Wild Talent: A Novel of the Supernatural

by Eileen Kernaghan

Wild Talent: a Novel of the Supernatural is the strange tale of Jeannie Guthrie, a sixteen-year-old Scottish farm worker, who possesses a frightening talent. Believing that she has unintentionally... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1897235402
• ISBN13: 9781897235409
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Thistledown Press
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

A Fascinating Read.

Eileen Kernaghan's Wild Talent is a wonderfully engrossing read, combining a charming love story with a darkly dramatic tale of the supernatural. The prose is elegant and evocative, and the period detail of the late-Victorian era is depicted so vividly that the heroine's journey from the mists of Scotland to the streets of London, and from Bohemian Paris to the terrifying country of The Beyond, becomes a marvellous voyage of discovery for the reader too. Buy this one. It's a unique story and a fascinating read.

great late nineteenth century tale

In 1888, sixteen years old Scottish farm hand Jeannie Guthrie fears her "gift". She believes she has good reason to do so because she thinks she used her talent to accidentally kill her wastrel cousin George who was pestering her constantly for a kiss since the dance. If anyone finds out Jeannie knows she will be burned at the stake as a witch; just like George vehemently called her as he was bleeding from the pitchfork wound she gave him. Thus without a look back, the teen flees to London where she assumes she can hide amidst the masses. In town Jeannie and daring Alexandra David meet and the latter takes the former to the salon of renowned Madame Helena Blavatsky. There Jeannie hopes to learn more about her power especially controlling it when she is angry or threatened. This late Victorian historical is a vivid exciting tale that takes readers into a strange dominion filled with artists, spiritualists and ethnologists; the irony is that this weird world is London and Paris (as well as the land Beyond). Jeannie is terific as a rustic innocent who under the guide of her urbane friend turns from scared country bumpkin to still frightened sophisticate. Based on the real 1888 London journal of Alexandra who mentions a jeune fille, Eileen Kernaghan provides her bewitched fans with a great late nineteenth century tale. Harriet Klausner

Philosophist Adventure in Victiorian London and Belle Epoque Paris

Readers who are familiar with Eileen Kernaghan's work know the skill with which she can weave the particulars of historical settings into the storyline of her fiction. In her last novel, The Alchemist's Daughter, the historical setting is the England of Elizabeth I. Now, in this latest book, Wild Talent, the scene is Victorian London and Paris of La Belle Epoque. The time period is specific as the story starts in March of 1888 and ends in September 15th of 1889. It is told in the first person through the diaries of a sixteen-year old Scottish farm worker, Jeannie Guthrie. As with the previous novel, where a thread of the occult runs through it, this novel incorporates the author's knowledge of spiritualism and theosophy. The heroine Jeannie is introduced into the famous salon of Madame Helena Blavatsky, (founder of the Theosophical Society), whose reputed psychic powers included levitation, clairvoyance, telepathy and clairaudience. Today, it may be easy for some to dismiss the Theosophists as crackpots, but in its heyday there was tremendous interest in it, and many people were later influenced by Blavatsky's writings, including Mahatma Gandhi, James Joyce and Wassily Kandinsky. Even Arthur Conan Doyle, who makes a brief appearance in this book, devoted his later years to its study. Indeed, many luminaries grace the book, for the years 1888/ 1889 were especially rich with personalities, events and associations. Of special interest is the role played by the other main real personage in the book, Alexandra David Neel, who could only be described as an adventuress and far traveler, and who befriends Jeannie. Kernaghan refers to Neel's London journal of 1888 as a reference source for this book. It is within this rich structure that Kernaghan weaves her story, seamlessly inserting the fiction of Jeannie Guthrie into the historical facts. Real people populate the book and real events, such as the horrific murders of prostitutes in London and the construction of the iron tower by Eiffel, are worked into the story. This material is handled without pedantry by the author and does not impede the story, which is told in a light and economical way. As well, the author is very careful to ensure that the little telling details, so important to any historical fiction, ring true. So when the heroine refers to her "rough tweed leggings and tackety lace-up boots", or describes that "she took a card out of her reticule", it sounds right. The reader is left with the impression that, like an iceberg where only the tip is showing, the author has done a lot of background work in researching these details and laying these little gems to sparkle here and there in the book. This book will especially appeal to those with an interest in this particular locus in time and place, and also to those with a curiosity for seances, spiritualism, symbolist art and poetry, esoteric cults and the Beyond. The book is written as a Young Adult Novel, and many teenagers will ge

Coming of age in "interesting times"

While Wild Talent is very different from Eileen Kernaghan's 2000 novel, The Snow Queen, there are two major themes that the two novels have in common. Both feature young girls striking out precipitously on their own into an unsafe world. Both also address the frustrations of intelligent women up against the repressive mores of Victorian society. The result, in both cases, is a gently feminist coming-of-age tale with a strong sense of place and time. Wild Talent tells the story of Jeannie Guthrie, a young Scottish farm girl who flees her home suddenly, fearing charges of witchcraft and murder after a telekinetic talent helps her fight off a would-be rapist. She reaches London, where she befriends Alexandra David and finds employment with Helena Blavatsky. The historical characters are fascinating, and Jeannie herself is delightfully complex -- unusually courageous in some ways and so very unsure in others. The greatest strength of Wild Talent is its vivid portrayal of the tumultuous times in which Jeannie lives. The drudgery of rural poverty, the decadence of absinthe-soaked artists, the glamour of the Paris world's fair, and the spiritual debates among London's occult circles are all handled with skill. When I finished Wild Talent I felt that I'd paid a visit to the late 19th century, that I'd been right there with Jeannie all along. Also well-handled were the questions of what is "real" and what is not. The book is teeming with the supernatural -- some of it real, some of it staged by charlatans, some of it in that gray area of uncertainty where the reader isn't sure whether it's real or a dream. There's a spot toward the middle of the book that was rough going in a way, and ironically, it's because of something Kernaghan did very, very well. As the reader, I was feeling a little adrift and not sure whether the story was moving, and then a little light bulb went on over my head and I realized it was because Jeannie felt adrift and wasn't sure whether she was getting anywhere. Alone in London, with her fondest dream postponed for the sake of day-to-day survival, Jeannie is understandably depressed. Kernaghan's portrayal of Jeannie's depression is true to life and really made me feel for the character. Spoiler Alert: The ending leaves open the question of whether Jeannie achieves her goal of becoming a writer -- but as I remembered her musings at the beginning of the book about the power of words, I realized that the novel's text itself was meant to be the answer. Well played.

A carefully crafted and engaging book

This absorbing novel wends its way through the fascinating occult worlds of late nineteenth century London and Paris. Rich in period detail, it chronicles the struggles of a young Scottish girl, Jeannie Guthrie, who fears she has run afoul of the law. Her character and her supernatural abilities are deftly explored against the backdrop of the London of that era. Counterbalanced with this are her association with the famous Victorian Theosophist Madame Helena Blavatsky, and her developing friendship with the charming and capricious Alexandra David. That Jeannie ends up in fin de siècle Paris, and must confront both her unhappy past and her dangerous talent, provides an exciting and satisfying climax.