I really wanted to like this book but sadly it wasn't easy. It took a fair while to get going and at times was a bit dull, however stick with it and it does improve. Mrs Wood, a famed Victorian spiritualist needs to keep her customers interested, particularly after a significant failed investment, and in order to do so she takes on a new young protegee and that's when the story gets interesting.
The characters are well-written and the fascination with spiritualism during the Victorian period is described in detail. A good read for anyone interested in this subject.

"All about Eve" meets Victorian London Spiritualism in this thoroughly enjoyable tale. Well written and researched with some great characters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This Victorian-set novel tells the story of a famous London medium, Mrs Wood, and what happens when she takes in an eager and unknown pupil, Miss Emmeline Finch. I enjoyed this overall, although not as much as I was expecting to – there were some plot points I found quite frustrating reading, not least because they would be solved if Mrs Wood just TOLD people the truth. I also wasn't sure if we were supposed to be on Mrs Wood's side – she's against full spirit manifestations for ethical reasons but her flights aren't particularly different, and I can't make my mind up whether we were supposed to notice the double standard. Anyway, it was interesting reading about the immense popularity of spirituality in the Victorian period (the sheer recklessness of the mediums and the huge number of believers blew my mind) and I thought the ending was great and very well-executed. 3.5. stars

Victorian-era historical novels are ubiquitous, but The Other Side of Mrs Wood's setting in the world of mediumship and spiritualism was a unique treat. The interesting line between the sincerity the mediums believed in abilities or actual contact with the spirits and the sanctity of the clients' confidence and how it trundles right alongside the unavoidable reality that mediumship is merely a magic show. How Mrs Wood and her confidants synthesize those two worlds was its own wonderful sleight of hand in the writing. This was a merry and interesting trip through a world of showbiz back-stabbing and genuinely supportive female friendships and work networks in a fresh Victorian setting.

The Other Side of Mrs Wood only really got going for me towards the end. I love the premise of rival mediums in Victorian London, but I found myself wanting significantly more shenanigans from the off! Still worth a read if Victorian spiritualists are up your alley, just be prepared for a slow burn.

Thank you to Fourth Estate and NetGalley for my proof copy of #TheOtherSideofMrsWood #NetGalley

I definitely have a weakness for stories that use the Victorian spiritualist movement as a historical setting and this one did not disappoint. Finding that debunking journalist may be threatening her already wobbly income stream, Mrs Violet Wood sets about raising her profile and securing her finances - with amusing and occasionally disturbing results. This was a really enjoyable book with a great historical setting and well fleshed out characters.

Mrs Wood is London’s premier medium. She has survived the competitive world of contacting the beyond where many others have failed, has avoided the slips that revealed others as frauds and is still hosting packed-out séances with the great and the good of Victorian society.

Yet, some of her patrons have recently cancelled their appointments. There are reports of American mediums who are materialising full spirits and audiences are no longer content with the knocking on tables and candle theatrics of years gone by. And then, at one of Mrs Wood’s routine gatherings, she hears something terrifying – faint, but unmistakable: a yawn.

Mrs Wood needs to spice up her brand. She decides to take on Emmie, a young protégé, to join her show. But is Emmie the naïve ingenue she seems to be? Or does she pose more of a threat to Mrs Wood’s reign as London’s most celebrated medium than Mrs Wood could ever have imagined?

I loved this delicious debut which was a real page turner for me. Beautifully written and researched ( I imagine ) we learn about the great lengths 'real' mediums go to in order to provide a much needed service to their bereaved patrons who are often in need of solace and comfort from a kindly medium. Mrs Wood considers herself a genuine medium helping her patrons to deal with loss rather than a charlatan who tricks people for money. She has built an excellent reputation as the premier medium in London Society and will do anything to hold onto her position. Given the difficulty for women supporting themselves in Victorian England, one can sympathise.

I won't give a way the story but when her kindheartedness turns against her she will do anything not to be exposed which in itself turns into a never ending battle for spirit dominance. It has strong women characters with men only the support cast, the early beginnings of Women's Suffrage is considered, an examination of how women dragged themselves out of poverty along with comedy and tenderness in barrowloads.

I enjoyed this immensely and look forward to the next book!

The Other Side of Mrs.Wood has strong female characters that bring the Victorian Medium Society vividly to life. Mrs Wood lifts the curtain on all the tricks of the trade but also the delicate fine line between helping someone grieving and exploiting that vulnerability. I reallu like Mrs Wood and really sympathised with her plight, there were very few respectable ways that a women can earn a living and rise to a higher level in society. It was a wonderful atmospheric read that was totally absorbing.

