Mrs. Houdini / Victoria Kelly

Ambitious young magician Harry Houdini and teenaged singer-dancer Bess meet on the fairground at Coney Island and marry. They form an inseparable pair that rises from a small travelling circus act to exclusive performances in front of foreign royalty. Along the way, they pioneer the art of escapology, execute increasingly complex stunts, appear in movies and expose spiritualists, becoming internationally famous.

They remain together until Harry's death... But to Bess, this doesn't mean the end: she and Harry made a solemn vow that the first to pass on would contact the other from beyond the veil, and agreed on a code to guarantee the message's authenticity against the tricks of fraudulent mediums. Driven by the overwhelming pain of losing her life's companion, she makes countless attempts at opening a channel between them.

Basing herself on genuine incidents and facts about the Houdinis, Victoria Kelly imagines Bess's life as a heartbroken, financially struggling widow in her 50s who sees her sincere hope of ever encountering her late husband on this plane of existence fade away.

After nearly falling for the ruse of a charming "medium" who had obtained the secret code through dishonest means, Bess stumbles across images the contain fragments of a second code, which the spouses had settled upon in case this very thing should happen. She discovers that these photos were taken by the same man and refuses to think that this could be a coincidence. Are these simply the delusions of a desperate woman for whom the pain of loss is still unbearable, or could she be right? Bess goes in search of the photographer and sets about piecing together what she believes to be Harry's final message to her.

Despite her occasional immaturity, credulity and impulsiveness, I'm very fond of the character Bess becomes under the pen of Victoria Kelly: gutsy, with a mixture of self-confidence and doubt, she's portrayed as vulnerable without seeming pathetic. We all know that behind every great man is a woman, and this is the story of one such; Bess is Harry's centre, his constant source of support and strength.

Through a series of flashbacks, we get to observe Harry and Bess at different stages in their marriage, to see how they work out their relationship as they get to know each other, which most couples do before getting married (in the novel, their wedding takes place the day after they meet). Although their complicity develops, we can also perceive how the evolution of Harry's acts, his tireless refinement of his art, brings about a shift away from their on-stage partnership. As magic takes up more and more of Harry's time and energy, Bess feels superfluous, and we watch the distance between them slowly, almost imperceptibly widen — but although the chain that binds them may tauten, it never snaps.

I thought Victoria Kelly did an excellent job at remaining coherent and realistic in the scenes between Harry and Bess (both their tender moments and their arguments), taking into account the fact that they got married without knowing each other, but remained married all this time because they were genuinely in love. It's obvious that she did extensive research, but she didn't stop at gathering facts; she also imagined the intimate lives of her main characters, filling in details of Harry and Bess's story and relationship in a credible way. 

This debut novel, which blends historical fiction with a touch of magic, was a wonderful read! I genuinely think it would make a wonderful movie, especially with Alison Sudol as Bess.

I borrowed this book from my local library.

Rating: ***½