Spitting Gold
Baroness Sylvie Devereux and her sister, Charlotte Mothe, agree to pull off one last scam in this gothic, sapphic romance, set in Paris in 1866. A condition of Sylvie’s noble marriage was that she cut herself off from family, so for more than two years, Charlotte has cared for their father alone. Now on his deathbed, Charlotte needs money, so she seeks out her wealthy sister. The sisters are spiritists, well versed in conning nobility in the name of helping them rid their lives of unwanted spectral manifestations. The targeted de Jacquinot family has fallen from grace: Madame, the dowager marquise; Florence, her wan, fragile daughter; Madame’s son, Maximilien, the present marquis and bored cynic; and Ardoir, the siblings’ vindictive grandfather. With dwindling finances and scandal nipping at their heels, the de Jacquinots are being haunted by Comtesse Sabine de Lisle, a great-aunt murdered during the French Revolution, but events at the séances begin to look suspiciously like the work of real malevolent spirits. Maximilien accidentally discovers Sylvie’s lie in disguising her noble status, which causes disruption in her life as secrets threaten to emerge.
A novel presenting two distinct points of view is often written in alternating chapters, but here the author chooses two parts. First is Sylvie’s story, her impressions of the peculiar de Jacquinots, as well as her doubts and fears about her sister. The second half is Charlotte’s story, showing a new turn of events during the same timeframe, which allows readers to see Sylvie in a different light. A couple of tells in the narrative are a bit obvious, and the ending is melodramatic, but overall, a ghostly read, set in a suitably eerie house, peppered with a bit of wry humor. A well-written, memorable debut.
