Wow this is a gothic humdinger of a read and not only was it a brilliant it also had heaps of really interesting and fascinating information.
The story is told by two characters Lenna Wicks who I has become an apprentice to the well known spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire and is trying to find out more about her sisters death and also Mr Morley who is vice president of the London Seance Society and that for me worked really well.
I really enjoyed this book I loved the atmosphere of Victorian London, seances and tales of false props being used and ghosts being conjured up by fake mediums it was fascinating to read of the trickery that was used. The story has a bit of everything an excellent mystery, weird and wonderful happenings, fabulous characters and add to all that some romance….. well what more could you ask for !
So a fabulous read , entertaining throughout I loved it and would highly recommend it as one not to miss.
My thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the premise of this book, and the beginning was promising. It is 1873 and Lenna Wickes is a trainee spiritualist with Vaudeline D’Allaire. Lenna’s sister, Evie, was found murdered in the garden of her parents small hotel and, although she is not a believer, she is looking for answers. Evie was fascinated by spiritualism and her interest has led to Lenna turning to D’Allaire, a medium famed for conjuring the spirits of murder victims.

D’Allaire left London after suspecting fraudulent activity in the London Séance Society. The story then switches to London and Mr Morley, the Vice-President of the Society. Morley writes to D’Allaire, asking her to return to London as the President, Mr Wolckman, has been found murdered. Lenna travels back to London with her and soon discovers that Mr Morley knew her sister, Evie, leading her to question his possible involvement and motives for asking D’Allaire to return to the city.

There is much soul-searching by Lenna about her sister, her friend, who also died too young and with whom she was secretly in love, and about women’s place in Victorian society. However, much of the storyline felt a little dragged out and the finale, when it came, felt something of a let-down. In the opening scene, there is a whole build-up to a séance in a deserted chateau and then a messenger arrives with a letter, breaking the spell. I feel that breaking of the spell happened just too often for me to want to stay with it and the beginning should have warned me of possible disappointment. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

I really enjoyed this one! I'd really hoped I would, as I loved Sarah Penner's first book, but it was really good to have it confirmed!

I loved the historical setting, in Paris and London in 1873, and the feminist overtones of the story.

The two character perspectives were fascinating - I'd expected Lenna's perspective, but from reading the synopsis, I'd expected the second perspective to be Vaudeline. However, it was actually Mr Morley, which was certainly an interesting one to follow.

Lenna was a great character to follow. With her naturally scientific and logical brain, her scepticism towards the seances was really interesting, along with her eventual acceptance of them due to her experiences. There was also her emotional links, due to her sister's unsolved murder, and her desire to exact justice to the person who killed Evie.

I found the plot to be intriguing, yet a little bit disjointed. Because there were so many flashbacks to previous events that were introduced as memories, it was sometimes a little difficult to follow, as you'd be invested in a scene, the perspective character would retreat into their memories, then suddenly be back in the present. I would have rather had separate chapters of previous events rather than the memory flashbacks, but I did get used to the style by about 25% in.

However, the reveals were perfectly timed, and I enjoyed the rollercoaster this book took me on.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I'm looking forward to whatever else Sarah Penner puts out into the world!

Nothing i love more than a good story around ghost. Add in murders and mystery and fun characters and i am completely sold. This one is a super fun read, i do think it started abit slow but once i got into it, i was hooked.

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley, the publisher, the author and everyone involved in allowing me early access to this ebook. I’m always grateful for every early access I’m conceded but this one was extra special, as I was wishing to read this book since I’ve known it was coming out.

TW: murder, rape attempt, descriptions of blood and wounds

I loved so much “The lost apothecary” that I knew I didn’t need to read the synopsis to want to read Sarah’s next book and this is still true after finishing this one. I don’t know what Sarah will write next, but I already know I want to read it.

This is historical fiction, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea (but really, what genre is? We are all so different and appreciate different narratives that is very unlikely for a book to please everyone) but I encourage everyone to give Sarah a try, either with this book or with the first one. Sarah’s historical fiction narratives are also very empowering towards women, which is something I tend to enjoy in fiction. I know that reality back then was different, but there’s so much we don’t know about women’s realities that we can guess some of the female empowering movements had ancient roots, with little acts of rebellion. I’m rumbling a lot, but I hope this will give you the curiosity to try Sarah’s books.

In “The London Séance Society” we follow a medium, Vaudeline, and her apprentice, Lenna. Vaudeline is known for doing séances of murder victims to try and catch their murder. Lenna has recently lost her sister and wants to know who is responsible for her death, hence she joins Vaudeline in an effort to learn the séance art.

