Affinity

Set in Victorian London, the narrative follows Margaret Prior, a grieving upper-class woman who seeks purpose by visiting the female inmates of Millbank Prison. There, she encounters Selina Dawes, a spiritualist medium incarcerated after a seance ended in tragedy. Margaret becomes captivated by Selina’s claims of supernatural contact and her apparent vulnerability. Through a series of diary entries, the story tracks Margaret’s descent into the dark, claustrophobic atmosphere of the penitentiary as she attempts to secure Selina’s release while questioning her own perceptions of reality and desire.

Readers of historical gothic fiction and psychological mysteries value this book for its meticulous recreation of nineteenth-century social structures and prison conditions. It attracts those interested in the history of Victorian occultism and the restricted lives of women during the era. The reader walks away with an understanding of how isolation and longing can manipulate human judgment, culminating in a realization of the high cost of emotional desperation within a rigid, surveillance-heavy society.

Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

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