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“I was disappointed in this novel. I did not like the was the story was broken up between two plots. I do not think the characters lived up to their full potential, so to speak. Nothing was very clear to me, and I supposed this was probably intentional. I did enjoy her writing, however. I though that the writing itself was very lyrical and beautiful. I did not like the plot or the characters, or the way she weaved them together. ”
Marisa wrote this review Saturday, March 12, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Captivity is a beautiful and enthralling story that weaves together fact and fiction. From the fictional Clara Gill and her work at the factual menagerie at the Tower of London to the imagined personalities of the real Fox Sisters. Nothing felt awkward or out of character. It's obvious that Deborah Noyes did her research into the time period before she began writing. I am glad, though, that my knowledge of the Fox Sisters and the American Spiritualist movement was minimal before reading the book as I believe it would have distracted from Noyes' lyrical language and the haunting tale that she was spinning.
Ashley H wrote this review Saturday, October 2, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
As for the characters, I found Maggie Fox irritating at the start of the book due to her self-centred nature, but came to appreciate Noyes' artistic portrayal of her as she matured. Maggie began to see the sisters' performances as more than a game and to consider the results of her actions. In comparison, I liked Clara from the start. It was hard not to empathize as it became obvious just how withdrawn from society she was and how obsessed she was with an unknown tragedy in her past. And I have to admit, I was intrigued by the mystery of what that tragedy was, and loved how Noyes expertly prolonged the suspense by offering only a bit of Clara's backstory at a time. Though in the end, I was surprised by the revelation as I'd been expecting something simpler and more innocent.
Overall, Captivity is a book that I'd recommend to other readers, but one that I'd be selective in recommending. It's a wonderful and entangled read, not something for those just looking for a quick afternoon's diversion. But those willing to give it a try will be rewarded.
Thanks to Unbridled Books for the ARC of Captivity. A positive review was not a requirement and the views expressed above are my own. For more information on Captivity, check out the Unbridled website. ”
“I'm really struggling with this one. It just seems to be moving too slowly for me. Could also be that I'm sick, but I really wanted to like it.”
AmandaBlaze wrote this review Wednesday, September 1, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I think the theme of this book is best summed up in the words of Will Cross:
Isabelle S wrote this review Tuesday, June 15, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Above and beyond what an unjust world will impose, every person's a slave to choice. We make them, and they make or unmake us in turn...But the world we imagine lives on inside us." (p. 174)
Will is perhaps the best example, but he could also be describing Maggie Fox, who is (sometimes quite literally and terrifyingly) captive to a childish prank spun out of control. When we first meet Clara, she's a slave to other people's choices, living solely in the world inside herself. It's her quirky friendship with Maggie that finally gives her the courage to make some choices for herself.
The Fox Sisters are the hook but it's really Clara's story. I was seriously surprised by a few of the turns in the plot and I really like Noyes' prose. ”
“For me Deborah Noyes’ Captivity was one of those books that as soon as I heard about it, I had to read it. Ghosts, sisters, religion, a young female locked away in her room – it had to be great, right? I was not disappointed.
Elisabeth W wrote this review Wednesday, April 28, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Captivity tells two stories. One is the account of the real life Fox sisters who helped give birth to a religious movement of the 1800’s, Spiritualism, based on their “rappings” – communication with the dead. Their story focuses mainly on young Maggie, as she was separated from her sister Kate in an effort to disprove their claims, but the rappings continue and so does their endurance of invasive inspections, skeptical séances and threatening mobs.As Noyes portrays it, Maggie struggles with knowing if the gift is a blessing or a curse.
The second story, and the one I was most swept up in, is that of Clara Gill. Clara is an only child and a young twenty-something recluse. Her self-induced isolation begins as the result of a mysterious tragedy that spans the Atlantic to a time before she and her widowed father came to America and still lived in London. To occupy her time and (the reader senses) also for company, Clara sketches animals – birds in particular. Noyes makes the juxtaposition of this interest to her character obvious, but not crushing.
Maggie and Clara’s stories cross when Maggie takes a service job in the Gill household. Maggie is intrigued with the young hermit, and makes it her mission to use her friendship to coax Clara out physically and emotionally. Clara is not a “believer” in Maggie’s spirits, but she does fall for Maggie’s personality, and so she opens her heart and mind to what Maggie offers.
The climatic union of their stories is one of the best scenes in literature that I’ve read in a long time. I was transported to a time when my brothers' stories could make me sleep with my light on for days - I was holding my breath and on the edge of my seat in anticipation. To say anymore would be a spoiler. So, I’ll just leave you with my recommendation to read.
Wrapped within Captivity are all the things that bind us - love, loss, grief, expectation and belonging. Given the subject, the characters and the publisher-provided reading guide, Captivity would make for a great book club selection. Captivity will be available for purchase in June 2010.”1 of 1 members found this review helpful“I had the pleasure of reviewing this book
GoddessOfLove wrote this review Friday, February 12, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
" Captivity"
Written by Deborah Noyes
I found this book VERY interesting The Fox Sisters have a VERY talented Gift speaking to the dead. Pilgrims come far to camp out on their land to Pier into their windows to see what they do. The sisters have a ghost in their home they found out the name to be Mr. Splitfoot men start looking for the mans remains in the Cellar. I LOVE this book I love reading about the past and with this being set in the 1800's I enjoyed it immensely. Sorry I do not have much to say on this book It is a FANTASTIC read out of 5 stars I give it 5 stars~! I really wanted to keep Reading and it was VERY fascinating..... Here is what the AUTHOR has written about the book.......
In March 1848, Maggie Fox and her younger sister rivet family and neighbors by claiming to be able to communicate with an unseen spirit in their house. When the girls reveal the identity of "Mr. Splitfoot," men with picks and shovels arrive to excavate the cellar in search of his remains.
As word of the Fox sisters' strange ability spreads far and wide, pilgrims arrive en masse, staking their tents in surrounding fields and peering in the family's windows. Invitations for "tea and table tilting" begin to arrive, and Maggie is subjected to rigorous demonstrations and humiliating investigative committees, to strangers who poke and prod but can't unpuzzle her. She takes refuge in an unlikely friendship with Clara Gill, a reclusive scientific artist. Exiled in Rochester in the wake of a London scandal, Clara is a skeptic of an altogether different sort -- one with reason to believe, though reason won't allow.
As Maggie's fame grows and a mania for contacting the dead sweeps the nation, her circle widens to include the likes of Horace Greeley, P.T. Barnum, and First Lady Pierce. She embarks on a turbulent affair with the equally famous polar explorer Elisha Kent Kane who challenges her to give up her "disgraceful" calling. Torn between love and independence, shame and duty, Maggie's ties to Clara become all the more binding. Against all odds, she takes it upon herself to help her friend confront a loss beyond reckoning . . .
Told from alternating points of view, Captivity explores an especially haunted moment in U.S. history when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead were flamboyantly lifted, when science and spirit were colorfully at odds, and when the wills of two very different women collided to work an ordinary miracle of devotion.
PLEASE check out Unbridled Books ”
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