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1890s, 1905:When it comes to magic, what is real and what is an illusion?
The Magician’s Lie
What you need to know before your trail
The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. But one night she swaps her trademark saw for an axe.
When Arden’s husband is found dead later that night, the answer seems clear, most of all to young policeman Virgil Holt.
Captured and taken into custody, all seems set for Arden’s swift confession. But she has a different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless, and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is spellbinding.
Travel Guide
Janesville Iowa
This is the small town where Arden is taken and put in a police cell where she remains throughout the novel and recounts her life’s story as to how she got to where she is today.
Biltmore
Where she is going to dance for Madama Bonfanti…
“After many hours, the light in the coach changed from dappled to bright, and I raise myself to look out. We had come out of the wooded area into a law that seemed to stretch for a mile. Beautiful ,flat grass, as green as an emerald, the lies of which I’d never seen”
The grey stone walls soared up, impossible high, into sharp turrets, The roof itself was steeply gabled, and the lowest floor was marked out with a series of arches, a single one of which could have embraced out entire houses back home” The doors open so that she thinks there’s magic behind them but then she realises that there are probably servants behind them!
New York City
New York City was not an easy place to live in 1896. Maybe it never has been. Life there is dark and noisy and crowded. In Tennessee, , I had become acquainted mostly with the smell of dirty and horses and hay; at Biltmore , grass and soap and roses. Here every smell was on top of each other.”
She is excited by the theaters here who nee performers to dance on their stage every night – The Casino Theater is where she sees the musical The Belle of New York and marvels at the horrendously naught song. The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre at 1404 Broadway, at West 39th Street . Built in 1882, it was a leading presenter of mostly musicals and operettas until it closed in 1930. It’s the Metropolitan Opera House where her New York career really takes off.
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
This is a tale of mystery and mayhem. A female illusionist does the cutting a man in half trick but instead of the trick, she is supposed to use an axe for he’s found dead. And it’s her ex husband so the picture looks clear doesn’t it? From the mysterious and gory start, then we head to the cells and then back across the country from one theatre to another, on the stage on the side lines and more. I love the thrill of the theatre and seeing it through the eyes of a magician meant that you were never really sure who was just off stage or who had done what.
It was a suspenseful read from start to finish. It did slow in the middle but not enough that I didn’t want to know what happened and who had done the deed. The magic kept my attention and i didn’t want to take my eye of the stage so to speak incase I missed a clue or slight of hand. The descriptions of the theatres of the illusions and the world of magic, the touring from one state, one town to another was a joy. From the excitement of the theatre the mood quietened with the clink of the jail cell. A nice contrast which held the pace nicely.
Holt meanwhile was an interesting character whose story weaved into that of the magicians. I enjoyed the questioning and trying to get into a world of magic was no easy feat. The magician’s story is one of heartbreak and the unexpected and when curtain fell, I had my mouth open and shock etched on my face.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Magician’s Lie
Author/Guide: Greer Macallister Destination:Iowa, Janesville, Departure Time: 1890s, 1905
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