The London Séance Society: A Novel

The London Séance Society focuses on the idea of hidden histories: the untold women’s histories that have been buried by patriarchal systems past and present, as well as the LGBTQ+ histories (especially those of women) that have been omitted from the narratives of Victorian England. Evie’s journal, in which she details the events of her daily life and her investigations of the Society, represents the embodiment of these hidden histories, for Morely and the men of the Society actively attempt to hide Evie’s journal and exposé, literally locking it away in a hidden drawer just as real-life histories of marginalized people are often obscured or destroyed. Likewise, Lenna’s investigation of Morely and her eventual discovery of the journal represent the struggle to uncover and honor a hidden history.

Significantly, the novel ends with the completion of Evie’s exposé, with Lenna taking up the work that Evie was unable to finish. This act is a culmination of the network-building work that Lenna, Vaudeline, and Evie have created throughout the narrative, for each of these women is dedicated to exposing the harmful ways in which patriarchal systems construct and maintain power. By publishing Evie’s suppressed history and showing it to the world, Lenna completes this process and exposes the lies that the Society has used to shroud its darker deeds.