From the editor: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism follows the remarkable story of the Fox sisters, who were catapulted to fame after word spread that they communicated with spirits. Within a few years, tens of thousands of Americans were flocking to séances. An international movement developed. Yet forty years after those first knocks, the sisters shocked the country by denying that they had ever been in contact with the dead. Shortly after, in another stunning reversal, they changed their story again and reaffirmed their faith in the spirit world. Were the Fox sisters con artists who had taken a childhood prank too far? Or were they really in touch with "voices from beyond"?

In this riveting biography, Barbara Weisberg traces not only the lives of Kate, Maggie, and their family-including the girls' shrewd and charismatic sister, Leah-but also the social, religious, economic, and political forces that helped shape the Spiritualist movement. A vivid, compelling overview of a remarkable period in U.S. history, Talking to the Dead provokes questions about belief systems, the power of celebrity, the wish to reconcile faith and science, and the timeless quest for knowledge about life after death.

"Talking to the Dead takes you on a thrilling ride with the delicate Kate and the effervescent Maggie Fox. Thanks to Weisberg's sharp research and atmospheric writing, you'll fall deep into nineteenth-century America and deeper into the spiritualist psyche as the Fox girls contact the dead-or do they? You are sure to be mesmerized by this true tale of two teenagers as they tangle with supernatural powers." -MOLLY PEACOCK

Pages: 324, Hardcover
Special Interest: Spiritualism, Spiritism, Paranormal, Religion, Americana, Occult, Séance, Ritual.