Delusion — Michele Roberts

"On the narrative level alone, this is a compelling combination of Victorian pastiche and psychological thriller, fully and vividly imagined and often very funny. Rarely has the creative interaction of past and present been so suggestively and entertainingly conveyed."-The Independent on Sunday

"On the surface a gripping mystery story, the novel is a challenging exploration of women's friendships, history, sensuality and passion. Four main characters spanning three moments in history-ancient Egypt, Victorian England, contemporary London-unravel an ambivalent tale of birth, death, exploitation, closeness and betrayal."-Guardian

Voices, auras, materializations. Is she a mere trickster, a charlatan who plays on the anguish of the bereaved, or perhaps a hysteric who suffers delusions? No matter, in the shabby brick precincts of East London, the sances have won the pretty, blond medium Flora Milk local acclaim, and soon she will find herself more comfortably situated in the Victorian household of Sir William Preston, a researcher of some renown in psychic phenomena. Indeed, his wife Minny, who is still grieving the loss of her infant daughter, will embrace the gifted sixteen-year-old as her "protge."

At once a ghost story and a psychological thriller, this elegant novel again demonstrates that Michele Roberts is a literary talent of the highest order.

Michele Roberts is the author of eleven novels, including Daughters of the House, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and winner of the WHSmith Literary Award, and Reader, I Married Him, also published by Pegasus Books. She lives in England.