You know what I want more media focused on? Women kicking ass and doing their thing while finding joy and fulfillment in the face of the patriarchy. With the current political climate in America (and around the world), it’s difficult to look away from the garbage fire and find solace in art; art is political after all. It’s something I’ve struggled with since the election, and I’m hardly the only creative to feel a sense of burnout and worthlessness. One of the bright lights of year, though, has been anticipating The Spectral City, Leanna Renee Hieber’s latest Gaslamp Fantasy novel. I’ve mentioned Leanna’s work previously, but this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing on her books for Girls in Capes.
Set in 1899 after the events of Hieber’s Eterna Files Saga, The Spectral City follows 19-year-old Eve Whitby and her newly minted position within the New York Police Department as head of the Ghost Precinct. Haunted since birth, Eve found her purpose giving voice to the dead, turning what she once felt was a curse into a gift by allowing the spirits to assist her in closing murder cases that reached an impasse.
When her best agent, the spirit of Margaret Hawthorn, vanishes without word or trace, Eve finds herself at a loss for answers. The majority of the spirit world is silent, an ill omen for the happenings of both the living and the dead. Throw in relics of differing faiths going missing, a skeptical liaison, harassment from people who should be her peers, and a random threat from a prominent family in the cure-all business, and Eve has more on her plate than she’d imagined upon embarking on her new venture. Worst of all, if she fails, she risks shuttering the doors on her precinct before they officially get off the ground. Luckily for Eve, she has a crack team of female mediums to call her friends and colleagues, as well as her beloved grandmother and best friend, Evelyn Northe-Stewart. Together, they are an unstoppable force.
Right off the bat, I adored Eve. She’s bold, unafraid to wear black daily as a tribute to her calling, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone. Being set in the Victorian era (as the majority of Hieber’s books are), Eve has societal restraints placed on her and her actions. Full skirts still restrict her movement, she can’t spend too long in the company of men—even colleagues—without a chaperone, and she’s forced to endure the jabs of police matrons who think Eve too weak to survive in the working world because she’s titled. Eve rolls her eyes and gets her job done anyway; she doesn’t have time for insults or boys. Girl after my heart, I tell you.
One of the things I love best about Hieber’s work is her constant dedication to diversity in her cast. People often presume everyone in historical fiction to be white, which obvious isn’t the case. Cora Dupris is a New Orleans born African-America woman, Jenny Friel is an Irish immigrant who largely uses sign language to communicate because she is mute, and Antonia Morelli is a transwoman seeking space to be her true self. For those of you who watched the second season of Penny Dreadful, Antonia struck me as an alternate version of Angelique, now given more agency and a place to thrive. No, I will never not be angry about that show.
Familiar faces from Hieber’s other works also frequent the page, and as always, it feels like coming home. It’s truly one of the joys of being able to review my friends’ works – I love past elements coming into play and cameo appearances. I also adore the inclusion of historical figures like Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Houdini. They add a flavor that makes the narrative more realistic, connecting the world Hieber built out of fantasy to the reality of New York’s eclectic heritage. Given the slight H. H. Holmes vibe of the story’s antagonists and their Murder-Castle-for-spirits mansion, I was ready for the adventure and curious to see how missing ghosts and a creepy funeral home tied into relics being stole from various houses of worship.
Until this point, I hadn’t realized a grandmother and granddaughter best friends caper was what I wanted, but I love how supportive Evelyn is of Eve, how she listens and encourages and lifts her granddaughter’s …well, spirits. In fact, all the women are incredibly supportive of one another, and strong female friendships and relationships are such a rarity in fiction.
While the plot did drag a little in places, the overall narrative pulled the seemingly unrelated cases—and persons—together into a greater mystery for the second novel in the series. With the almost-too-easy feel to the end of book one, I’m both cautiously optimistic and slightly worried for what’s waiting in the shadows for Eve and her friends in the sequel.
The Spectral City can be purchased from all your favorite book retailers. If you’d like to read more of Hieber’s work, her short story Too Fond is free to read on Tor.com and happens to be one of my favorite ghost stories. I also suggest picking up the Magic Most Foul Saga starting with Darker Still if you’re interested in the events that brought Eve’s parents together, or The Eterna Files, which is like Victorian X-Men battling demons.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Kobo
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