Told in two timelines, Nora Gray is a young woman who woks with her father as a scammer psychic while growing up in Scotland until she discovers that she has real spiritual powers. In the past timeline, Nora’s grandmother, Lottie, recently widowed and pregnant is unjustly incarcerated in a mental institution where she also demonstrates psychic abilities and becomes the subject of cruel experimentation. When Nora is convinced to travel to the US to work with Dorothy, a well-known median, she finds her spirit guide who is her own grandmother, Lottie.
I enjoyed this interesting magical realism story and found both Lottie and Nora to be fascinating characters. The book seemed a little too long and was sluggish in parts but I found myself rooting for Lottie and admiring Nora for her strong moral compass.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

The story of Nora Grey is one with heroes and villains (horrible ones), redemption, justice, love, and hope. Nora Grey starts off as a young girl with no control over her life and ends up growing in extraordinary ways.

Let me just say that I LOATHED the villains. The author did a magnificent job of writing the injustice and ultimately bringing forth an ending that I left me satisfied.

There were some parts of the story that were a little slower but the last 25% picked up. I love historical fiction and this actually was just what I needed to get a fix.

Thank you to Kensington and Kathleen Kaufman for allowing me to read this!

I want to thank the Author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. It showed incredibly strong women who were going through rough times. Both Nora and Lottie show how they overcame being under the thumb of different men who just want to use them for their gain. I had my suspicion that Lottie was related to Nora; however, I did not make the connection that she was going to be her grandmother. I liked that the author included the blurbs before the chapters, giving an insight into what was going on during that period before the chapter started.

I will say that it was a rough start for me to get into the book; however, once you get the point that Lottie starts to appear to Nora, it started to pick up for me. I was happy to see that Nora and her father were able to patch their relationship up to the point that she doesn't hate him for everything that they had gone through. Learning more about the history of the tarot cards and seance was interesting, especially since I don't read books that have a good bit of history to them.

The ending was great about how Nora became the new Lady Bell and that she took over the house and was able to run her life the way that she wanted to.

Kathleen Kaufman blends gothic atmosphere, spiritualism, and historical fiction into a richly layered tale with The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey. Set in a moody, meticulously rendered Edinburgh, this dual-timeline novel follows two generations of gifted women (Nora and her grandmother Lottie) bound by blood, psychic ability, and the struggle to reclaim agency in a world eager to exploit them.

Through archival excerpts, immersive prose, and emotionally resonant POVs, Kaufman invites readers into a story that’s as haunting as it is empowering. Nora’s evolution from timid daughter of a con man to self-possessed medium is compelling. Still, it’s Lottie’s storyline, marked by wrongful institutionalization and cruel misogyny, that truly grips the heart.

While Nora’s arc feels somewhat predictable and the pacing could’ve been tighter in places, the novel’s emotional depth, historical detail, and gothic flair more than make up for it. Kaufman’s reverence for the women forgotten by history pulses through every page.

Final verdict: A perfect read for rainy days, overcast skies, and bottomless mugs of tea. If you love brooding, slow-burn historical fiction with paranormal threads and feminist undertones, this is one to savor.

Kathleen Kaufman lifts the veil and invites readers and welcomes spirits into The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey, a novel infused with Gaelic folklore set against the gritty backdrop of Victorian Scotland. From its first pages, the prose hypnotised me with its rhythmic hum, lulling me into a mesmeric state, much like Nora Grey.

Plunged into the 20th-century Scottish countryside, we follow tarot-reader and enchantress Nairna Laith and her conniving father, Tavish Laith, as they prey on wealthy patrons and commoners alike in exchange for a few shillings. In this atmospheric tale, Kaufman offers rich, convincing historical fiction traversing poverty, mysticism and society in a seamless narrative, weaving gothic elements with period detail to explore the spiritualist movement – a blend of science and theology. Nairna is a clever, sharp-edged girl with a special talent for the arcane arts. Alongside her father, she journeys through the countryside to Edinburgh in pursuit of a better life. Their fortunes change upon their encounter with the Edinburgh Spiritualists where, after a few séances, Nairna gains fame as a medium, trailing a dangerous thread in a conservative, post-witch-craze Victorian society.