The first half of the book is very slow paced, which worked very well in establishing the setting for the narrative. There’s this dark vibe of ghosts that reminded me a little of gothic novels, which I enjoy a lot, so it was a very pleasant read in that sense. Then, there’s the murders and the overall mystery that adds the suspense from thriller books, which I also enjoy a lot. I feel like the setting was so well achieved that, by the time the mysteries started to being revealed, we, as readers, are so involved in figuring out what happened that can’t put the book down. I don’t say everything was a huge surprise, which might be a consequence of the slow paced narrative, that gave me time to figure out how things would unfold, but it was, for sure, very nice to see all the pieces fall into place at the end.

This review will also be available on my Goodreads profile and, later on, on my Instagram account - @cat.literary.world

I was so excited to read The London Seance Society after absoloutely adoring The Lost Apothecary.

We follow Lenna who has travelled to Paris after her sisters death to try and find answers, here she teams up with spiritualist Vaudaline as they head to London to try and uncover the mystery of the London Seance Society.

Whilst I enjoyed the story, I found it a little slow, but the atmosphere and worldbuilding were great.

Thank you to Netgalley and Legend Press for the chance to read The London Seance Society.

I absolutely loved The Lost Apothecary when I read it in 2021 and it was one of my favorite books that year. I've been so excited for this book since the very first time that I saw Sarah Penner post about it online.

The London Séance Society is full of mystery & intrigue surrounding the afterlife. It's about the modes of communication we use to communicate with loved ones after their passing & how people throughout time have manipulated people & their senses into believing in fake practices that mirror the real deal.

Whether or not you believe in this kind of communication, I think you'll really enjoy this book! It starts off on the heels of grief & follows Lenna through her own process of dealing with the grief. The book takes so many twists & turns that had me on the edge of my seat almost the entire time I was reading!

If you loved The Lost Apothecary for the overall theme of female empowerment, you will find that in this one as well. I was very excited to find references to LGBTQ+ characters throughout the book & their involvements in the plot. I certainly wasn't expecting it because the book takes place in the 1800's but I think the inclusion was done very well!

I absolutely LOVED this book, as I knew that I would. It's early in the year, but this is already a contender for one of my favorite books of 2023!

Thank you to NetGalley, Legend Press, and Sarah Penner for allowing me to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I generally liked this book, but didn’t love it. I would consider it well-written and it featured an interesting storyline and premise, which is what initially drew me to it. Maybe I’m just not a huge reader of historical fiction, but in my opinion, the story dragged on just a little too long in some spots, and was just missing a little “oomph” overall. I will definitely pick up Penney’s next novel in hopes she writes another intriguing storyline.
I do think this could be made successfully into a series or movie- and would love to see that happen.
Thank you NetGalley and Legend Press for an ARC of this novel!
3/5

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

This book falls between a three and a four star read for me. The premise was very exciting, and while it did pay off, the pacing was slow enough that some may feel as though it drags more than it builds. It just felt as if same places could’ve been edited more and verged into rambling territory. However the atmosphere was well written and it did connect well with the reader. I would definitely recommend this to lovers of sapphic books, victorian era stories, and lovers of a good murder mystery.

I am a fan of Sarah penners work and continue to enjoy her writing immensely.

I did struggle to get into the swing of the story but once you’re used to the language of the time, the character’s suck you into their story and you can’t help but read on!

The plot twists in this book were phenomenal and more than one that I never saw coming!

There were many jaw dropping moments scattered throughout the story along with some scandalous romance for the time the story was set in.

I loved every word of this book and hopefully we’ll get to see more of Lenna and Vaudeline in a new installment!

I was keen to read this book as I enjoyed Sarah Penners The Lost Apothecary so much. This one has a Victorian setting and is focused on the Victorian belief in being able to contact the dead through seances. It kept me on the edge of my seat

A beautiful, evocative historical fiction that ticks all the boxes for me. Loved it. Once you start you’ll want to read on to see what happens next!

Well, the elements seem to be all there - a spiritualist who calls up murder victims so they can name their killer, and young woman seeking the killer of her spiritualist sister, a London society of male spiritualists and, of course, lots of suspicious happenings, and lots of smug, overbearing men. Stir and it should be all very exciting and suspenseful, right? Unfortunately I found it incredibly tedious. Everything was explained to death and nothing ever happened, And though about. And explained some more. And thought about some more. And reexplained. Oh, let's think some more.... The characters were hard to get emotionally invested in. When you find yourself rooting for the bad ghosties, there's probably something wrong. The story finally come to a grand finale of sorts at the end, but by then I no longer cared much.

As soon as I read what this book was about, I knew I just had to read it. It certainly sparked my spiritual interest, and I devoured it.

Paris 1873, Lenna Wickes is spiritual understudy to the renowned French medium Vaudeline D’Allaire. They are about to conduct a séance, in France.
Mr Morley, 1873, in London. Vice president of The London séance society. He knows Vaudeline, their paths have crossed. Will they cross again?

