Publication Date: January 15, 2015 Palladino Books Formats: eBook, Paperback Genre:
Historical Fantasy
Italy 1899: Fiery-tempered, erotic medium Alessandra Poverelli levitates a table at a Spiritualist séance in Naples. A reporter photographs the miracle, and wealthy, skeptical, Jewish psychiatrist Camillo Lombardi arrives in Naples to investigate. When she materializes the ghost of his dead mother, he risks his reputation and fortune to finance a tour of the Continent, challenging the scientific and academic elite of Europe to test Alessandra’s mysterious powers. She will help him rewrite Science. His fee will help her escape her sadistic husband Pigotti and start a new life in Rome. Newspapers across Europe trumpet her Cinderella story and baffling successes, and the public demands to know – does the “Queen of Spirits” really have supernatural powers? Nigel Huxley is convinced she’s simply another vulgar, Italian trickster. The icy, aristocratic detective for England’s Society for the Investigation of Mediums launches a plot to trap and expose her. The Vatican is quietly digging up her childhood secrets, desperate to discredit her supernatural powers; her abusive husband Pigotti is coming to kill her; and the tarot cards predict catastrophe. Praised by Kirkus Reviews as an “enchanting and graceful narrative” that absorbs readers from the very first page, The Witch of Napoli masterfully resurrects the bitter 19th century battle between Science and religion over the possibility of an afterlife.
Praise for The Witch of Napoli
"Impressive...an enchanting, graceful narrative that absorbs readers from the first page." -Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Michael Schmicker is an investigative journalist and nationally-known writer on the paranormal. He's been a featured guest on national broadcast radio talk shows, including twice on Coast to Coast AM (560 stations in North America, with 3 million weekly listeners). He also shares his investigations through popular paranormal webcasts including Skeptiko, hosted by Alex Tsakiris; Speaking of Strange with Joshua Warren; the X-Zone, with Rob McConnell (Canada); and he even spent an hour chatting with spoon-bending celebrity Uri Geller on his program Parascience and Beyond (England). He is the co-author of The Gift, ESP: The Extraordinary Experiences of Ordinary People (St. Martin's Press). The Witch of Napoli is his debut novel. Michael began his writing career as a crime reporter for a suburban Dow-Jones newspaper in Connecticut, and worked as a freelance reporter in Southeast Asia for three years. He has also worked as a stringer for Forbes magazine, and Op-Ed contributor to The Wall Street Journal Asia. His interest in investigating the paranormal began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand where he first encountered a non-Western culture which readily accepts the reality of ghosts and spirits, reincarnation, psychics, mediums, divination,and other persistently reported phenomena unexplainable by current Science. He lives and writes in Honolulu, Hawaii, on a mountaintop overlooking Waikiki and Diamond Head.
Connect with Michael Schmicker on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
My Thoughts
The Witch of Napoli is a fascinating look into the world of magic and occult. Based on a famous medium, Eusapia Palladino, from Italy in the mid 1800's. In this story the protagonist is Tommaso Labella, a reporter who spends time with Alessandra Poverelli on her travels as medium. She has been known to levitate tables and during her seances she speaks to the dead. Can she really do this? The head of England's Society for the Investigation of Medium believes that Alessandra is nothing but a charlatan and wants to prove this by subjecting her to numerous tests to see if there are any tricks used in her seances.
Tommaso narrates the story and through him we learn that Alessandra was born into poverty, has a husband that beats her and only uses her for what he can gain. Tommaso accompanies Alessandra across Europe when she is asked to prove what she can do to the many skeptics that are trying to prove her false. This is at a time when people are fascinated with magic and the occult, where famous people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes believe.
I rather enjoyed this book, I found it to be fast paced and I didn't know that this was based on a real person until I finished the book. The author used a lot of quotes, descriptions and observations from the investigations into Eusapia Palladino to make the story believable. I am not a skeptic so I loved learning about this interesting person of history. I think the author did a remarkable job of intertwining fact and fiction to tell a story of a time when science in Victorian times relied on a few noted scientists and religious beliefs. I think a lot of people at that time believed in seances because the population did not live a long time because of diseases and epidemics, and any connection to a deceased loved one was important.
A very enjoyable read, I recommend this book highly!
I received a copy for review and was not monetarily compensated for said review.
The Witch of Napoli Blog Tour Schedule
Monday, February 16
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, February 17
Review at Book Babe
Wednesday, February 18
Review at 100 Pages a Day - Stephanie's Book Reviews
Thursday, February 19
Review & Giveaway at A Dream Within a Dream
Interview at Books and Benches
Saturday, February 21
Spotlight at Flashlight Commentary
Sunday, February 22
Review at Carole's Ramblings
Monday, February 23
Review & Giveaway at A Literary Vacation
Interview at Boom Baby Reviews
Tuesday, February 24
Guest Post & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews
Wednesday, February 25
Review at Book Nerd
Friday, February 27
Spotlight at Let Them Read Books
Saturday, February 28
Spotlight at I Heart Reading
Monday, March 2 Review at A Book Drunkard
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Obsession
Tuesday, March 3
Review at Unshelfish
Wednesday, March 4
Review at Carpe Librum
Thursday, March 5
Interview at Carpe Librum
Friday, March 6
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Monday, March 9
Review at Just One More Chapter
Tuesday, March 10
Review at CelticLady's Reviews
Wednesday, March 11
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book
Thursday, March 12
Review at Dianne Ascroft Blog
Tuesday, March 17
Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book
Wednesday, March 18
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection
Thursday, March 19 Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views
Friday, March 20 Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee
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