I should preface this by saying I LOVE books about witches, mediums, and especially the Spiritualist movement from the turn of the century. So yes, I was predisposed to like the mystical “Queen of Spirits”, Alessandra Poverelli, and her loyal followers, and to root against those determined to undermine her powers. Add to this the fact that it takes place in Italy, is based on a true-life story, and yes, you had me at “The Witch”.

I have read other books on this topic, and I am rarely disappointed, so I am pretty much a sure thing when it comes to this topic, as long as the story is well told, and there are no egregious grammatical errors to distract me. I think this is because, despite my natural skepticism and proofs to the contrary, mystics and psychics make me want to believe. In the case of Alessandra, my tendency to root for the underdog and to will her out of her poverty by way of magic, is strong. The battle between science and religion in the Spiritualist movement is interesting, strange and littered with also-rans and what ifs from a long line of almost-credible mediums and witches. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle got wrapped up in it at one point, so I consider myself in good company. Like the Spiritualist’s messy history, Alessandra’s story does not come with a big Hollywood ending. For me, that was completely satisfying. But you probably knew that already, right?

Updated review 7-25-2015

*Won this book courtesy of a Goodreads giveaway sponsored by Michael Schmicker.  So glad I won a copy because it was FAN-TABULOUS!*  I also received a digital review copy from NetGalley. I'm happy to provide my review to each and all. 

Oh my! Loved loved this highly entertaining, fictional account of an Italian "Queen of Spirits" and her entourage of friends, photographers, mentors, lovers, and enemies. THE WITCH OF NAPOLI turns out to be one of my favorite reads of 2015. Yes! It was THAT GOOD! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Never a dull moment when in the company of Alessandra Poverelli, whether she's levitating tables or channeling the green eyed monster known as Savaonarola. Her young friend,  Tommaso LaBella, the photographer hired to document events, is the narrator of the story and a fine character to boot. Alessandra and Tommaso compliment each other perfectly. I found their relationship endearing, often humorous. While Alessandra IS the story's subject, Tommaso often stole the show. He has a mad crush on the much older spirit medium, as do most that encounter the fiery Alessandra, and he is always at her beckon call. Tommaso also spends a great deal of his time trying to keep Alessandra out of trouble and trouble always seems to find them both in the forms of Pigotti, her abusive mobster husband, the Vatican, and an English investigator named Nigel Huxley. The possessive Pigotti wants to kill them both. The Vatican wants Alessandra to cease and desist all seance activities. If she does not, the Vatican will reveal secrets that could destroy Alessandra. Huxley, the snooty detective, is hell bent on exposing the medium as a fraudulent trickster. All this while traveling around Europe with Professor Lombardi, Alessandra's mentor and greatest champion!  So good!!

Michael Schmicker is an investigative journalist and well known writer on scientific anomalies and the paranormal. While THE WITCH OF NAPOLI is fictional, the story was inspired by the real life story of Italian medium Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918).

Happy Friday!!

Just wanted to share my excitement with all of you book lovers. In the last few weeks, I've been really fortunate when it comes to books and giveaways. If you know me well, you'll know that I'm famous for saying, If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Could it be that my luck is changing? Or have the good Karma faeries finally decided to smile upon me? How many of you are familiar with the verse: "Give, and it shall be given unto you" ?  I wholeheartedly believe this to be true because every single time I pay-it-forward, something good soon follows. Well, here's a few pics of my "something good".

Won The Mapmaker's Children through Shelf Awareness Author Buzz. Sarah McCoy, YOU ROCK! ! Thank you so much! I had so much fun opening the package you sent to me.

I won The Children Act & book tote through the Reading Group Center Summertime Sweepstakes. 

Won The Witch of Napoli through a Goodreads giveaway. 

Viper Wine was also a Goodreads giveaway.  I love the cover!

I was also a $50.00 PayPal Cash winner courtesy of the blog Mom Does Reviews.com and the #EliteCashFlash giveaway. Thanks, Victoria!!!

There ya have it, a few of my little goodies. I like to believe that Karma and the theory of Pay-it-forward might have something to do with my book fortune. Of course, I don't need to be rewarded for kindness. After all, it's easier to be kind than it is to be anything else. Try it some time. Life just may offer you a few random perks.

Interesting book about a medium during the late Victorian age and the efforts of scientists and the church to expose her as a fraud.  This book is based on a real person, Eusapia Palladino, and it spiked my interest enough that I’ll be turning to Google to find out more about her.

The narrator of the story is Tommaso, a young photographer/reporter who took a famous photo of the medium, Alessandra Poverelli, levitating a table. He’s a likeable enough character and is the source of quite a bit of humor in the book though I wish that Alessandra would have told her own story. Tommaso, even though he himself becomes very involved in the events, tells it almost as a newspaper story. . I wasn’t able to feel much connection with the characters. The book is quite well researched and detailed. The author used accounts from the actual séances performed by Eusapia Palladino and the testing done in an attempt to prove her to be a fraud and that’s the most interesting part of the book. I think this book would have been better if written as a biography instead of a novel. The author may be more comfortable writing non-fiction. Possibly there wasn’t enough background on the real medium’s life so the author felt the need to fill in the blanks left by history

But the séances themselves, especially when the evil spirit Alessandra was sometimes able to channel would appear, and the lengths that the scientists went to disprove her were very interesting and well worth reading.

This book was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley.

The Witch of Napoli is a fascinating look into the world of magic and occult. Based on a famous medium, Eusapia Palladino, from Italy in the mid 1800's. In this story the protagonist is Tommaso Labella, a reporter who spends time with Alessandra Poverelli on her travels as medium. She has been known to levitate tables and during her seances she speaks to the dead. Can she really do this? The head of England's Society for the Investigation of Medium believes that Alessandra is nothing but a charlatan and wants to prove this by subjecting her to numerous tests to see if there are any tricks used in her seances. 

Tommaso narrates the story and through him we learn that Alessandra was born into poverty, has a husband that beats her and only uses her for what he can gain. Tommaso accompanies Alessandra across Europe when she is asked to prove what she can do to the many skeptics that are trying to prove her false. This is at a time when people are fascinated with magic and the occult, where famous people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes believe.

I rather enjoyed this book, I found it to be fast paced and I didn't know that this was based on a real person until I finished the book. The author used a lot of quotes, descriptions and observations from the investigations into Eusapia Palladino to make the story believable. I am not a skeptic so I loved learning about this interesting person of history. I think the author did a remarkable job of intertwining fact and fiction to tell a story of a time when science in Victorian times relied on a few noted scientists and religious beliefs. I think a lot of people at that time believed in seances because  the population did not live a long time because of diseases and epidemics, and any connection to a deceased loved one was important.

A very enjoyable read, I recommend this book highly!