Despite the overuse of the dual-timeline trope, Kaufman frames it compellingly. Soon after Nairna’s chapters, we follow Lottie, a coal-miner’s widow. Alike Nairna, Lottie could be considered a “cunning woman”—a dangerous label for any woman who dared to outwit men or even fight for her rights. The coal-mining industry did not allow women underground, and when a tragic accident struck the mine, all the widows in that small village lost their husbands and their livelihood, now facing eviction. Having decided to fight for the pending wages owed to their spouses, Lottie embarked on a fight she was never meant to win. Sentenced to Argoll Asylum for hysteria, she enters a dark reality faced by many women of that era. Lottie’s chapters are darker and more difficult to read; however, they stop short of pure horror. Instead, Kaufman uses the eerie to meditate on violence against women, poverty and mysticism, with most happing backscene – only suggestions.

In the late 19th century, psychiatry gained notoriety for applying mesmerism to treat patients, from surgery to psychotherapy. These treatments were controversial and frequently mishandled. Dr Soekan serves as an archetype of the ambitious psychiatrist obsessed with innovative treatments, electroshock therapy included. Here, mesmerism is not utilised as a stunt but as an instrument of ambiguity and connection – each session a performance, belief, bluff, ritual and experiment all at once. This device serves as the hinge between both timelines, unfolding slowly and symmetrically across five parts and short chapters that feel more like vivid snippets. Kaufman opens each part with documents, news clippings, séance transcripts and medical records, adding texture and suggesting historical accuracy – even though Nora Grey was not a real person, or was she? That is the skillfulness of Kaufman’s prose.

If the novel falters, it is in its slow pace and the superficial exploration of St Cyprian’s Order. St Cyprian was a famous necromancer who converted to Christianity later in life, and his influence still runs deep in ritualistic mysticism to this day. In the book, the Order operates in the background – a missed opportunity to weave in more horror-heavy elements. As the plot progresses, Nairna and Lottie begin to coax their power, maintaining tension throughout. The ending is elusive, deliberately so. Questions are left unanswered yet easily inferred. This ambiguity is part of the novel’s charm. Kaufman mentions that writing this book felt like stepping off a cliff and hoping for wings. I believe she swooped. The Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey is a fantastically atmospheric read, steeped in folklore, gothic sensibility, feminism and mysticism, recommended to readers of historical fiction, spiritualism, Scottish society and slow-burn narratives.

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Before I wrote this review I read a little about the author who I had never read. She tells the story of her stepfather almost killing her mother. So we get the story of Nora Grey, and female rage, and not wanting to be controlled by men.
Nora begins life as Nairna Liath, a Scottish girl in the early 1900"s who has the ability to read people through tarot cards. Her father takes her on the road, and they get by, but she is malnourished and cold and unhappy.
This is a time in history when spiritualism and mesmerism flourished.
Nora is found and brought to Edinburgh and she has a seance with another spirituality, Dorothy Kellings. Nairna "sees" a spirit and the seance is a successful.
Meanwhile, this spirit is actually her grandmother, and this is a second timeline.
Without giving too much away, Nairna is too successful and she and her father are taken to America and she becomes Nora Grey, and becomes a successful mesmerist.
Meanwhile her grandmother is being used as an experimental subject at an asylum.
The two timelines come together in a very exciting denouement . In a time when women had difficulty controlling their own lives, Nora manages to live her life in a way she wants. One of the reasons I love getting books for review is that I may never have come across this book on my own. I will be pick8ng this for a book club read as I believe it brings an important message to woman today.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. This is my honest opinion. Though Nora and her grandmother live through many trials and tribulations, there is hope in the end.

I really enjoyed this story and its dual timeline. I liked that it showcased a darker side of Victorian spiritualism, seances, and spiritualist societies.

I loved the way the story unfolded and the connection between Lottie and Nairna was revealed.

Watching Nairna’s journey from naive girl, dragged about the countryside by her father, to standing firm in her boundaries and taking back her own power had me rooting for her. While Lottie simultaneously losing herself in the asylum, enduring experiments, all while hoping for a way out not only for herself but her unborn child was heart wrenching.

