What a nice surprise! I picked up this book randomly from the library and it turned out to be an enormously complex tale taking place in 19th Century London. Cordelia Preston is an aspiring actress trying to get some parts in recent plays and surviving in an environment that is austere for women.

She meets a Welsh Lord and they fall in love with each other. However, actresses not being accepted as respectable members of the society, Lord Ellis would never marry her. She is very much surprised when Lord Ellis later proposes. They move to Wales and get married. She has three children and lives a secluded life in a distant Welsh manor. However, she would lose her husband and children in a series of unexpected events.

Her mother and aunt have practiced some form of mesmerism, so Cordelia finds out she has a talent in that area and settles back in London to practice phreno-mesmerism, which is a technique using the hypnotisation part of mesmerism and the art to predict behaviour from the shape of skulls.

Things would get really complicated after a violent murder is committed. Cordelia would have to undergo a big test in life and would be brought to the edge of destruction.

Barbara Ewing has created a set of very rich characters and a very believable atmosphere representing 19th century England. It is somewhat appalling to read about typical behaviour against women. The narrative style is very straightforward, but this goes well with this complex storyline.

Highly recommended...