The setting of the Victorian era really appealed to me when I read the blurb so I was intrigued to read it. The titular Mrs. Wood is an acclaimed medium (and there were lots of them about in that era) A young protégé Emmie Finch follows Mrs Wood and is very eager to learn the ropes of mediumship and that's where things go awry. I really wanted to love this book as I love that era and I've read a few books debunking spiritualism but for me, this book was a little slow. It is wonderfully descriptive and Mrs Wood is a great character but I feel the pacing was lacking but it is definitely worth persevering with. All in all it was an enjoyable read..

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

The Victorian era is not exactly my choice of fiction, but once you put aside your reservations then it settled into an enjoyable, although fairly predictable tale.

Mrs Wood's character was easy to imagine and her trade as a medium did make me smile at times. Who can disagree that giving someone peace is a good thing however it is achieved?!

An interesting twist and a decent supporting cast kept me reading. It will make a good TV drama one day!

Mrs Wood is a well known medium in Victorian London who is respected for her gifts with the well to do people in the city, she knows how to give the wealthy the messages they long to hear from their loved ones through her séances
When Mrs Wood notices there’s been a young girl following her around for a while she confronts her and it turns out Emmie Finch would like to learn the ropes and claims to have the gift. She takes her on as a pupil but is everything true about her young apprentice or is there something more sinister going on?
I found this book a little slow to start with but once the story got going I didn’t want to put it down. It’s entertaining and mysterious and I really enjoy books with an older main character as I find it a bit more relatable. It took me a while to warm to Mrs Wood but eventually I really liked her and the author wrote all the characters so well.
I love everything to do with spiritualism so it was fascinating to learn about the obsession in the Victorian era and all the things the mediums did to make it dramatic and believable to the patrons. The mediums also wholeheartedly believed in their gift and didn’t see anything wrong with the way they did things even though they didn’t want to be caught
There were funny moments in this book but also mystery, sadness and feminism. The characters are warm and realistic while the story is very atmospheric.
A great read!

Victorian London brings to mind the age of spiritualism, mediums and seances. A fascinating time when communing with the dearly departed was all the rage, the done thing for people of means. The Other Side of Mrs. Wood introduces us to the lovely Mrs. Wood who is the most acclaimed English medium with a solid fan base, and reputation, at a time when mediums are being debunked regularly. She is aided in her work by the capable, and equally lovely, Miss Newman. When Mrs. Woods decides to take Emmie Finch under her wing, trouble follows swift on her heels.

If you have seen All About Eve you know how problematic an ingenue can be. The Other Side of Mrs. Wood makes the most of this time-honored trope and does it with flare and a twist. I looked so forward to bedtime and read very late into the night, on more than one occasion, being so captured by this story and these artfully dear characters. I don't believe in ghosts but this story painted a picture that spoke to me. I found it delightful and enjoyed the twists and turns as the narrative rolled along. Fun, stylish and a real delight, I highly recommend this terrific novel.

I absolutely loved this! Historical comedy at its finest. The Other Side of Mrs Wood is a delicious, funny, moving story of a Medium at the top of her game, who suddenly finds her position not quite as secure as she thought. I loved the historical detail, the characters were full and real, the relationships pitch perfect. Brilliant!

If there's anything I love more than an intense rivalry between two women, it's a Victorian medium, so I was immediately desperate to read The Other Side of Mrs Wood as soon as I heard about it.

In 1870s London, Mrs Wood is a highly successful spirit medium in the golden age of her career - or so she thinks. But after a lacklustre circle, she starts to worry that the golden age is over and the public are losing interest. Her solution is the charming young girl, Miss Finch, who approaches her asking to be apprenticed. But Miss Finch, it turns out, is not quite as sweet as she seems.

This book was such a delight to read and Mrs Wood is an immensely enjoyable character. It's such good fun to watch her pompous self-assurance lead her down a treacherous path, but Lucy Barker does an excellent job of creating enough depth of character that you're still rooting for her to triumph - even when her schemes become more and more extreme. The stakes are high but charmingly silly - the vibes are very Mapp and Lucia meets the Prestige, by way of the Fox sisters. All in all, lots of fun.

If a book says "Victorian England" in the description, it's very likely that I'll pick it up to give it a go. When you spill a bunch of odd Victorian trends like spiritualism into fictional pages, my interest is immediately piqued. Who could say no to otherworldly vibes when social etiquette still was everything?

As it's being promoted as a "historical comedy," I thought "The Other Side of Mrs. Wood" would tick a lot of my quirky reading boxes. It did in many ways, but the "historical comedy" genre completely missed the mark. There wasn't any dry British humor or comedy bits, so the description is misleading in that aspect.

