GENRE: Gothic, Historical Fiction, Chiller
AUTHOR: Laura Lee Bahr
“The Knocking: A Novel”
RELEASE DATE: 07/14/26
Hardcover:
ISBN/SKU: 9781662542220
Publication Date: 07/14/26
Price: $28.99
ISBN/SKU: 9781662537745
Publication Date: 07/14/26
Price: $16.99
E-book
ISBN: 9781662537738
Publication Date: 07/14/26
Price: $5.99
Soaked and weather-weary, journalist Edith Anne Howe (E. A.) arrives at an erratic rural home in disarray that remains hesitant to receive her.
A sickly matron suspects her doctor of poisoning her, yet demands the constant spiritual presence of her deceased children, and in so, refuses to complete the grief process. This is cemented by her husband, the father of these children, who is a respected publisher of a successful newspaper. He encourages and enables this constant contact.
Housekeeping staff struggles to accept E. A.’s consistent and continued rejection of motherly pursuits.
A tween medium detests being in the house and misses her home, yet must fulfill her contractual obligations. The young spiritual medium must also remain dedicated to educational pursuits. A charismatic tutor remains in the publisher’s employ.
E. A. Bears a message of great urgency to this publisher, yet continues to be dismissed at every turn. This frustrates E. A. into destroying a finely crafted editorial that she must then recreate. Some gilded linings remain in this stormy situation, from the ability to utilize the prior workstation of an idolized author that has since passed on, to the promise of a shared existence with the magnetic tutor whose golden tongue holds the gift of weaving desirable outcomes.
While E. A. manages to navigate this rocky path, she encounters much in the way of unusual medical and mental procedures, cutting-edge technologies of the time. I enjoyed Laura Lee Bahr’s foray into this mid-19th century setting and portrayal of historically accurate perceptions, misconceptions, and obstacles that aspirational women of any pursuit continue to face in the many apparitions that happen to manifest.
“The Knocking: A Novel” can be found HERE