonderful setting the author had carefully curated.

Seriously, I have to say that the setting and the research into this time period of fanciful ghost stories was absolutely spot on.

I sincerely wish I liked Mrs Wood more, I really did want to invest myself in her wins and losses but to be honest, I hated the way she treated those around her. Whether this was intentional by the author or not, I’m not sure. However, she was constantly putting down Miss Newman’s suffragette work and putting her own needs above others. I can’t say much more without spoilers, I simply regret not being able to see The Nice Side of Mrs Wood.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

Despite being a little too drawn out in the middle, this was a fun book to read. The cental character of Mrs Wood was well drawn and her struggles with being a widow in a patriarchal society well described, I also enjoyed the duplicitous tricks involved in being a medium, but with some sadness for her duped clients.
Thank you to netgalley and fourth estate for an advance copy of this book.

Mrs Wood is London’s most famous medium. She has avoided the mistakes that have revealed others as frauds and remains in high demand. However, younger, fresher mediums have been attracting the attention of some of her patrons and Mrs Wood worries that her days are numbered. In order to spice things up and draw attention back to herself, Mrs Wood decides to take on a young protégé, Emmie Finch, to join her act. But is Emmie as naïve as she seems to be, or does she herself pose a much more serious threat to Mrs Wood’s position?

The Other side of Mrs Wood is an enjoyable historical fiction novel with paranormal vibes. The story is quite slow and a little longer than necessary, but has a very well established setting and characters, and the slow-burn plot builds up a strong level of intrigue around Emmie and her true motivations.

It was fun to read about the 19th century obsession with spiritualism, and to get an insight into how mediums worked and the techniques they would use to entertain their audiences. It was little bit weird that virtually every character claimed to be a budding medium and made contact with spirits, and yet were still shocked and appalled whenever a fraud was revealed.

I would dispute the description of this book as a comedy, because it’s just not, but it is pretty good.

This novel begins in London in 1873. Mrs Violet Wood is a widow and a medium. She makes her living from seances, creating a comfortable and interesting environment for wealthy clients. However, she finds her lifestyle under threat when her husbands investments fail, meaning she is more reliant on making her own living than ever before. In addition, those looking for spiritual guidance are always hoping for more. American spiritualists create more of a show, apporting spirits, and she is afraid that her audience is becoming restless and, worse, bored…

As such, when Mrs Wood and her friend, Mrs Newman, see a young girl hanging around and seemingly spying on them, they take the chance to confront her. Emmeline Finch is young, pretty and says she wants to learn. She has, she assures Mrs Wood, the gift and the older woman decides she could train her and bring in a whole new audience. However, it will quickly become apparent that Miss Finch has other motives.

This is a really fun novel, although it is listed as a comedy, and I would not describe it as such. I liked Mrs Wood who is honest about her abilities and wants to bring comfort and solace to her visitors. There is a good twist and I think readers who enjoy historical fiction will find this an enjoyable read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Let me start off this review by saying that I am not a regular reader of historical fiction, but this premise had me interested so I thought I would give it a go.
When this started I found it to be humorous, quite feminist and charming. I enjoyed the writing style and it all flowed well. It was also a bit of light read.
But by the 40% mark it all just started to fall flat for me and this got worse as the story went on. I was desperate for there to be more depth to the story. I liked the characters and how they interacted but by 60% in my interest in this had completely gone.
I think this was because it all felt so flat, dull and bland. This could have been so much better, but the story just plodded on with nothing really happening. I was waiting for something to happen but it never did.
This also felt WAY too long, which didn't help the feeling that the whole thing was just plodding on and seemed to drag on forever.

A most enjoyable read! I am a fan of historical novels, and I love the whole spiritualism era, I find it so fascinating, so I was looking forward to picking this one up.

In short, it’s a take about Mrs Wood, a medium, who takes on an apprentice in order to keep her finances going and keep her “in favour”, especially with a journalist going around trying to seek out frauds.