As a reader who enjoys a spiritual based book, I was in my element with this.
The Victorian era was renowned for its fascination with the afterlife, they had a lot of curiosity about the subject.
I enjoyed this late nineteenth century tale, and my eager interest was held throughout.
The authors note at the end of the book was very good too.
This is the first book I have read by the author, Sarah Penner. I will certainly read more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions of the book are entirely my own.

I picked this up because I enjoyed [book:The Lost Apothecary|53288434] by Sarah Penner and wanted to give this one a try. I wasn't disappointed as I found it to be a real page turner. The book is set in 1873, late in the Victorian era, when seances had become very popular and people had a general fascination with the occult and with talking to departed loved ones.

Lenna Wickes' sister, Evie, has recently been murdered. Before her death she had been obsessed with everything surrounding seances, and had studied with an internationally known medium, Vaudeline, whose specialty is contacting those who have been murdered. Although Lenna doesn't believe in this nonsense, she goes to Paris and studies under Vaudeline as well in hopes of conducting a seance to reach her sister and find out who killed her. Then there is the murder of the President of the London Seance Society, an exclusive gentlemen's organization with a strong reputation for holding seances and contacting the deceased. However, lately there have been rumors that something is not right in the organization and some customers are dissatisfied.

The story is told in the viewpoints of Lenna and Mr. Morley, a member of the London Seance Society. There are quite a few surprises in the book and I kept finding unexpected outcomes. I liked Lenna's persistance and bravery in pursuing her quest to find out who murdered her sister. Vaudeline was an interesting character. Ther rules for her seances were very elaborate - unlike those of the London Seance Society.

The author's notes at the end of the book gave more details of her research and the basis for the story. I thought it was interesting that Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle were members of a Ghost society.

Thanks to Legend Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on March 21, 2023.

While a promising premise, the book didn't catch my interest - the narration was too slow and even though I love books with ghosts and seances I didn't enjoy the writing enough to get sucked in. If people enjoyed her previous book they may still like this one, but I think it's weaker for sure.

I was hoping The London Séance Society would be just as good as The Lost Apothecary. It was better! You can tell immediately the amount of research that went into this novel. It also took me by surprise multiple times. The twists kept coming long after I thought most everything had been revealed.
I don't really care for full-on fantasy or horror; I prefer magical realism. True to the everyday with bits of the otherworldly added here and there. This was just right for that.
Here's hoping that Sarah Penner keeps writing these entertaining books that have me hooked!

Thank you, Legend Press, for an ARC of The London Séance Society By Sarah Penner. I must confess I have not read The last Apothecary but I have heard good things, so I was excited to receive this.
It’s 1873 Lenna Wilkes has come to London to find out about the death of her sister Evie who was fan of Spiritualism and Seances. Lenna Wilkes herself is the understudy for the world renown medium Vaudeline D’Allaire who solves the murders of the dead. She lives in Paris. She has been asked by The London Seance Society to solve the murder of the president of the society and also an old friend of the women. When they both come to London and stage a séance the information, they receive may also solve the case of Lenna’s sisters Evie’s murder too.
I am a big fan of Historical fiction set in Victorian London and with the added bonus of a story about the supernatural and spiritualism. What’s not to love? Although a bit slow at first this is an intriguing and atmospheric tale, of Lenna finding out the truth about her sisters murder, but, what is really going on at The London Séance society. I really enjoyed this tale of suspense and it has a satisfying conclusion at the end. 4 stars from me.

Sara Penner does it again! This gothic, historical book not only was filled with mystery but also a love story. Is it the truth or is it an illusion; you will have to read the book to find out!

1873, Paris. Vaudeline D'Allaire is famous worldwide for her skills in clairvoyance and assisting families of murdered relatives to uncover the identity of the person who killed their beloved. Lenna Wickes is granted a position as Vaudeline's understudy and attends séances with her to learn the craft. Lenna is sceptical of the afterlife and only joins Vaudeline in the hope of discovering how and why her sister Evie was murdered on All Hallows Eve in London.

On receipt of a letter announcing the murder of her friend and director of The London Séance Society, Vaudeline returns to London with Lenna in tow to hold a secret Séance to discover hidden truths.

I was very excited to read this ARC ebook, the setting, subject and characters sounded both original and exciting. Unfortunately this book didn't work for me. I found it was a slow burner, which then fizzled out for me as I guessed early on the twist and connections between the Characters and had hoped that I would be proven wrong with my guesses. I just felt a lot of this book was very drawn out and underwhelming. On a positive note the pace and story definitely picked up in the last few chapters, but for me it was a case of too little, too late.