This book wasn’t for me, I had such high hopes from the blurb.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I'm afraid I can't get past the first few pages of this. The writing is terrible, like an early Google translation of a foreign language. A couple of examples that left me wondering if anyone had made a serious attempt to edit this:

"Jeanie nodded with the indecent haste of someone thrilled to find themselves perpendicular to a drama." Perpendicular?

"The panic began building again, a more byzantine kind now, an ornate, intricate terror with interlocking elements." Interlocking elements?

Unbearable.

DNF at more than 50%. Intriguing set-up, but the book was waaaay too slow, and nothing really happened. Evelyn's narration is repetitive, and her split-second change of heart the moment her husband's shameful new pursuit brings her into the circles of the rich and titled was a tad too...well, split-second. Also felt the book lacked direction—even a plot.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

I found this one a little hard to read - I didn't really warm to either Evelyn or Robert which I think made things a bit more difficult. They were both quite selfish in their own ways, trying to pull the other into being something they were not comfortable with.

It felt like the plot was fairly thin with a lot of the story coming from characters worrying what others were going to think of them rather than anything actually happening. I will also freely admit to being someone who likes their plot nice and tied up by the end of the book and Hazardous Spirits did not provide that either, it was very much a 'make your own mind up' sort of ending.

I so wanted to like this book. It was very atmospheric, 1920's Edinburgh was depicted beautifully, and I did really enjoy that aspect.

I think I felt slightly misled? I was expecting something a bit more gothic and spooky, and was unprepared for how much it would focus on the relationship of Eve and Robert. I also found Eve a bit too dislikeable, even though I did empathise with her at points.

It just very well written, but to me quite slow and anti-climactic. It's a shame, because it could have been so good!

Anbara Salam got the idea for her historical novel from an unexpected encounter, a blind date with a woman who claimed to be a medium. Set in 1920s Edinburgh the story’s rooted in the phenomenal surge of interest in the Spiritualist movement that grew up after the end of WW1, spurred on even further by the huge numbers who died from Spanish Flu. Bereaved people flocked to rallies, seances and spirit readings in the hope of contacting their beloved dead. Salam’s psychological mystery is also inspired by a particular brand of uniquely Scottish gothic and the real-life figures like Conan Doyle who helped popularise belief in the supernatural and the possibility of talking with the dead. Salam’s narrative centres on Evie married to stolid, conventional accountant Robert who suddenly announces he can commune with dead people, and soon becomes a fixture in local spiritualist circles.

Salam’s novel features a satisfyingly diverse cast of characters that partly reflects her own background as Palestinian-Lebanese-Scottish. Her narrative features a well-researched, meticulously detailed representation of Edinburgh in the years following WW1: the displaced veterans, social inequalities, and the frenzied partying of the wealthy relieved to have survived. Salam’s style can be a little inelegant, uneven, and clunky at times but I found her novel totally gripping. There are some great set pieces like the lavish Egyptian-themed party building on the King Tut craze of that era. In addition, Evie is an intriguing creation caught between her innate scepticism and her desperate need to believe in her husband or really to believe in anything at all. She’s not particularly likeable, prickly, snobbish, and sometimes a bit too hand wringing. But it’s gradually clear that much of her behaviour relates to her own, intense, unresolved grief: at the death of her sister Dolly from flu and another loss she’s unable to voice to anyone. I also found Robert’s character quite unsettling and hard to work out, I’m not sure if that was deliberate or not but it worked well to shore up Evie’s conflict about his motives: whether or not he genuinely believes in the spirit world or is deluded or simply a self-serving fraud. The conclusion leaves some elements dangling, in some ways I’d have preferred a definite resolution to Evie’s dilemma, but still I think it was probably the right ending. Think this would appeal to fans of writers like Emma Donoghue looking for an entertaining but thoughtful seasonal read.

There isn’t one single aspect of Hazardous Spirits that I could point to as the reason for why I enjoyed it so much. That, I think, is testament to Anbara Salam’s skill with historical fiction — every part of it is just so good, so there’s no one thing to single out.

The story follows Evelyn, whose husband finds himself getting drawn into spiritualism, after confessing to her that he can communicate with the dead. Evelyn has doubts, obviously, but she reluctantly lets herself be led along. At the forefront of her mind is the question: is her husband going mad, a fraud, or is he, just perhaps, telling the truth?

Much of the story is about Evelyn’s relationship with her husband, and the trust she has in him, and how that starts to fracture under the weight of his activities. For all the people she meets through the spiritualism circuit, through all the social currency she gains amongst some groups, she’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In addition to this, there are things that Evelyn hasn’t told even her sister, let alone Robert. The only one who knew was her other sister, who passed away a few years before the story takes place. Really, then, this is a book about truth. Evelyn keeps it from her family, forbids Robert from speaking with her dead sister for fear of what she might reveal, all the while unsure if Robert is, after all, telling the truth. The book itself leaves you at an impasse on that front: Robert certainly believes he can truly talk to the dead, and the events of the final act don’t affect his beliefs. This is in contrast to Evelyn — it feels as though a lot of the book is a push and pull between cold, verifiable facts (Evelyn) and what is felt to be true (Robert). Is something any less true for being someone’s lived experience?

Part of what makes that all so effective, though, is how real it all seems to the reader. Perhaps it’s an overdone compliment, but reading this really does feel as though you’re in 1920s Edinburgh, that these characters are standing right next to you. That their developments and journeys throughout the book are almost like your own.

I really don’t think I can recommend Anbara Salam’s books enough, in all this. Between Hazardous Spirits and Belladonna, I think it’s safe to say she’s comfortably an author I’ll always be looking forward to more works from.

Set in post WWI and post Spanish Flu Scotland - there are echoes of the past throughout this book which resonate with today. I expected a gothic type spooky tale and for me, it wasn't that book. It left me feeling a little flat. I know others will enjoy the slower pace and characters but it didn't hit the spot this time for me.

Any story set in Edinburgh is pretty much a winner for me and this book didn't disappoint. A slow burning mystery about spiritualism in the 1920s that is quite dark and creepy at times and has some very definite Gothic vibes. A great read for spooky season and longer nights.

The story is set in 1923 in and around Edinburgh and which captures the post war era very well, even the description of the clothes gave a feeling of time travel.

It was the theme of spiritualism that had drawn me to this book, although I had been expecting something slightly more unnerving from the description.

The main character became slightly annoying with her 'flipping and flopping' reactions and her flashbacks also came without signposting. I found I was always going back to read the previous page wondering if I had missed something before the realisation of it being a flashback - I'm not sure if this is something to do with Kindle format?

The writing was good and the period was conveyed well but I thought that the theme could have given more potential for the story to shine much brighter.

Thank you to Netgalley and John Murray Press for kindly providing me with a copy.

Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam was an interesting story, but I slowly lost interest as it went on. While the characters were intriguing, the plot felt drawn out. Despite this, I'd still recommend it to those looking for a unique read!