I struggled to put this one down, it’s such an easy exciting read, and I was swept away, and very invested in this one.

Brilliant!

My thanks to Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Mrs wood is a spiritualist medium who is top of her game. It's a risky occupation, with fraudsters being outed and shamed and shunned from society.
She takes on a strange apprentice who then turns into her biggest competition.
There are lots and lots of secrets and lies at play in this story. It shows the damage pride and greed can do.
Quite an enjoyable book. It went along at a good pace and you were slightly on edge the whole time waiting for things to take a turn for the worst so it kept my interest.

Historical fiction set in Victorian London which focuses on spiritualism and mediums. I really wanted to like this one but I just couldn't get into it. The characters felt a little flat and the pacing was too slow for me.

As someone who works professionally in the backstage theatre industry, I have always been intrigued by the idea of Victorian mediums. Not only is there a sense of showmanship and con artistry but it also links Stage Management and psychology as well (some of my passions!). I therefore was excited to read The Other Side of Mrs Wood, about an aging medium who trains an ingénue and finds she has taken on much more than she bargained for!

I did love the premise of the novel – the idea of taking someone under your wing and trying to coach them on how to scam people without being explicit about it is really interesting. It was also a cautionary tale about who to trust and how someone you have only just met can ruin a really long-held reputation or your livelihood!

The thing that I was most disappointed about with this book is that the actual ‘how’ of the tricks Mrs Wood uses are kept extremely vague and nothing is really explained. The book is much more focussed on the social side of the trade – with all the gossip and scandals attached. Although this is interesting to a point, I felt the story really dragged and there was a real missed opportunity by not letting the reader in to the inner workings of mediumship. I thought Mrs Wood made some really silly decisions by not confiding in those around her, although we would have had a much shorter book had she done so.

Without any spoilers, I was also really disappointed by the ending, and I really feel that although it was quite ‘neat’, it actually made the rest of the story obsolete and it all just felt like a bit of a waste of time! Not what you want from the ending of a book!

Overall, The Other Side of Mrs Wood is a great premise, but it felt like it lacked some research into the ‘backstage side’ of the trade and as a result dragged in pace. Thank you to NetGalley, 4th Estate and William Collins for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a charming story filled with friendship, deception and illusions. I don’t read many books set in Victorian London by I really enjoyed this one following Mrs Wood, the highest regarded medium in London.

Enjoyed this book a lot and warmed to the characters. Set in Victorian England, Mrs Wood is a Medium highly regarded in London society until she is usurped by her "protege" Miss Finch. We witness her fall from favour when it seems she has lost everything. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the pre release copy. Definitely an author to look out for.

I do love a good historical fiction novel and I absolutely love anything to do with spirits, the other side and mediums. So when I read what this book was about I knew that this was going to be a perfect book for me. However, it was a bit long winded and I found my interest in it decreasing as the story went on. But then it picked up again at the end. Personally it didn’t endear me to the character of Mrs Wood and in fact my favourite character was Eliza. Not a bad book by any means but it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Mrs Wood is a celebrated medium, in Victorian times, based in London. Despite a lot of others being in outed as frauds Mrs Wood is still going strong.

Some of her regulars have started to cancel their regular meetings with Mrs Wood and there are reports of American mediums nearly materialising full spirits so audiences are no longer taking notice of knocking on tables and candle theatrics.

Mrs Wood decides to take on Emmie, a young protégé, to join her in her show. But is Emmie really what she seems to be? Or is she about to take Mrs Woods medium crown?

Illusion is everything...

The Other Side of Mrs Wood is set in London at a time - the later 1800s - when spiritualism was hugely fashionable and séances a regular event at society tables. Mediums were celebrated, but also in constant danger of potential exposure as fraudulent - which, at least according to this story, they all were, albeit with varying degrees of unscrupulousness. Some were motivated solely by money and celebrity - many felt a genuine mission to provide comfort to the grieving. A competitive market, though, apparently required increasingly dramatic stunts to be performed in order to remain current and talked-about.

