The Unseen

The story of Cat Morley, a servant, suffragette and a pawn in a spiritualist’s hoax. Set in 1911, this is a book that measures evenly the political state of the UK at the time and the inner rebellion that is beginning to flounder within the working class.

Katherine Webb sets the book in 1911 and 2011; the latter is seen through the eyes of Leah, a researcher who is called out to Belgium by her ex-boyfriend to identify a solider who died in one of the great wars. Her search is a weak line to the story but opens the book up to a wider audience, and towards the end adds some much needed suspense, filling in gaps in the epilogue of the 2011 narrative.

1911 has four main characters, Albert Canning, vicar to Cold Ash Colt, Hester Canning, his wife, Cat Morley, their maid, and Robin Durrant, house guest and spiritualist. The story of Hester and Albert is awkward and discomforting, she is addicted to him but he is more interested in fairies and Robin Durrant. This friction is brought to a head when Robin consummates the marriage with Hester an act that Albert could not do.

Cat Morley is a strong-headed and determined, working-class by her mother’s bad fortune and her father’s infidelity, she knows that the world is unnecessarily unjust and she has no plans to stick to the rules. She is forced to help Robin create fake pictures of fairies so he can cement his theories and she can runaway with her lover, George Hobson.

I won’t spoil the end of the story, as it is a good holiday read; a compelling book although the first three chapters are hard going. This brings to life the suffering of the working class, the suffragettes and the things that were not discussed.