The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story
- ISBN-10
- 052555792X
- ISBN-13
- 9780525557920
- Series
- The Haunting of Alma Fielding
- Category
- True Crime
- Pages
- 369
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-04-27
- Publisher
- Penguin
- Author
- Kate Summerscale
Description
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR • The Sunday Times • The New Statesman • The Times • The Spectator • The Telegraph Shortlisted for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A New York Times Book Review Paperback Row Selection “Prepare not to see much broad daylight, literal or metaphorical, for days if you read this.... The atmosphere evoked is something I will never forget.”—The Times (London) London, 1938. In the suburbs of the city, a young housewife has become the eye in a storm of chaos. In Alma Fielding’s modest home, china flies off the shelves and eggs fly through the air; stolen jewelry appears on her fingers, white mice crawl out of her handbag, beetles appear from under her gloves; in the middle of a car journey, a turtle materializes on her lap. The culprit is incorporeal. As Alma cannot call the police, she calls the papers instead. After the sensational story headlines the news, Nandor Fodor, a Hungarian ghost hunter for the International Institute for Psychical Research, arrives to investigate the poltergeist. But when he embarks on his scrupulous investigation, he discovers that the case is even stranger than it seems. By unravelling Alma’s peculiar history, Fodor finds a different and darker type of haunting, a tale of trauma, alienation, loss and revenge. He comes to believe that Alma’s past has bled into her present, her mind into her body. There are no words for processing her experience, so it comes to possess her. As the threat of a world war looms, and as Fodor’s obsession with the case deepens, Alma becomes ever more disturbed. With characteristic rigor and insight, Kate Summerscale brilliantly captures the rich atmosphere of a haunting that transforms into a very modern battle between the supernatural and the subconscious.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-09-16
- 368 pages
- Paperback
- Bloomsbury Publishing
-
- 2020-10-01
- 369 pages
- Paperback
- Bloomsbury Publishing
Similar books
-
The Enforcer: A Life Fighting Crime
By Graeme PearsonWe arrived to find the shop owner had three trusted staff who had worked with him for a number of years. The four staff dispensed loans from behind a ...
-
Silent Death: The Killing of Julie Ramage
By Karen KissaneAt 12.10 pm, Juliedropped by Warren's office and said, 'I didn't have any breakfast and I'm ... Warren wason the phone;she said briefly, 'No worries.
-
Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
By Karen L. CoxThere, Charles became the rector of St. James Church in Port Gibson, a small town about halfway between Natchez and Vicksburg. Why he left after serving Christ Church for nearly three decades is a mystery, though his marriage to a ...
-
Texas Lawmen, 1835-1899: The Good and the Bad
By Clifford R. Caldwell, Ron DeLordA 04 - Cherry Wesley 34-W: 18 11, D. 19 - Christian, James Ineligible 22, D, 14 - Clark. Alvin A. On File 21, A, 13 - Clark. David Ineligible 26. A 12 - Clark. William A. 59–E: 25 19, D, 16 - Clendennen, Robert Ned 45–W: 24 09, D 09 ll.
-
Poisoned Vows
By Clifford L. LinedeckerThere was no sign in the house of the $10,000 Clark had withdrawn from the credit union the previous day or of his billfold with the $500 to $600 pocket money he usually carried around with him. Two rings he wore were still on his ...
-
Smooth Operator: The True Story of Seductive Serial Killer Glen Rogers
By Clifford L. LinedeckerRogers spent the night at the Clark County Detention Center, and was released the next afternoon. ... The white 1979 Mercury was owned by Russell E. Wright of Hamilton and still carried the Ohio license tags when the officers spotted it ...
-
Monster
By Allan HallIncluding exclusive photographs and previously unseen evidence, this is a truly heart-stopping record of one of the most elaborate and disturbing cases of abuse in modern times.
-
Missy's Murder: Passion, Betrayal, and Murder in Southern California
By Karen KingsburyThree years later, a surprise witness exposed the murderers as Missy’s two best friends—one of whom was Karen. New York Times–bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers a story full of twists, turns, betrayals, and confessions.
-
Deep Deception: The relentless investigation to bring George Gibney, Derry O’Rourke, Ger Doyle and other abusers to justice
By Justine McCarthyLinda Jones of Howard House, a child abuse therapy centre in north London, has described organised networks as working 'in cells, like terrorist cells. No paedophile who is linked knows of more than one other, so they'll use a child, ...
-
Buckinghamshire Murders
By Dr Jonathan OatesHatto had earlier worked for Mr Plummer of Gray's, near Henley. The farmhouse was a modern brick building and was located on the site of the ancient Abbey Farm, having been rebuilt for John Pocock (now deceased) some years previously.