All in all, I really liked this book. And I look forward to reading more of Kaufman’s work.

Thank you so much to Kathleen Kaufman, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for offering me this exquisite novel in eARC form in exchange for an honest review. And I would like to give an extra thanks to Kensington Publishing, who provided Nora Grey-themed tarot cards to include in my review. This was an extra special touch that just made the world of Nora Grey come to life. I received The Queen of Swords and The Chariot.

The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey follows the titular Nora Grey through her evolution as a world-renowned mesmerist. Though she doesn't start off as Nora Grey, we follow Nairna Liath on her journey as her past makes way for her present and future. From humble beginnings in the Scottish countryside as a tarot card reader and spirit summonings (with the help of her father, Tavish), to world-renowned seances with the help of ghost/spiritual guide, Lottie Liath, there is a lot going on in Nora's world.

When a fellow spiritualist takes Nora under her wing and to a new world, the Liath family fortune changes practically over night. Taking place at the turn of the century, when paranoia and skepticism were rampant, this father-daughter duo experience the highs and lows of going from anonymity to celebrity and all the baggage that comes with it.

I quite enjoyed seeing the Liath family dynamic develop over time. The father daughter relationship and the Lottie/Nora relationship were both interesting takes that touched upon much darker material--sexism and feminine rage, mental health issues, and fear mongering to start. Forgive my pun, but Kaufman's writing style is quite mesmerizing and distinct in its own right. I enjoyed the dual POV nature of this story, as I was equally invested in Nora and later Lotties POVs--especially when they intersect. The bond our two heroines formed was all very unique and touching and I loved being in their heads after each of their mystical meetings.

However I do wish that the aspects of feminine rage were delved a bit deeper in to. Overall this was en enjoyable read with a well deserved ending. All I can say is that some characters in this story had it coming, and our girls could have done much worse.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review..

This was an interesting read. Overall, it was an atmospheric historical fantasy with gothic imagery and spiritualism/psychical elements. It is set across dual timelines, one grounded in an eerie asylum and the other following a young Scottish girl with supernatural gifts. The story is a blend of magical realism and slow-burning mystery. Nairna, our protagonist, travels with her con artist father. The setting was probably one of the book’s strongest elements: the asylum was chilling, the era-specific details vivid, and the seances and occult elements gave the narrative a rich, otherworldly feel.

The pacing fell off midway, and I found myself wishing for more character depth and clearer development of the magical elements. While it doesn’t fully deliver on its potential, it’s still a decent read for haunted histories and supernatural vibes.

2.5/5⭐️

On paper this book should’ve been a 6 star read for me. Feminine rage reads are my bread and butter with added in magical realism in a historical gothic setting, this should’ve been a god tier book for me. In reality I literally fell asleep reading it (that NEVER happens to me). This could have been a novella, it felt drawn out and so repetitive. Consider me bummed 🫠

Nairna travels with her father, who is a con man who claims to have contact with the supernatural. However, Nairna possesses the true gift of sight that she inherited from her grandmother Lottie. This book gives us multiple POV's, and we learn more about how Nairna and Lottie are connected and the suffering they both have endured.

Beautiful story, breathtaking setting, and a story so neatly told that it wraps you up and won't let go. It is slow paced, but the story is so good, and you want to know how the lives of these two magnificent women evolve and end. A masterpiece for those who love stories about strong women, witches, Victorian era, seances, and watching women succeed.

Thank you, Netgalley and Kensington Publishing, for this ARC. All opinions are entirely my own.

The story is told from dual POV from two Scottish girls of different generations who have a deep connection. Lottie is the widow of a coal miner who finds pregnant and desperate and is only further led into trouble when she finds herself speaking up. Nairna is a poor teen who spends her life traveling with her father using trickery to conduct seances. The plot starts to pick up as these two characters storylines unite in an unexpected way. Overall I really loved the writing of this story and felt myself transported while reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for sending this ARC. This review is voluntary; all opinions are my own.

Rating: 5/5

“The spirits are waiting to be invited in, they watch through the glass windowpane, they scratch at the door. They are waiting for your word.”

The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey by Kathleen Kaufman is a story as moving as its title is long.

