Starred review from March 4, 2024
In Lowkis’s magnificent debut, a spooky scam hatched by a pair of spiritist sisters in 1866 Paris causes them to reexamine their beliefs. As young girls, sisters Charlotte and Sylvie helped to support their family by staging séances for the gullible and bereaved. Sylvie, now in her mid-20s, is the reputable wife of a baron when Charlotte, six years her junior, cajoles her into fulfilling a request from the noble de Jacquinot family to make contact with an ancestor killed during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. The de Jacquinots’ frail and sheltered daughter, Florence, is the only one in the family who claims to have seen the ghost, which the others are intent on contacting in hopes it will lead them to a family treasure. As the sisters become involved, they’re surprised to witness actual evidence of paranormal activity. Lowkis skillfully orchestrates the contentious relationship between Sylvie and Charlotte, each of whom resort to subterfuges and schemes, and pulls off a series of surprising twists that completely change the shape of the story. It’s an auspicious first outing from a writer to watch. Agent: Ginger Clark, Ginger Clark Literary.
April 1, 2024
Lowkis' twisty debut plays with the conventions of the gothic novel in a tale that pits two ambitious sisters against each other. In mid-19th century Paris, Sylvie and Charlotte Mothe have grown up practicing the art of fleecing their wealthy neighbors by pretending to be mediums. But when their compassionate mother dies, leaving them in the care of their alcoholic father, Sylvie, the elder sister, sets her sights on landing a rich husband, abandoning Charlotte in the process. When Charlotte approaches Sylvie with a proposal for a final con, this one involving a ghost supposedly haunting the dissolute de Jacquinot family, Sylvie resists at first but ultimately can't resist using the skills she has developed, only to begin to wonder whether the ghost they are facing is more real than she suspected. Midway through the novel, Lowkis switches from Sylvie's point of view to Charlotte's and backtracks in time, bringing a surprising new perspective to the events that have transpired. A romantic attraction between Charlotte and the youngest member of the de Jacquinot family, the determined Florence, adds a spicy complication to the seances, which focus on the alleged appearance and ghostly actions of Florence's departed great-aunt Sabine, who died during the Revolution. While the story drags a bit as it approaches the finish line, and a lurid ending changes its darkly comic tone, readers should enjoy the juicy details of post-Revolution Paris, the insider information on how to conduct a haunting, the echoes of Perrault's fairy tales--including the one about a good sister and a bad one that gives the novel its title--and the complicated relationship between the two sisters, the details of whose history emerges along with that of their wealthier targets. A deliciously convoluted tale of layered deceptions.
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May 1, 2024
When she married, the Baroness Sylvie Devereux abandoned her family's deceptive past as spiritualists. Then, in 1866 Paris, she is visited by her estranged sister, Charlotte Mothe, who begs Sylvie to help her with one last con, a s�ance for an aristocratic family convinced their house is haunted by a great-aunt who was murdered during the French Revolution. Grandfather Ardoir de Jacquinot believes his ancestor has come back to find her lost jewels, and, though brother Maximilion insists the sightings are a hoax, daughter Florence believes she sees a ghost every night. The sisters use all their old tricks to make the family believe the ghost is real, but then strange things start to happen--Florence begins to speak in tongues, and the sitting-room paintings are slashed. Told in two parts as each sister relates her view of the events, this atmospheric tale has twists, schemes, and surprises that will keep the reader guessing until the last page. Recommended for readers of Sarah Waters and Sarah Penner and those who love their historicals blended with the gothic.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.