Angelica

By: Arthur Phillips

Narrated by: Susan Lyons

When Constance, a lowly clerk in a London stationery, married Joseph Barton, a biological researcher, she believed she had found her ultimate husband and protector. But after three miscarriages, and the troubled birth of their daughter, Angelica, Constance fears for her life, inside her own home. She tries to avoid having sex with her husband, and keeps Angelica sleeping in their bedroom. When Joseph orders their daughter out of the room, Constance begins to fear his intentions, his possible murderous hatred of her, and his efforts to alienate her from Angelica.

Sensing the presence of supernatural evil in the house, she calls upon a spiritualist to combat the threats she sees to her life and child, and becomes distraught as her domestic life deteriorates into disorder and perceived danger. But is Constance right?

In four sections, each taking a different character's point of view, Angelica proceeds to weave a tapestry of parallel and sometimes conflicting interpretations of the lives of Constance, Anne Montague, the spiritualist in whom Constance places her deepest trust, Joseph, and, finally, Angelica. Nothing here is as it seems, but everything fits together beautifully and is vastly entertaining.

©2007 Arthur Philips (P)2007 Recorded Books

Umm... what just happened?

Is it a ghost story? Is it really a tale of poor marital communications? I’m so confused. I don’t know how to rank this book.

If you download, be prepared to pay attention. It’s not what he wrote, it’s what he didn’t.

Breathless

The four-pronged approach to the story is genius. We are led down a merry path initially and we think we have all the answers...until the narrator switches. I was held spellbound by this tale of madness and ghosts.

Loved This Book

I found it difficult to stop listening to this one. The mystery of what was really ahppening to poor Constance was addictive and kept me reading. Phillips unravels this story slowly building suspense, first Constance's story is told, then the psychic, her husband, and finally her daughter. If you think you'd enjoy a gothic, ghost story, you should give this one a try.