Best BookTrail of the Month – June 2023

Submitted: 1st July 2023

Best BookTrail of the Month – June 2023

June’s pick was obvious from the moment I read it. I have loved this author’s previous book and wondered if this was going to be more of the same magical writing or not. Well, dear reader, it was. And it blew me away!

Why this won June ‘s Book (Trail) of the Month

Location – Bristol

Setting – the days of the power of photography and film

Characters – Cecily Marsden’ and Eadie Carleton

Overall – wonderfully imaginative and a homage to the illusions all around us

Drum roll please…..

The plot:

Bristol, 1896. Used to scraping a living as the young assistant to an ageing con artist, Cecily Marsden’s life is turned upside down when her master suddenly dies. Believing herself to blame, could young Cec somehow have powers she little understands?

Meanwhile Eadie Carleton, a pioneering early film-maker, struggles for her talent to be taken seriously in a male-dominated world, and a brilliant young magician, George Perris, begins to see the potential in moving pictures. George believes that if he can harness this new technology, it will revolutionise the world of magic forever – but in order to achieve his dreams, he must first win over Miss Carleton . . .

As a group of illusionists prepare for a grand spectacle, Cec, Eadie and George’s worlds collide. But Cec soon finds herself facing the fight of her life to save the performance from sabotage – and harness the element of real magic held deep within her . . .

THE ILLUSIONS is the captivating new novel from the much-lauded author of THE GIFTS. Inspired by real-life illusionists and early film pioneers, this astonishing story of women and talent, magic and power, sweeps you into a world where anything is possible and nothing is quite as it seems . . .

Short review:

A wonderfully descriptive book and cover! And since the book is all about magic, moving pictures and tricks in general, then this is very apt. The world of magic and illusions awaits and it’s a wonderfully theatrical novel with so many rich characters. It’s set at the early stages of when moving pictures were becoming big news and when magicians were honing their crafts with new ideas. Plenty of charlatans about too.

I love this writer’s work and her imagination is just wonderful!