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A review by lazygal
We Played With Fire by Catherine Barter
3.0
Rounded up from 2.5 stars.
The depiction of the world the sisters inhabit is very well drawn, but the people in that world are less clear. Obviously they're based on real people and real events, so perhaps the author felt constrained by that? Possibly because we only get Maggie's POV, her sisters and family are only seen as she would see them, not as they really might be; this has the effect of making them more two- than three-dimensional. Clearly set in the time and referencing abolition and the women's movement (and Seneca Falls), the people of Hydesville are slowly entering a more modern era and yet the Fox sisters throw them: can the knockings and other noises be real?
The author doesn't completely answer the question, leaving it open to the reader. Obviously there is some element of artifice here (Maggie and Kate's way of messing with their strict father) but might there also be something from the Other Side reaching out?
ARC provided by publisher.
The depiction of the world the sisters inhabit is very well drawn, but the people in that world are less clear. Obviously they're based on real people and real events, so perhaps the author felt constrained by that? Possibly because we only get Maggie's POV, her sisters and family are only seen as she would see them, not as they really might be; this has the effect of making them more two- than three-dimensional. Clearly set in the time and referencing abolition and the women's movement (and Seneca Falls), the people of Hydesville are slowly entering a more modern era and yet the Fox sisters throw them: can the knockings and other noises be real?
The author doesn't completely answer the question, leaving it open to the reader. Obviously there is some element of artifice here (Maggie and Kate's way of messing with their strict father) but might there also be something from the Other Side reaching out?
ARC provided by publisher.