Seduction (Reincarnationist #5) by M.J. Rose

 

Summary (from the publisher): From the author of The Book of Lost Fragrances comes a haunting novel about a grieving woman who discovers the lost journal of novelist Victor Hugo, awakening a mystery that spans centuries.

In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo’s beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, Hugo began participating in hundreds of séances to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with the likes of Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the Devil himself. Hugo’s transcriptions of these conversations have all been published. Or so it was believed.

Recovering from her own losses, mythologist Jac L’Etoile arrives on the Isle of Jersey—where Hugo conducted the séances—hoping to uncover a secret about the island’s Celtic roots. But the man who’s invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, has hopes she’ll help him discover something quite different—Hugo’s lost conversations with someone called the Shadow of the Sepulcher.

What follows is an intricately plotted and atmospheric tale of suspense with a spellbinding ghost story at its heart.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was quite a ride! An intricate but very bizarre dual narrative. In one timeline, it is 1843 and novelist Victor Hugo's beloved daughter has drowned. He ultimately becomes obsessed with seances to try to make contact with her. Along the way, he begins communicating with the devil. In present day, mythologist Jac L'Etoile is visiting the Isle of Jersey, the same location where Hugo conducted his seances, to meet up with a man with a troubled past that she knows from her youth. Jac slowly learns that her childhood love Theo is troubled because he is haunted by one of his past lives. 

It is hard to discuss much of this book without giving away spoilers. But it is a complicated ghost story with the premise that some of the characters have been reincarnated from previous lives. In Victor Hugo's timeline, he is constantly tempted by the devil to sacrifice someone in exchange for his daughter's soul being sent to reinhabit the sacrificed individual's body. This book takes us from present day to the mid 1800s and some chapters go all the way back to 56 BCE. 

This book requires huge amounts of suspension of disbelief. The plot is just really out there. While I deeply appreciate that the Victor Hugo storyline was based on actual history, both Hugo's actual history and the Victorian obsession with trying to commune with spirits, I personally have more of an eye rolling stance on ouija boards and seances overall. I also was hoping the two storylines would be woven together a bit more securely by the conclusion and other than the location, which was relevant to characters from Hugo's time period, the two narratives just weren't super connected. 

This is a great example to never judge a book by its cover. The title and cover art lead me to believe this would be a passionate love story. In reality, it is a detailed and very bizarre ghost story. 

Stars: 3