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A review by debussy
The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story by Kate Summerscale
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The Haunting of Alma Fielding is a well done piece of non-fiction. Not overly dry, written with a quick pace in mind, and never condescending to its main cast of characters. The book itself is interested in the spiritualism of England in the late 1930s, which is a country on the cusp of war, and on Nandor Fodor, a man who believed that poltergeists were not hauntings so much as they were the physical manifestation of trauma.
Alma Fielding comes into Nandor Fodor's life just as he's faced with a libel suit for besmirching spiritualism, offering him the investigation of a lifetime. At first, Alma seems like the real deal--a woman haunted. A true medium. But is she? As the book dives deeper into Alma and her life, it takes another hard look at the spiritualist movement of the early 20th century. Why are so many mediums girls and women, and why are they so often broken in some way? It dives into her life much like Nandor did in the 1930s, and at the end it gut punches you.
I wish more people had been there for Alma when she needed them, and I'm glad this book became her champion in a way, however late.
Alma Fielding comes into Nandor Fodor's life just as he's faced with a libel suit for besmirching spiritualism, offering him the investigation of a lifetime. At first, Alma seems like the real deal--a woman haunted. A true medium. But is she? As the book dives deeper into Alma and her life, it takes another hard look at the spiritualist movement of the early 20th century. Why are so many mediums girls and women, and why are they so often broken in some way? It dives into her life much like Nandor did in the 1930s, and at the end it gut punches you.
I wish more people had been there for Alma when she needed them, and I'm glad this book became her champion in a way, however late.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty