Thank you, NetGalley & HighBridge Audio, for this ALC.

I can't tell you how much I loved this book. The split timelines are connected beautifully, as well as the development of the relationship between Nora and Lottie. It was a little slow at times, but honestly, so worth pushing forward. Highly recommend if you enjoy historical magical realism, and spooky occult stuff.

I hope I am the only one feeling this way, because I think that the book has a real potential, but I couldn’t get past the audio narrator, a voice that just didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t finish the book, because I could not pay attention to what actually happened. That said, I think the story had potential, so I would like to see if perhaps the written format works better for me.

Did I read a different book than everyone else? I agree with one of the outlier reviewers - incredibly slow to start. I wanted to love this like I loved THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE. I don't.

Took me a bit to get into it, but once it clicked, I couldn’t stop. Nora’s story of moving from fake seances to real psychic power was super cool, and Lottie’s chapters in the asylum were heartbreaking but powerful.

It’s spooky, sad, and somehow hopeful. Really well written. I’ll definitely check out more from this author.

thanks to NetGalley for an ALC and the the publisher for a physical copy.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. Descriptive of the era and an intriguing story. I adored the two main ladies.

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.
I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator did a great job with accents and portraying emotions.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

This book was perfect for this reader - Five Stars. There is crisscrossing timelines that at first can be confusing on audio but has a major payoff in the end. A young mesmerist turns to the International Society of Psychical Research to hone her abilities and put food in her belly. What she unlocks is immersive and transformative.

Thank you to RBmedia who provided me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I will be picking this one up in hardcover so I can flip back and forth through the timelines.

This book should be made into a movie! Suspenseful, dual timelines, mystical divination connecting a young girl to her grandmother, both of them fighting against the world of hateful men, capitalism and devious intent. From an asylum in Wales, to a far away island in Boston the Laith women are connected. This book is atmospheric and heart breaking, but just know that all will pay their dues for what they've done to the Laith women. 🔮💀🥀 Get 'em girls.

This one took a bit to get into, when it did, it was great. Nora's father was a con artist. Historical fiction with magical realism mixed in a bit. Two strong female lead characters Lottie (the grandmother) and Nairna (Nora) (granddaughter) share a psycic bond wowen perfectly throughout the story. Lottie ends up in an asylum due to her abilities while Nora is more accepted by society. Told through a dual timeline, this was a very atmospheric, sometimes creepy well paced story.

This story telling in this book is beautiful. Getting the two perspectives across time was done in such a way that wasn't confusing but kept me wanting to read more and more. The connection lottie and Nora shared was beautiful.

A slow-burn historical novel with 2 female voices, years apart but similar in many ways.

This one started a bit slow, drawing me in two the perspectives with backstory and rich detail. Nora's work at fairs and with her dad were interesting to start and slowly became shocking. As she worked her way into being invited into the group, I was fully intrigued.

Lottie is our other POV. We're brought in as her husband is off to mine and then a tragedy - a group of wives lose their husbands to a mining accident and, suddenly, the company doesn't want to pay out the insurance or the past wages the men were owed.

The two POV and timelines are obvious how they are similar and it takes time and story to draw the parallels. And even though I found the story interesting, I did feel like it went a bit long. I didn't love the narrator, she was a bit sing-songy and oddly whispery but I flipped to the kindle and enjoyed the story a lot!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

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.

Mhairi Morrison is a classically trained actress who attained her BA in Acting at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before studying theatre and movement at Jacques Le Coq School of Theatre in Paris. She worked in filmed, theater, TV and an award-winning voice over artist narrating audiobooks, commercials, video games and documentaries. In practical terms, she is competent and it can be attested through the numerous accents and voices she uses in The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey, giving the novel the perfect narrative style one can wish for, evoking life from the novel. Morrison slowly and precisely enunciates each and every word, whether speaking in a Scottish or American accents and even Gaelic. I highly recommend the audiobook for full immersion.

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.

Thank you to HighBridge Audio, the author and NetGalley for an LRC in return for an honest review

This book has a very slow meandering start and leans heavily on atmosphere over plot in the early chapters. I'm not in the mood for this type of dense setup at the moment. It just feels like it’s going nowhere. I'm going to have to put this to the side for now and come back to it at a later date, with a different state of mind. This is a real shame as I was really looking forward to reading this book.

#TheEntirelyTrueStoryoftheFantasticalMesmeristNoraGrey #NetGalley

Summary: This book is written in a dual timeline between 1901 and 1865 in the United Kingdom. Nairna and Lettie are both psychic and are connected. Nairna (1901) and her father, Tavish, are street performers/cons when Nairna is recognized for her abilities. Lettie (1865) has lost her husband and is fighting for his pay and insurance while she is pregnant. How these three lives intersect is the thread of the book.

Opinion: On its surface, this book is about righting wrongs and accounting for the misdeeds done to a widow in the name of science. In detail, this is about family connections both biological and found, about mental health treatment, and love. I really enjoyed this book and plan on re-reading. The writing was a little confusing at the beginning when the POV transitions seemed disconnected, but this felt genuine to the storyline as the book progresses.

I would recommend this to lovers of historical fiction with a paranormal/psychological twist. There is no spice in. this book.

TW: Death, medical experiments, alcoholism

Thank you to ##NetGalley for sending this audiobook! https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6SLe62E/

I really enjoyed this book! It did get repetitive in parts but the two timelines were equally interesting. You either are in Lottie’s timeline, a pregnant woman who fights for her deceased husband’s wages and ends up in a mental hospital. Then there is Nora who is a psychic medium. The narrator did an amazing job doing several different accents for different characters. Overall I would recommend this book if you love slower paced historical fiction with some magical realism mixed in.

Woven of gothic atmosphere and chilling threads of the occult, this is a story both captivating and empowering. It's a tale 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!!!

That Narration is fantastic! It's nuanced in a way that brings the story to life adding a certain mysticism to the tale that keeps listeners mesmerized until the final word.

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.

The audiobook narrated by Mhairi Morrison was really great. Morrison does an ASTOUNDING job with the accents and it was so impressive how she switched seamlessly from Scottish accents to American accents and still injecting their voices with attitude and emotion!

Audiobook Review: The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5 rounded up)

I truly believe the audiobook elevated this reading experience for me. Mhairi Morrison’s narration brought a level of richness and authenticity that matched the eerie, gothic tone of the story so well. Her Scottish accent added an immersive quality that made the characters—especially Nairna—feel vivid and grounded in their time and place. The historical setting and the spiritualist themes felt even more atmospheric through audio.

Told in dual POVs between Nairna and her grandmother Lottie, the audiobook made the shifting timelines easy to follow and emotionally resonant. While the story does slow down a bit in the final third, Morrison’s performance kept me engaged and anchored in the characters’ emotional journeys.

If you’re curious about this historical fantasy but find slower-paced plots a challenge, I highly recommend going the audiobook route. The narration absolutely enhances the gothic mood, emotional weight, and spiritualist intrigue at the heart of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the ALC!

Engrossing, well researched, dual timelines, and gothic vibes. The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey by Kathleen Kaufman draws the reader into two different worlds. Mhairi Morrison, the audiobook narrator, is fantastic and pulled me into the story. I was transported to the seance and the asylum. Interesting to see both worlds collide at the end. 4.5 stars, rounded up. ALC was provided by HighBridge Audio via NetGalley. I received an audiobook listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This novel initially held strong appeal, drawing on themes I’m particularly drawn to—female rage, Victorian-era spiritualism, and the supernatural. On the surface, it seemed poised to deliver a compelling and resonant narrative. While the book does remain faithful to these thematic promises, it ultimately falls short of offering anything new to the genre. The prose is accessible but lacks depth, and the narrative connection between the two female protagonists feels tenuous. Given the freedom afforded by the supernatural framework, it was disappointing that the author provided little explanation or rationale for how the characters’ paths intersect. Character development also felt underwhelming. One protagonist’s arc is reduced to a search for independence, while the other is defined largely by grief—with little exploration beyond those surface traits. More historical detail and nuance could have enriched the Victorian setting and anchored the characters more convincingly within it. That said, the highlight of the novel was Nora’s evolving relationship with her father. While subtle, this dynamic offered one of the few areas of emotional depth and growth in the story, particularly in light of a key revelation later in the plot.

In summary, while the book is an enjoyable read for those interested in its themes, it lacks the originality and complexity that might make it stand out in an already rich genre.