A.J. West, THE SPIRIT ENGINEER. Duckworth, London (2021)
IN 1914 Belfast, like the rest of Ireland and Britain, was caught in the grip of an obsession with spiritualism sparked by the sinking two years earlier of the Titanic with massive loss of life.
The Spirit Engineer is a novelisation of the gripping true-life story of William Jackson Crawford, a middle-class professor at the Municipal Technical Institute, or Black Man Tech as it is more commonly known, and his dramatic encounter with celebrity medium Kathleen Goligher.
I’m not the biggest fan of what might be called gothic fiction, but that aversion quickly fell away as I became captivated by a rollicking story that had me wanting more with every turn of the page. Peppered with a colourful cast of supporting characters from Belfast’s aristocracy including, Robinson and Cleaver, the story also ropes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, who had become interested in Goligher’s work.
Crawford becomes embroiled in the torrid tale via his wife Elizabeth’s interest in Golighter’s work. After he tries in vain to stop her from attending the séances, he sets out to prove that Golighter is a fraud only to become entangled in a web of ambition and deception. The aristocratic circles of Belfast became fascinated with the occult, despite their devout Christian values, and that strange combination adds real texture to the story. For some it was a bit of ironic and light-hearted entertainment, but for others it was an extension of their spirituality away from the Sunday morning church service.
There are no heroes or villains in this book. While the reader may at times feel sympathy for this character or that, this tale is soaked in deception and mystery. It is clear to see that author AJ West – a former BBC journalist and Big Brother star – became captivated by the story of Crawford and Goligher. And his journalistic background shines through in the historical authenticity and his ability to transport the reader to both the grim streets and genteel drawing rooms of Edwardian Belfast as Crawford and his wife weave their way from their home in Park Avenue in East Belfast across town to the home of the Golighers on the Ormeau Road.
Short chapters make this a great choice to take on a commute or for those with a busy lifestyle, although the sheer readability makes it hard to limit your pages. If you are a fan of gothic fiction or of the occult, you will definitely find something to like about this book. But even if, like me, you are not, this rattling good novel will reel you in. From the vivid descriptions of the spirits that we encounter to the various experiments that Crawford undertakes to prove the charade a hoax, AJ West’s The Spirit Engineer will have you hooked.
Without giving away the ending, not everything appears as it seems.
