Jonah and Viola are just starting out on their married life. The couple make acquaintances with Mrs Blackthorne who is a spirit medium. Mrs Blackthorne claims to speak with the dead but Viola can capture them through photography.

This book sounded right up my street. I love anything historical especially the Victorian period and the spiritualism.

The story for me started off great and I was really enjoying in. There are two back stories, one for Jonah and his time in Delhi and a other for another character which I'm not going to mention as it would spoil. This particular story I enjoyed but have to say I didn't enjoy the back story for Jonah.

I was really enjoying this book but then for me it took a turn and I felt it went astray a little. The story seemed to focus on friendships and finding ones identity. There is nothing wrong with that don't get me wrong but I felt I wanted more of the spiritualism.

I liked the book in places. Some of the story I didn't enjoy which for me made it a little disappointing. The ending tied up nicely albeit a little sugary. Overall this read for me was ok.

I've been reading Julie Cohen's books for many years now, and it's a real pleasure to see her develop as a writer. 'Spirited' is quite unlike any of Julie's other books in style. I hadn't been sure what to expect of a historical novel, since her other stories always have a very contemporary feel, but I was instantly transported back to Victorian society, utterly caught up in the stories of Viola and Henriette.

I really loved Viola, she's so nice and it felt refreshing to read a character who was just lovely through and through, and at the start it was her parts of the story that I felt most caught up in. I loved that she took photographs, like her father, and the whole process of glass plate photography is fascinating, and really well described through the story. I was transported into Viola's life, puzzling over her awkward marriage, wondering what could have happened between her and her childhood sweetheart to have made things this way. Henriette is more prickly and difficult as a character, though still very engaging to read. It took me longer to trust her, and perhaps that's intentional as she is, after all, a spirit medium. Yet I grew to love her too.

The story weaves it's way wonderfully slowly from England to India and back and forth again, and through it we learn and unravel the pasts of Viola and her husband, of Henriette, and others too along the way...it's hard to talk more about the book without giving away spoilers, which I wouldn't want to do! So I will only say that although it's a different style of writing, the main theme of love, in many different forms, is a familiar one to fans of Julie's books. And this one really does look at love in a beautiful way. It also about grief, and life after death, and secrets, whilst managing to be the sort of book that you keep on reading for just a little longer, way past your bedtime. I really, really enjoyed it.

This is very different to what I normally read so at the beginning I found it slow going but I stuck with it and really enjoyed it. There were some really interesting characters in the story, with lots of background which takes the book to lots of different places, India, London and Dorset. The writing is excellent, unfolding the story in each chapter which leaves you wanting to read on until the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Orion Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cohen writes with an authority reminisicent of Fowles and Atwood. She has an eye for happenings of historical significance and makes them come to life: her characters are memorable, her settings tangible and her storytelling is masterful. This book is also passionate about love in all its manifestations and treats issues of gender as they should be treated, ie. with respect and intelligence. This book has love at its heart, but is so much more than a love story.

This story is a real slow burn but so worth the investment. It slowly unwraps events starting in Wiltshire in the 1800’s. The book is heavily loaded with religious and societal expectations whilst delightfully intertwined with glimpses of background stories leading to this bleak and sad start. The pace picks up, gradually filling in teasing colourful background events from India whilst leaving you trying to piece together the missing links.
Viola & Jonah seem to be trapped in different and enveloping griefs and unable to share their truths. Henriette and
Pavan add interesting and painful background stories to the mix, explaining gender and class differences and issues faced. The story develops clear pictures of a variety of settings - London, Delhi, & Dorset amongst other and my senses easily transported me there amongst the sights and sounds along with the characters and exciting / tragic events.
Julie’s writing has a real human warmth to it. She brings history to life and along with it the technicalities of early photography and also Spiritualism. The book is embracingly honest about a variety of love and how acceptance, understanding and gratitude is needed wherever it is found.