{"product_id":"9781914585524-fascination","title":"The Fascination","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER . This year's most bewitching, beguiling Victorian gothic novel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe estranged grandson of a wealthy collector of human curiosities becomes fascinated with teenaged twin sisters, leading them into a web of dark obsessions. A dazzlingly dark gothic novel from the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Somnambulist.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe estranged grandson of a wealthy collector of human curiosities becomes fascinated with teenaged twin sisters, leading them into a web of dark obsessions. A dazzlingly dark gothic novel from the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Somnambulist. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'Makes skilful use of the tropes of Victorian gothic fiction… a story of society’s outsiders seeking acceptance and redemption' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘An inventive slice of gothic fiction, big-hearted and full of strangeness’ \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A dazzling kaleidoscope of darkness and light' \u003cb\u003eLaura Purcell\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A magical, macabre masterpiece’ \u003cb\u003eA.J. West\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Brimming with Victorian wonders!’ \u003cb\u003eSean Lusk\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ________________________________\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eVictorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions…\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn't grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father's quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know…\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, \u003ci\u003eThe Fascination\u003c\/i\u003e is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath…\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ________________________________\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Fascinating and immersive’ \u003cb\u003eAnna Mazzola\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘It had me spellbound’ \u003cb\u003eLouisa Treger \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A wonderful, captivating carnival of a novel’ \u003cb\u003eElizabeth Fremantle\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Essie Fox’s best novel to date – weaves terrors with triumphs, heartache with hope’ \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCulturefly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A scintillating cabinet of curiosities’ \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A cast of characters Dickens would be proud of’ \u003cb\u003eFrances Quinn\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Rich, dark and heady … a glorious gothic carnival’ \u003cb\u003eKate Griffin\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'Magnificent . a triumph'\u003cb\u003e Dinah Jefferies\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A tender, beautifully written meditation on what it meant in Victorian times to be an outsider'\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHistorical Novel Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'Darkly gothic, but surprisingly tender . rendered with such magical and often terrifying authenticity. A marvel' \u003cb\u003eDamian Dibben  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Filled with gothic darkness and glorious hope’ \u003cb\u003eLiz Fenwick\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Full of horrors and delights’ \u003cb\u003eBridget Walsh\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  ‘An opium trance of a novel, a vivid fantasmagoria’ \u003cb\u003eNoel O’Reilly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Deliciously dark, full of twists and surprises’ \u003cb\u003eLiz Hyder\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'What a triumph!' \u003cb\u003eEmma Curtis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Very fine historical fiction’ \u003cb\u003eEmma Carroll\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Truly unexpected and original’\u003cb\u003e Kate Forsyth\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A dizzying potion of a novel’ \u003cb\u003ePolly Crosby\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘\u003c\/b\u003eA sumptuous, gothic treat’ \u003cb\u003eCaroline Green\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Exceptional storytelling’ \u003cb\u003eNydia Hetherington\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘I loved this group of wonderful “others”’ \u003cb\u003eMarika Cobbold\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'An exquisite novel'\u003cb\u003e Erika Mailman \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Haunting and emotive’ \u003cb\u003eGill Paul\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A twisty, gothic treat … wild and wonderful cast of characters’ \u003cb\u003eRebecca John\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Rich in peril, tempered with strange, theatrical beauty’ \u003cb\u003eKate Mascarenhas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'Buy it. Read it. Love it!'\u003cb\u003e Eleanor Anstruther\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40836366106721,"sku":"9781914585524","price":12.05,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_31823065.jpg?v=1734618582","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781914585524-fascination","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}