DAVID JAHER received a BA from Brandeis University and an
MFA in film production from New York University. At NYU, he
was the recipient of the WTC Johnson Fellowship for directing.
A New York
native and resident, he is a screenwriter and is writing his next
work of American history.
Praise for David Jaher’s The Witch of Lime Street
An NPR Best Book of 2015
“Riveting reading...flamboyant, enigmatic, and complex characters.
[Jaher] is also a diligent researcher, and his storytelling skills
are impressive.”
—Wall Street Journal
“Occasionally, you run across a book so good it feels like a secret
— and spend months recommending it to anyone who will listen.
That's The Witch of Lime Street.”
—Genevieve Valentine, NPR's Best Books of 2015
“David Jaher’s stunning and brilliantly written account of the
battle between the Great Houdini and the blond Witch of Lime Street
illuminates a lost period in American history...One of Jaher’s
great achievements is to build real suspense in a tale whose
conclusion is foreordained…captivating and
unforgettable.”
—Cass Sunstein, The New York Review of Books
“David Jaher's utterly spellbinding The Witch of Lime
Street…painstakingly sets its scene, which spans more than a decade
and involves so many interrelated figures that you almost expect a
list of dramatis personae…Jaher writes with a novelist's panache
about the intricacies of the egos in play (Houdini's and Doyle's
more than most, though several contest judges give them a run for
their money). With the result something of a foregone conclusion —
you'll notice "psychical research" is not currently a household
industry — it's all the more impressive that Jaher builds the sense
of mystery effortlessly, without seeming as though he's actually
withholding any of the key information about the society medium who
would rock Scientific American. He chronicles Mrs. Crandon's
social circle with a mixture of poetic sympathy and journalistic
distance. (And he backstories her husband Dr. Crandon with a beat
of the what-the-hell candor that makes this book such a
page-turner.)…But like any good magician, Jaher has other tricks up
his sleeve. As the plot thickens, we begin to see macabre glimpses
of things falling apart: examples of Houdini's short temper, power
struggles between journalism and academia, hints of Mina's personal
and family demons. It was a raucous age, and The Witch of Lime
Street makes sure its spooky showdown happens smack in the
middle of the action. It's a delightful history, a captivating
mystery, and thanks to Jaher's stylish flourishes, even the big
reveals maintain an air of high-wire theatricality — like any good
magician, The Witch of Lime Street knew what we wanted
all along.”
—NPR
“So carefully paced that readers will still need to pinch
themselves to remember the book is nonfiction...The supernatural
moments of The Witch of Lime Street are balanced by the author's
deft contextualization and inclusion of correspondence and other
archival materials. Lurid and almost unbelievable, Jaher’s debut is
a fascinating and sensational chapter of U.S. history.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Through deep sourcing of newspaper articles and personal
correspondence, Jaher himself has succeeded in reviving
ghosts.”
—Washington Post
“David Jaher’s colorful account of the career of the woman
reporters dubbed The Witch of Lime Street sets her in the context
of a wider war over the validity of the spirit world… Jaher calls
forth a vivid cast of characters in a world no less interesting for
being thoroughly physical.”
—Columbus Dispatch
“In his book The Witch of Lime Street, first-time author David
Jaher does a bit of his own sleight of hand, pulling a solid piece
of historical reporting out of the ethereal and often tawdry world
of spiritualism... Jaher's research of spiritualism and its early
20th-century cast of characters is meticulous.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Tightly paced and furiously entertaining...The Witch of Lime
Street is a well-researched history of the links between
vaudeville, magic and mediumship told with verve and humor. Fans of
Glen David Gold's novel Carter Beats the Devil will find much to
enjoy here.”
—Bookpage
“The story of how the Scientific American investigation unfolds
grows richer the longer it goes on... The Witch of Lime Street is
sure to be an important addition to Houdini studies.”
—Dallas Morning News
“Some of the 20th century’s most colorful and larger-than-life
figures come together in a story that is almost too bizarre to
believe...Jaher is a very gifted storyteller.”
—Historical Novels Review
“Jaher brings Harry Houdini’s crusade against Spiritualism back
into popular knowledge in his gripping first book…a fascinating
look at the Spiritualist movement in 1920s America.”
—Publishers Weekly [Starred Review]
“Jaher's narrative style is as engaging as his character portraits
are colorful. Together, they bring a bygone age and its defining
spiritual obsessions roaring to life. Fascinating, sometimes
thrilling, reading.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“In this excellent first book…, it is the cat-and-mouse game
between Houdini and Margery that will keep readers turning pages.
Jaher's narrative gifts keep the story moving while imbuing a real
sense of the personality and humanity of the protagonists. This
book will be enjoyed by fans of Houdini and the occult and by those
fascinated with American social history and Jazz Age culture.”
—Library Journal
“A colorful, fascinating depiction of a response to a time of great
losses and the human need to reconnect, however dubiously, with
departed loved ones.”
—Booklist
“A beautifully written, deeply researched, and delightfully
mysterious tale of grifters and ghosts in the Jazz Age. David Jaher
writes about the battle between science and spiritualism with a
charming combination of sympathy, skepticism, and suspense. Jaher
has made a great debut as a historian and a story-teller.”
—Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Most
Famous Man in America
“A perfectly told mystery story involving a famed early 20th
century medium, who thrilled her followers and puzzled even
celebrity skeptics such as Harry Houdini. This compelling book by
David Jaher is a genuinely lovely exploration of our belief
systems, both magical and rational. I can promise you that once you
finish it, you’ll want to sit down and read it again. That’s
exactly what I did.”
—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Ghost Hunters
and The Poisoner's Handbook
“A spectacular debut that is both a thrilling page-turner and
an unforgettable tale of a high-stakes rivalry.”
—David King, bestselling author of Death in the City of Light and
Vienna, 1814
“Reads like a collection of mysterious tarot cards—Ouija
boards, bizarre madame mediums, and yes our friend the Great
Houdini. Read it if you dare.
—Lily Koppel, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Astronaut
Wives Club
“Jaher’s meticulously researched account of Scientific
American’s infamous contest to find an authentic medium had me
racing through the pages to find out how it all turns out. To keep
this spoiler-free I’ll just say that the paranormal showdown of the
early 20th century doesn’t wrap up how you may think.”
—Stacy Horn, author of Unbelievable: Investigations into
Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena, from
the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory
“David Jaher's tale of the bizarre 1920s fever fad for spiritualism
and séances is as gripping as a mystery thriller, as evocative of
that post-Great War decade as a documentary, and as haunting as a
ghost story. A fascinating piece of time travel to a forgotten
era.”
—Kate Buford, author of Native American Son: The Life and
Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe
“In this meticulously researched and entertaining work, David
Jaher explores a largely forgotten chapter in Anglo-American
history—the post-World War I rise of spiritualism, born of a deep
desire to commune with the spirits of slain soldiers. The
cast of fascinating, masterfully drawn characters ranges from Harry
Houdini, a supreme rationalist, to Margery Crandon, a
self-proclaimed Boston medium with a huge following. This is, on a
deep level, a cautionary tale of the bizarre, painful
deception and self-deception associated with human
unwillingness to accept the finality of
death—especially youthful death.”
—Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers and The Age of American
Unreason
Ask a Question About this Product More... |