The Witch of Lime Street

Starred review from August 3, 2015
Jaher brings Harry Houdini’s crusade against spiritualism back into popular knowledge in his gripping first book. At one point, Houdini thought his legacy would be that crusade, not his death-defying magic tricks. Spiritualism, a 19th-century religious movement predicated on belief in communication with spirits, experienced a resurgence after WWI. Houdini had posed as a medium early in his career and knew all the tricks of fake mediums, so when Scientific American held a controversial contest awarding a cash prize to any medium who passed their scientific tests, Houdini sat on the five-person jury. Through that contest he met Mina “Margery” Crandon, one of the most famous and convincing mediums in the country. Despite the conviction of his fellow judges, Houdini declared Crandon a fake and reproduced—to much public consternation—the feats that brought her notoriety. Jaher paints a fascinating portrait of
spiritualism
in at this time (Arthur Conan Doyle, a huge proponent, makes many appearances) and notes the anti-Semitism and sexism directed at Houdini and Crandon, respectively. Jaher meanders before reaching his main focus, but it’s
a small price for such a fascinating look at the Spiritualist movement in 1920s America.

August 1, 2015
A screenwriter explores the little-discussed rivalry between master illusionist Harry Houdini and a much-publicized Boston spirit medium named Margery Crandon. Houdini was considered the greatest escape artist of the early 20th century, but by the 1920s, he turned his energies to unmasking spiritist frauds who claimed to have contact with the dead. Set against a backdrop of Jazz Age excess and anxiety, Jaher, in his first book, tells the story of Houdini's epic confrontation with a spiritist whose popularity rivaled his own. World War I and the Spanish influenza laid waste to a generation of young men in Europe and left the world "teetering on the brink of a new dark age." Observers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who eventually became an ardent advocate of spiritualism (and friendly nemesis to Houdini), believed that the loss of so many loved ones would turn bereaved families seeking comfort "toward spirit communion." While seances became all the rage on both sides of the Atlantic and Conan Doyle lectured on the "New Revelation," reputable scientists began to explore the paranormal to determine the true nature of psychic phenomena. One particular group associated with Scientific American magazine put together a contest that would award $5,000 to anyone able to successfully prove his or her abilities. Among the judges was Houdini, whose career as a magician made him a formidable spiritist debunker. All but one medium tested by this group-the genteel Crandon-were conclusively demonstrated to be frauds. Through a combination of feminine seduction and illusionist skill that even Houdini admired, Crandon became the one psychic to almost win the respect of the scientific community and outshine Houdini as an entertainer. Jaher's narrative style is as engaging as his character portraits are colorful. Together, they bring a bygone age and its defining spiritual obsessions roaring to life. Fascinating, sometimes thrilling, reading.

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September 1, 2015

In this excellent first book, screenwriter and astrologer Jaher traces the rise of Spiritualism, a movement focused on communication with the dead, and its confrontation with the skeptical, scientific minds of the 1920s. Coming on the heels of the Spanish influenza epidemic and the slaughter of World War I, Spiritualism captivated people in Europe and the United States as seances and mediums fulfilled the wishes of those desiring one last chance to feel the presence of their dearly departed. The most famous of these mediums was a Boston socialite known as Margery. Supported by none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as a host of cognoscenti, Margery entered a contest to win a substantial cash prize for being the first declared by the investigative committee as authentically communicating with the dead. She convinced four of the five judges, with the sole holdout magician and skeptic Harry Houdini. It is the cat-and-mouse game between Houdini and Margery that will keep readers turning pages. Jaher's narrative gifts keep the story moving while imbuing a real sense of the personality and humanity of the protagonists. VERDICT This book will be enjoyed by fans of Houdini and the occult and by those fascinated with American social history and Jazz Age culture.--Chris Sauder, Round Rock P.L., TX

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2015
After the Great War, with the question, Where are our boys?, ringing in the minds of grieving parents, Arthur Conan Doyle, whose son had died, had the answer: spiritualism, supposed contact with the dead through automatic writing, seances, and spiritualists; and he proclaimed that it was the only religion validated by science. Hence, he supported Sir Oliver Lodge's trip to America to convince its citizens of the validity of spiritualism. Jaher focuses not only on proponents (halfhearted ones, sometimes) and skeptics, such as the great Houdini, but on spiritualists on both sides of the pond and their vase movings, table-liftings, ghost-writings, and ectoplasm-producing. The titular witch, young, newly psychic Bostonian Mina Crandon, entered a contestheld, somewhat improbably, by Scientific American magazineseeking proof of a bona fide medium and almost won, after interviews and demonstrations, despite, as Jaher notes, the problem with mental phenomenait was not suited to empirical proof. A colorful, fascinating depiction of a response to a time of great losses and the human need to reconnect, however dubiously, with departed loved ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)