The perspective largely switches between stories of a grandmother and granddaughter, linked through time, circumstance, and something beyond our understanding. Other brief inputs are also included to help give context, round out the story, and drive home the historical fiction parts of the genre.

We open on Nairna in Scotland, 1900, before going back to spend time with Lottie in Wales, 1866. Both women, time periods, and locations are fully realized and written with depth of feeling and realness. Although I have never lived in the same circumstances as Nairna or Lottie, they were incredibly relatable from the get-go and immediately gained great empathy from me. I rooted for them, suffered with them, and felt as if they were my friend, my grandmother, my sister.

As both women struggle to find their own power in a male-dominated world, we see the unfairness laid at the foundation of society. The women face immense suffering but we see their strength, resilience, and determination throughout. They are a family of fierce, unrelenting women who are constantly fighting against those that are holding them back, taking advantage of their situations and femaleness, and ignoring their inherent humanity.

What on the surface may just be a spooky story about seances and fortune telling and mystical powers that defy explanation is truly a story of women - our pain, our strength, and our true power. The magical realism and mild horror elements give way to the depiction of the historical mistreatment of women, the horrifying abuses of power, and the overpowering ability to survive and overcome. It was not their psychic powers that made me cry, it was the story of a woman used and manipulated by everyone around her and another pushed to the brink by capitalism and the patriarchy.

Some trigger warnings to note: there are depictions of medical abuse and pregnancy complications. Tread lightly, because those scenes are a lot.

4.5 stars (GIVE US HALF STAR RATINGS GOODREADS)

Brief overview: Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey follows Nairna, a young girl with a talent for reading tarot cards, and Lottie, a pregnant widow. Both women are tired of the men that think they control them, and yearn to be free. Nairna is tired of being carted around by her father and forced to perform tricks for money that he then takes to spend on alcohol while she starves. Lottie decides to confront the boss that she holds responsible for her husband's mining accident.

My thoughts:

Honestly, my only complaint is how long the title is, as I keep forgetting it when I'm trying to recommend this to my friends!

I really, really feel for the women in this story and their need for freedom from men and their control. It's a battle women have faced all of history, present times not excluded. The themes are really quite powerful and relevant today. Fans of Weyward will definitely enjoy this story. As someone that's also read a lot of non-fiction about spiritualism, it was really quite intriguing and felt very well researched. The characters are stunning, I felt a connection with both main characters, as well as side characters, and found myself wanting to fist fight all the men in the story for Lottie. Fantastic read, highly recommend, especially if you are a fan of feminine rage and magical realism.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for the chance to read this early!

This novel is split into two different timelines. The first follows Nora, which begins in Scotland where she and her father, Lavish, are traveling around conning people through card readings, manufactured seances, and more. When the duo stops to host a card reading tent at a fair, Rona, a wealthy woman, comes into the tent and reads the cards for Nora - offering her potential at an excellent future. Soon Nora is swept up into the Edinburgh Spiritualist society, and Nora's abilities may be more than just tricks.

The second timeline follows Lottie Liath whose husband has recently died in a tragic mining accident. She has been leading the other wives of miners to fight for their rights, but the heads of the mining corporation see her as delusional and end up locking her up. After an incident in the court room, the judge ends up shipping her off to an asylum. Lottie is currently pregnant. She ends up coming under the care of Dr. Bothelli, who sees something within Lottie and thinks he can use it to become successful.

When the dual POV started happening, I was a bit confused at what was going on in the beginning, but it eventually made sense. I do think the story dragged on a little longer than it should have - could have used some editing. I enjoyed the themes of the book: women's medical and legal rights in the 19th century, resurrection, mesmerism, but I think they should have been explored to a deeper level. The writing is good and the concept is intriguing, I just think the author should have added more depth to the characters, included higher stakes, and given more action to the story for it to be a 4 star read. The ending was a bit lackluster. Overall, I would give this 3.5 due to the setting and I do enjoy magical realism.

This book was a gorgeously written, haunting journey through time, trauma, and spiritualism. Kathleen Kaufman weaves together two timelines with stunning prose and deep emotional undercurrents, connecting the lives of Nora (formerly Nairna) and her grandmother Lottie in ways that feel both mystical and heartbreakingly real.

