Pages: 304
Publisher: Bedford Square Publishers
Released: 18th of January 2024
In the slums of 19th-century New York.
A tattooed mystic fights for her life.
Her survival hangs on the turn of a tarot card.
Powerful, intoxicating and full of suspense. The Knowing is a darkly spellbinding novel about a girl fighting for her survival in the decaying criminal underworlds. It is a hard-hitting story of love, obsession and betrayal.
Whilst working as a living canvas for an abusive tattoo artist in the slums of 19th-century New York, Flora meets Minnie, an enigmatic circus performer who offers her love and refuge in an opulent townhouse that is home to the menacing and predatory Mr Chester Merton. Flora earns her keep reading tarot cards for his guests whilst struggling to harness her gift, the Knowing - an ability to summon the dead. Caught in a dark love triangle between Minnie and Chester, Flora begins to unravel the secrets inside their house. Then at her first public séance in the infamous cathouse Hotel du Woods, Flora hears the spirit of a murdered boy prostitute and exposes his killer, setting off a train of events that leaves her fighting for her life.
The Knowing is a stunning debut inspired by real historical characters including Maud Wagner, one of the first known female tattoo artists, New York gang the Dead Rabbits, and characters from PT Barnum's circus in the 1800s.
Something Powerful Is Coming.
TW: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Ableism, Confinement, Drug use, Sexism, Pedophilia, Racism
What I Have to Say
This book was full of trauma and while it was done really well, I would advise any reader to check the trigger warnings above carefully. There was a content warning at the start of the book, but it didn't even mention the pedophilia, which I would have thought a pretty big trigger. There are also zero healthy relationships in this book, so if you're looking for romance, perhaps go elsewhere.
Though the trauma was very authentic, I wasn't so keen on the plot. It didn't seem very cohesive at all. Like the author was kind of directionless. I also wasn't that keen on the characters, so there wasn't anything that was really driving me to keep reading.
One thing I will say for this book, is it had a disabled woman in the role of love interest, which I have never seen before. It's why I picked up the book in the first place and although there was some mistreatment and ableist language used, it was more a reflection of the times and the lack of language they had to describe people gently, than the author just using slurs for no reason. Minnie had agency, she had a strong character and she wasn't seen at all as lesser or unattractive because of her disability. I was really, really encouraged by how she was portrayed. Just be careful if you're disabled yourself or if you're sensitive because there are slurs.
If you're looking a dark read, with an authentic view of trauma, then this could be the book for you.
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