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Gripping from the outset – A.J West immerses readers in the spiritualism of 1914 Belfast with great skill. A wonderful debut' Sam Hurcom, author of Letters from the Dead Kathleen Goligher was born in Belfast on the 27th June 1898, according to her birth certificate. She was one of five children, all of them cramped together in a string of small terraces, moving almost every year of Kathleen’s early life. Still, though the Goligher family’s quarters were small, Belfast prided itself on far better living standards than the tenement houses found in other British industrial cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow or Manchester. The Spirit Engineer's fantastic concept is wasted in a book that manages to drag interminably for the first half and then fast forward too aggressively in the second half. It skips over almost all of the events that would have really fleshed out this story. Instead, it skitters along in what is an incredibly surface level telling of an incredibly interesting dynamic. Even the big reveal at the end of the novel, which truly could have been such a thing of beauty, falls flat because the book is so uneven up until that point.
This is barely a reflection of my conversation with Cathryn who has been generous and understanding of my creative process. I think it’s fair to say the family have been delighted to find some new evidence of Kathleen’s fascinating story but are, at the same time, surprised to discover that the kind, fun, uncomplicated woman they knew and loved was part of a foggy and emotionally-charged story of duplicity, worldwide fame, infamy, derision, adulation and, ultimately, suicide. every client call and respond within 24 hours. Each project has direct involvement from a Principal member of our staff, ensuring that your project gets the experienced attention it The Spirit Engineer by AJ West is, as they say, something quite different. West is a former awarding-winning BBC journalist who has worked extensively in Northern Ireland.On top of that, the characterization is practically non-existent. The story reads merely as a sequence of events strung together by the presence of our main character. There is very little motivation to be had as West does not take the time to delve into the inner workings of Crawford's mind. The only thing that West actually makes clear about our protagonist is that he is a selfish and incredibly misogynistic man who does not care about anyone in his life. There is absolutely no reason for you to care about him and because none of the other characters are developed in any way, there is no one to anchor the reader in the story.
The book weaves its way though a turbulent city like the fabrics being stitched together in the dark Victorian mills of Belfast. Catholic and Protestants living cheek by jowl on streets divided by those mills. Together and yet separate. Sound familiar?
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Séance anyone? Séance + historical fiction = one of my favourite things, especially when there's a science meets spirituality element. In this novel, an engineer sets out to prove by scientific method the veracity of a spirit medium through whom he is able to hear the voices of his dead mother, son and brother-in-law. I thought I would love this book - but it was a bit of a rollercoaster of liked it, didn't like it, liked it again and it's growing on me... As a child, Kathleen helped her family pay their way, blouse-cutting for the large factories which made up the city’s world-dominating textile industry. The women of Ulster were renowned for their skilled needlework, though the Goligher family were likely more involved in the less-skilled pattern-cutting trade, trimming linen into shapes to be stitched elsewhere. The remuneration was meagre, though poor families such as the Golighers were at least able to afford food and benefit from a grace and favour home supplied by their employers. The atmosphere was spot on, with the the feeling of unease and minor hauntings slowly seeping in from the start, perfectly leading towards that very dramatic ending. And there is a good sense of its time as well, both in William’s ideas and his experiments, the treatment of women, the rise in interest in spiritualism around the first World War and the sinking of the Titanic.
conducted with a direct approach that first identifies the needs of our client and then establish the goals and objectives to satisfy our client's needs. West has mixed fact with fiction and shrouded it all in a gothic veil of mystery. There are some disturbing subjects and ideas to come from this book. Of course, seances and dabbling in ‘ the other side’ are not going to be easy experiences. I just loved the way you are invited to belief or not, but to experience the world of those trying to understand it all. Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including:
Let me prepare you – this book is gripping, thrilling, and mind-twisting. To know that it’s based on a true story makes it even more interesting. I was completely hooked and couldn’t put this book down until I was done (and yes, I read it with the lights all on). Kathleen’s family are absolutely clear that she was in no way a seeker of the spotlight later in life; her public performances having switched from communion with the dead to ballroom dancing with her husband at company functions. process: we retain the original infrastructure and reuse materials when possible, focus on waste reduction, and seek energy-efficient options. We are committed to keeping up to date with the latest energy management solutions and government energy rebate programs, and are skilled in energy consulting, green building design, and energy audits.
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