Book Review: The Bridge of Dead Things by Michael Gallagher

The Bridge Of Dead Things

by

Michael Gallagher

Genre:

 Young Adult
Mystery Horror

Published:
Published April 6th 2013 by Seventh Rainbow Publishing
Ebook format only

Source:
LibraryThing

My Rating:

☆☆☆

SYNOPSIS:

London, 1885. Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Blaylock from Waterloo starts experiencing what appear to be epileptic fits. Unbeknownst to her, these fits allow her to channel the spirits of the dead.
Expelled from school and then abandoned by her own family, not only must Lizzie strive to keep a roof over her head, she must also learn to control her unusual power—as she cannot yet predict how, when, or why these episodes happen. But the strange and fascinating people she meets are determined to use Lizzie for their own ends, and soon she is drawn into a world of Victorian séances, mediums, ghost-grabbers…and murderers.

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MY THOUGHTS:

Though Lizzie Blaylock doesn't realize it, she is what is known as a 'bridge' for the dead. She unknowingly channels spirits, scaring quite a few people, and ending up in bad situation after bad situation. Eventually, she is discovered by Simeon, a con-artist who uses young children to create séances and trick people into believing in the afterlife.

This young adult novel is set in Victorian era London which is one of my favorite eras and places to read about. Séances were popular in that time and many 'mediums' took it upon themselves to make a pretty penny by communicating with the dead for rich and gullible people that were hoping to see or hear a loved one just once more.

This novel was a good look into the 'parlor tricks' part of séances in the 19th century. Though Lizzie Blaylock was considered the 'real thing', having brought forth a spirit several times, her employer, Simeon, had an entire set up for such parlor tricks and it was interesting to learn a little more about the inner workings of it all. While I personally do believe in spirits and/or an afterlife, I think it was rather interesting how people took that sort of spiritualism to a whole new level.

As for the character, Lizzie, I did connect with her and felt sympathy towards her. She lives a hard life and things just seem to get worse for her over the course of the novel. She eventually find that she has true friends to rely on in the end.

Overall, this ebook was enjoyable, but perhaps only because I really enjoy reading any book set in the 1800's and because I love anything to do with ghosts. I tend to stick to the haunting type of ghost stories but to read a little more about séances was very interesting. I think any young adult with a love for anything dark and macabre would really enjoy this book.