High Spirits

High Spirits is the story of Maggie and Kate Fox from Hydesville, New York, early members of the Spiritualist movement. Their first foray into the realm of Spiritualism was accidental—a prank played upon an annoying relation. However, the contrivance was so successful “that they extended the prank to include parents and their neighbors until deception became their way of life.” The two young sisters, barely in their teens and guided by their business savvy older sister, succeeded in convincing people that they were able to communicate with spirits who had passed to the other side by rapping noises created by the cracking sounds of their knees, ankles, and toes. The story focuses on the middle sister, Maggie, who falls in love with the explorer, Elisha Kent Kane, who knows that the Fox sisters’ claim to communicate with the dead is a hoax. Before leaving on a rescue mission to the Arctic, Kane extracts a pledge from Maggie that she must give up her rapping if they are ever to marry. The detailed portraits of the Fox sisters allow modern readers to understand how these young women were able to pull the wool over the eyes of so many, including authors, editors, and the wife of a president. Beautifully written with each chapter pulling you in to the lives of the Fox sisters.