The eponymous Mrs Wood - ably assisted by her friend Miss Newman - is one of those celebrated mediums, although there's plenty she's keeping quiet about, not only regarding how her feats are accomplished but also certain unsavoury aspects of her own past. When she takes on a pupil, the talented Miss Emmie Finch, it sparks some changes in Mrs Wood's carefully managed life.

A very enjoyable read.

If you’ve read and enjoyed Alex Hay’s The Housekeepers, I think this might be one for you. Such a fascinating premise of the machinations of spiritulism and Mediums in the 1870 London and a really interesting look at society’s mores at the time. There’s duplicity, blackmail, female friendships and revenge -always a great mix. It wasn’t a fast read, as I was trying to take in all the detail, and keep track of what was going on in the dark of the séance room, but it was a beautifully-written, intriguing and enjoyable read.

This was unbearably slow.

After a promising start and an intriguing opening premise, the book collapsed into minutia that failed to keep my attention for more than a few pages. The concept for this novel is fascinating and could have made for an amazing book - but its execution fell flat for me. It's like the author wanted it to be plot-y, but not too plot-y because it's literary fiction and it needs to be thoughtful and overly written. You need me to be involved by a quarter of the way through or I'm not hanging around - and this book did not deliver. There's an audience for it, and I imagine the literary crowd will enjoy it. But it's not for me.

"...performance wasn't the thing that drove her. The japes were necessary: they validated her as a Medium by affirming her reputation. They allowed her space fkr the quieter moments where she did that thing that mattered: brought comfort and solace to those lost in grief. If she could apport am afternoon tea, complete with milk and sugar, she could channel a message of love."

London 1873 and Victorian spiritualism is prominent in many social circles. Widow, ambitious and hard-working Mrs Wood, abley assisted by suffragette Miss Newman is a prominent and prestigious Medium. She worries for her future as newer, younger and more showy Mediums emerge to entertain her fickle audience. Mrs Wood hosts private clients and a monty Grand Séance at home. She risks taking in and working with a new, young woman, Emmeline Finch, which proves considerably more challenging than anticipated, because Miss Finch is not who she presents herself as being, but then nor is Mrs Wood. "Illusion is everything."

Independent Victorian women had a tough time finding the balance between survival and their expected role in society and the novel focuses on some of these strong women and on womens suffrage. The influence of Mediums, spiritualism and grief are explored and a case is made for those who genuinely wanted to help those who had lost someone dear. The balance between entertainment (including revealing the tricks of the supernatural trade) and the support provided to and from characters, who had often precarious positions in society is explored, with sensitivity and acceptance of the period. I loved Mrs Wood and, and despite not anticipating be able to support spiritualism, how the author presents her and separates her from those who are greedy tricksters; this makes her eminently relatable, as she struggles with her background, her identity and her competitors. The setting of well-to-do, Victorian London women's homes is luxurious, with colourful characters from Mrs Wood's 'circle' and sumptuous food. Initially a comical figure, I was thoroughly invested in Mrs Wood and loved the supportive twist at the end. This is a fascinating, entertaining and ultimately feminist debut novel.

After reading the synopsis I really thought I was going to love this book. However I'm really struggling to get into it. I may leave it and come back to it again later.
Thank you netgally for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Delightful tale of spirits and deception and battling through in Victorian England. Mrs Wood is a medium who knows how to keep secrets and how to use them for her trade but who also has secrets of her own that she needs to keep buried. Things reach a dizzying climax. It’s funny, interesting and original, a good read.

Not what I would usually choose to read and found it a bit hard going at first. Then the pace and the story picked up.
The practice of medium ship and physic ability, trust, honour and betrayal.
A pupil who wants all the glory and money, betrayal by patrons and friends.
You will be invested in the character of Mrs Woods and her circle.
Enjoy I did