There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

This was my second attempt to finish this unusual but rather frustrating novel. This time I managed to stick with it but I nevertheless remained largely unengaged with the characters and still rather bemused by the central premise. It’s an ambitious novel, but for me there was just too much going on and I think it would have benefited from a sharper focus. The author is good at setting up mysteries but perhaps not quite so good at resolving them. The story centres on Emerson, a mysterious and enigmatic figure, who arrives one day in a small town and seems to have the ability to quite literally get into other people’s minds and to create or remove their memories. He’s introduced at the beginning as The Maker, although this name is never referred to again – another unresolved question. Everyone he meets has secrets to hide and pasts that haunt them and it seems possible that Emerson can help them. Instead he seems to trail havoc in his wake. The novel jumps about too much in time and place and overall I found it unsatisfying, although admittedly intriguing.

A good descriptive account of its time , but disjointed and unexciting in content .

1879 and a stranger called 'The Maker' appears in the small town of New Georgetown. He has been invited by the local doctor as he has a skill with memories, the ability to change them. The townsfolk have a lot of secrets and a lot of memories, the Civil War is still fresh in their minds, but over time Emmerson (The Maker) instigates a change.

A lot has been made about the supernatural element of this book and that is quite irritating to me. If read as a novel about redemption and coming to terms with loss then this book is enjoyable, if rather slow.

Thanks Quercus Books and netgalley fro this ARC.

A story that defies explanation, otherworldly or occult? This is a intriguing, mind expanding, and unexplainable novel.