The Spirit Photographer

Written accounts of the Civil War have been further enhanced by photographic documentation provided by Matthew Brady. In this historical fiction novel, Brady has sent an apprentice, Edward Moody, to photograph the carnage at Antietam in 1862. After viewing the photos of dead bodies and horse carcasses, woodcuts and other likenesses started to appear in newspapers. Why not raise up the dead through spiritual communication? Brokenhearted wives and mothers felt hopeless. Communicating with a lost son or husband by capturing his spirit could often promote inner peace.

In 1870, Edward Moody claimed to capture the ghost of a deceased loved one. A spectral image appeared in a photo created in his studio. Customers from all walks of life frequented his business in the hope of reconnecting with a shadowy loved one faintly appearing in the background. His fame spread despite the naysayers who tried to expose him as a fraud.

Abolitionist Senator James Garrett tried to placate wife Elizabeth by sitting for a spirit photo despite his abhorrence of Moody's methods. Elizabeth had been informed in writing, by Moody, that her son William, who died eighteen years ago, had communicated from the spirit world and she must sit for an immediate photo to be reunited with him. Development of the photo is troubling. In lieu of William's likeness, the shadowy image of a young woman appears. Moody knows her, but so does James Garrett. Garrett must obtain the negative, and soon.

"The Spirit Photographer: A Novel" by Jon Michael Varese is a novel about spirit photography, fact and fiction. A journey undertaken to the bayou interjects Reconstruction Era thinking, bounty hunting, and the practice of voodoo. For this reader, of greatest importance is continued recognition of all aspects of the Civil War Era through the medium of photography. An excellent Southern Gothic debut novel I highly recommend.

Thank you W. W. Norton & Company and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Spirit Photographer".

(Thank you Netgalley for an early reader copy)

Set in Boston not long after the end of the Civil War, "The Spirit Photographer" is the story of a man, Edward Moody, who takes "spirit photographs", which are photographs of live people, but when developed, a spirit from the people's past shows up in the picture with them. It might be a deceased relative, a friend...but Moody has developed a business catering to those who yearn for one last sight of a lost loved one. It's quite a profitable business for Mr. Moody. But when the figure of a woman shows up in the photograph of the beloved and influential Senator Garrett and his wife Elizabeth, the questions begin. Who is this woman? What is her relationship to the Senator? How did she come to be in the picture? The revelations sends the parties involved on intricate and mysterious quest. Hidden fractures in the relationship between the Senator and Elizabeth appear and get broader. The mystery of their son's death, and the disappearance of one of their servants, long suppressed, resurfaces. But the photo of the woman also has an impact on Moody, and on another spirit photographer, Winter. Ultimately the photograph will lead to a quest by Moody and Winter to find out what happened to her, a quest that takes them into Reconstruction, the underground railroad, the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, and beyond.

This book took me in an entirely different direction than I expected. I expected the story of a charlatan (which Moody was) but he also believed. There are so many connections and misdirections and mysteries in this book it can get confusing, but it is also impossible to put down. You just want to know....to know what happened to the woman, to know about the various connections and interconnections. It's an elegant piece of writing with an intricate and complex story line that will keep you riveted. Definitely a good read!