Publication Date: January 15, 2015Palladino 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.
My review:
5 stars
Copy received from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review
Once I started "The Witch of Napoli" by Michael Schmicker I couldn't put it down. The first sentence "Alessandra is dead" perfectly set the tone for the story that was to follow. We learn that Alessandra is a is a Spiritualist. The voice of the story is told in the first person about who Alessandra is as a woman and as a spiritualist. As different characters enter the story they all become impacted by Alessandra. Although her fame is rising her life also becomes impacted by different characters that either want to defraud her or want to take advantage of her powers.
There were different things I loved about this story. One I loved the premise. A "witch" as the center of the plot intrigued me. Two, I loved the first person narrative about Alessandra. I liked that we got to see her story through someone else's eyes. Alessandra's mystic and charisma is a big hook of not only the story but what draws different characters to her. Finally, the story never lagged. It was interesting from start to finish and although I knew the ending it left me sad to see her story end.
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.
The Witch of Napoli Blog Tour Schedule
Monday, February 16Spotlight & 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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