Immersing readers in the ash-and-electric light wonders of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in that up-and-coming city of Buffalo, NY, Brighton’s vigorous historical novel blends mystery and romance. It bursts with fascinating detail, character, incident, and something rarer still—that sense that a well-told tale actually manages to brush up against some truth of how life used to be lived. Brighton opens with a vision of two wonders of the age: the electric chair and an early electric car. He then demonstrates, via that car’s immediate destruction, that there’s nothing precious in The Unsealing’s depiction of the past. That zest for surprise persists as the story gets up to speed, centered on the ambitions of lawyer-turned-fixer Arthur Pendle. The grimy reality of politics is contrasted with the life of Sarah Payne, “the lovely young wife” of a dentist she considers handsome but dull, who’s caught up in the scandals of the smart set of the Ashwood Social Club.At Ashwood, ragtime and waltzes get the blood worked up—even of those married to others. Brighton deftly captures the champagne ennui of Sarah’s social scene, the brittle chatter and secret (and not-so-secret) longings and pairings, and the pleasure of good gossip. Sarah, who is navigating a tempting friendship with wealthy businessman Edward, discovers Arthur’s infidelities with Edward’s wife, as her own husband, Seth, has become frighteningly dependent on the ether his profession allows him to possess.
Readers expecting a traditional mystery plot should be advised that Brighton’s story builds toward a murder rather than from one. That doesn’t mean this is a slow burn, though. The efforts of these characters to find happiness and oblivion, to cover their sins, and maybe to make themselves and their city and their century into something new—all this is written with grace and power, capturing the moment that electricity lit up the world.
Takeaway: Barbara Hambly’s Benjamin January series, Lauren Belfer’s City of Light.
Great for fans of: This electric historical novel finds the social set of Buffalo jolted by scandal in 1901.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