As someone who reads tarot, I appreciated the inclusion of the cards, though I’ll admit—some of the interpretations felt a bit off to me personally. That said, it didn’t detract from the larger message of the book, which resonated deeply: how often society punishes women for daring to be powerful, intuitive, or simply different.

Lottie, for me, stole the show. Her chapters were raw, painful, and filled with a quiet kind of rage that never stopped simmering. I found myself more emotionally invested in her journey than Nora’s, though both are compelling. Lottie’s voice is one I’ll be thinking about for a while.

If you love historical fiction with gothic undertones, layered female voices, and an aching look at inherited trauma and feminine agency, this is worth the read. Just don’t expect a tidy story—it’s more séance than spell, more possession than performance.

Woven of gothic atmosphere and chilling threads of the occult, this is a story both captivating and empowering. It's a story that honors the resilience and fight of the feminine in an organic and mesmerizing way. It's most certainly and ideal pick for a fall TBR!!!

Thanks to Netgalley, and the publishers: Kensington and HighBridge Audio for the review copy!

I found each of the dual POV/dual timeline to be intriguing and exciting in the first half of the book:
Lottie is pissed that her late husband's employer is not paying his insurance and back pay after his death, especially while she is with child and now does not have her husband's income. Nora is being carted around the countryside with her father conning individuals looking for seances and medium readings. Then we transitioned into some unsettling medical and psychiatric research with physicians who give the ick and a rich auntie figure in a descreet setting that takes Nora under her wing, which also kept me hooked.

The book transitions from timelines with excerpts from local reporters to set the scene before transitioning between 1866 adn 1901, which served as a recap of what was happening when we last left each timeline, which I loved.

The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey by Kathleen Kaufman is the story of Nora Grey, née Nairna Liath, who traveled the countryside of Scotland with her father, Tavish, who used her natural skill and some tricks and effects, to scrape by doing readings and seances at carnivals and fairs.
Soon, her true skill becomes apparent, and she and her father are taken in by a benefactor who introduces her to a new world of mesmerist societies - and people, mostly men, who want to use her abilities for various self-serving reasons.
Told primarily from two points of view, Nora’s and her grandmother Lottie’s, with interstitial segments of newspaper clips and other reports to provide context and some foreshadowing, Nora Grey is an engaging mix of historical fiction and magical realism, about women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries trying to live free lives outside the control of others, and about the importance of family.
The Entirely True Story may not be “entirely true”, but it is entirely entertaining, especially for those with any interest in the history of mesmerism or spiritualists such as the Fox Sisters, or even Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle or in the feminist struggles of women at that time (or now).
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical is Mesmerist Nora Grey the story of the young Scottish girl Nairna - stage name Nora Grey -  during the height of the early 1900's spiritualist craze. She and her father, like so many others during this time period, make a living scamming the grief-stricken and desperate through card readings and elaborate seances. However, what seemingly starts out as a rouse becomes something more when it becomes clear that Nairna can actually see the spirits. 

The book is split between Nairna's life and that of Lottie, who is pregnant and recently widowed following a mining accident. Lottie fights for her rights and those of the other widowed wives in a male-dominated world, but her behavior is considered "irrational." She finds herself committed to an asylum, where she exhibits similar traits to those seen in Nairna. The doctor, seeing Lottie's spiritual abilities, proceeds to experiment on the pregnant woman.
 
As the tales of the two women unfold, a unique connection between them becomes clear. But I don't want to spoil that for you here. 

I loved the dark and moody vibes of the book. It is a nice blend of magical realism and gothic horror. The backdrop of a turn of the century asylum helps set the stage for the dark and fantastical tale. It's definitely more of an atmospheric read than anything. Plot doesn't push this novel forward so much as emotional investment in the characters. 

Because the novel is mostly character driven, I did find the overall length of the book a little too long. It gets repetitive in places. The beginning grabbed my attention. I wanted to know how things would end for Nairna and Lottie, and that kept me going, but the pace does lag towards the end. Overall, though, I did enjoy the read. It is a perfect story for a spooky autumn day.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for providing a free ARC. All thoughts in this review are my own.