Once you stop looking for the chuckles, the book made for an easy read in a world that's as familiar to me as my daily bowl of porridge. The first half of the story was very slow, and I occasionally questioned whether or not to continue reading (especially since my personal energy levels are defunct at the moment, and I did not need to be moving any slower). But the second half of the story is when it gets interesting.

The author Lucy Barker writes brilliantly though and gives readers a vivid Victorian London in a time when seances were all the rage and a cast of female characters from young to mature to rich to poor. (Eliza the maid became a favorite even though not a major character.)

It's important for readers to understand before they start reading that the Victorian view on mediums isn't seen through the same lens as today's mediumship, so those looking for authenticity of speaking to the Other Side without flashy effects might be disappointed. Spiritualism had heavy entertainment values back then, and Victorian folk expected a show with maybe a comforting word or two from departed loved ones. (And if you offend the Beau Monde or elite with tasteless dishonesty, hell hath no fury as they expose your fraudulent ways!)

That was one thing I did appreciate about Mrs. Wood's character -- she believed in bringing solace to her patrons even if she wasn't what we call today a true "sensitive." She was a product of her time and knew what she needed to do to survive as an independent woman. And to do it in the most authentic way she knew how (short of conjuring spirits in a magician-like fashion, of course!).

Leave it to the Americans (that's me) to make some noise and cause some stress to Mrs. Wood to better perform... and this is what spirals into the plot of how Emmie Finch gets involved.

Overall, this book was a fun read and recommended for anyone with a love of 1800s England.

// Thank you so much to Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! //

In some ways this novel, with its 'successful woman with murky past sees it all unravel' premise is quite predictable; in other ways it works it very well. I loved the way that Mrs Wood, the medium, knows quite well that she's pulling a fast one - but, crucially, sees herself (with considerable validity) as 'bringing peace' to those who come to her. And it's not as predictable as one might expect. Well worth reading.

It is 1870, Victorian London. Mrs Wood is one of the most prestigious and sought after mediums in London but recently her popularity seems to be waning. So she decides to take on a young girl who wants to become a medium herself. and teach her everything she knows. It all goes well at first and her pupil is eager to learn. Mrs Wood introduces her to her circle of friends and acquaintances and her popularity rises. Whereas doing so has a detrimental effect on her own and the days of her appointment book for seances is full is now free.
I really enjoy stories set in Victorian London and this is no exception. This is a has a great atmospheric storyline describing the lives of Mediums the afterlife and how they hoodwinked their audiences. But this is also about secrets and lies. This is well worth reading 4 stars from me.

I quite enjoyed this book - the Victorian era is nicely described and the spiritualism craze of the era is an interesting subject. I think there were some lovely moments and the characterisation was good but overall the story meandered along a bit too slowly and never really gripped me as much as I hoped it would.

"Illusion is everything"
I absolutely loved this book, set in Victorian London The Other Side of Mrs Wood tells the story of Mrs Wood, a medium who is the best in the business, she takes on a pupil Emmie (Emmeline) Finch. Things take a turn when Mrs Wood discovers the pupil knows more about Mrs Wood than she would would like. Funny, engaging and clever, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend.
Thanks to the publishers 4th Estate and William Collins and Netgalley for the e-arc of this book.

Mrs Violet Wood, celebrated Medium, has London’s high society at her feet with her wonderful talent of being able to contact the spirits. When she is informed, by her ardent admirer, Mr Larson, that her finances are not what they were, and feeling that her clients are getting a little bored, Mrs Wood realises that it’s time to do something different. With her future in mind, Mrs Wood takes on a pupil, Miss Emmeline Finch, who has been appearing at various venues, much in the way a stalker might. Not taking this as in any way ominous, Mrs Wood thinks this is the way forward, despite those close to her asking if she is sure and does she know anything about “the girl”? It appears that Mrs Wood has made the right decision when Miss Finch becomes a much sought after addition to the Circle and it’s acolytes.


This is a story of Victorian life, and its obsession with the Spiritual world. It took quite a while to get going (around 30% I thought it was going to be a DNF), but I did get to the end. It was a slow, flat book with little action. The deviousness and cunning of Mrs Wood’s “day job”, was strangely at odds with her naivety when it came to taking a stalker in off the street to train her up.

Billed as ‘The irresistible historical comedy about two rival mediums in Victorian London’, I was looking forward to more than this, and the only comedy appeared to be provided by Eliza.

2.5* upped to 3*

Thank you NetGalley.