In this historical fiction novel we follow the life of Ailsa Rose, a young woman in her 30's living in 19th Century Edinburgh. Ailsa has the gift of being able to see and communicate with spirits and is sometimes given cryptic messages by them.
When Ailsa receives a mysterious invitation to visit a very well to do family in the new town she is understandably vexed to learn that her old colleague Jane, now employed as a maid in the family's service, has been talking about her gifts and has offered for her to do a reading for them. During this reading Ailsa takes a turn and receives a vision from the spirits hinting that a member of the family is in mortal danger and it is up to Ailsa to try and save her.
The author does an excellent job of building Ailsa's back story and really fleshed her out as a character from the beginning. I love that she knows her own mind and is really quite independent and forward thinking for the time the novel is set. Her interactions with the other characters and wonderfully written and I especially enjoyed her budding relationship with the guardsman Angus and was excited to see where it would lead them. One of my favourite characters besides Ailsa has to be her elderly neighbour Alice, I enjoyed Ailsa's interactions with her and how she tried to look out for her as best she could.
The story was quite fast paced with a lot happening in very few pages but that only helps to draw the reader in as you never quite knew what was going to happen next. The mystery element of this sorry was definitely prominent and I didn't guess the end result until it was pretty much being revealed.
I found the ending of this story really enjoyable and I'm glad the author has set it up in such a way there may potentially be further novels, I'd love to read more of Ailsa's adventures.
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