Latest Books THE MESMERIST by Caroline Woods

THE MESMERIST by Caroline Woods

By Jonathan Davidson

Unwed Mothers, The World’s Oldest Profession, and a Serial Killer in the Gilded Age

Everyone has a story at the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers. Some are strange, most are sad, some aren’t true.

One stormy summer day, a young woman arrives with no story at all.

She refuses to speak, but there’s the gaudy satin dress, bruises on her neck, and the swell of her belly. They tell a story that’s been retold since the birth of the world’s oldest profession—one that’s becoming more common in the tangled town of Minneapolis as the Gilded Age crashes down, and men take out their frustrations at the brothels.

The matron names the new arrival Faith.

Abby, a society woman who runs the Bethany Home, offers Faith the same deal as everyone else. Faith will have a year to build a new life. She will learn an honorable trade, have her child, and—if the Lord sees fit—find a husband who can accept her past.

May, one of the “inmates” at Bethany Home, befriends the new arrival and enlists her help in sneaking out to court Hal, the rogue who has captured her heart.

But the women soon discover that something is different about Faith. Her face is unforgettably beautiful, yet no one can hold a clear image of her in their mind. She is meek and kind, but unexplainable things happen to those who cross her. Whispers and rumors reach their ears about the “Ghost Girl” or “Marguerite the Magnificent,” and the trail of destruction and death that follows in her wake.

As May finds herself enmeshed in conspiracy, another brothel madam goes missing, and death comes ever closer to the Bethany Home. Abby, May, and the other inmates must race against time to investigate Faith’s shadowy background for clues to the identity of America’s first serial killer.

Caroline Woods, known for the historical novels The Lunar Housewife and Fräulein M., has created something magical with THE MESMERIST.

The Big Thrill caught up with Caroline Woods and interviewed her about THE MESMERIST.

THE MESMERIST is based on real people, real places, and a real serial killer. How did you discover these stories, and what drew you to them? And what was the most fun part of adapting history into fiction?

I began with a time period and setting: the Gilded Age in the American Midwest. I live near Chicago, so I wanted to focus on the progressive women in the Midwest who were really trying to help ease inequalities, like Jane Addams, who founded Hull House. My Hull House research drew me quickly to the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers in 1890s Minneapolis, which struck me for how unusually feminist it was for its time. The religious women who ran the home made a point of treating their “inmates” with dignity and kindness, insisting they had the right to keep their children after they left the home.

I knew the Bethany Home would be my setting, but where was the conflict? That’s where the true crime, a murder that happened in Minneapolis in 1894 and possibly the work of our country’s first confirmed serial killer, came in.

The most fun part, for me—and this may be a bit wicked—was bringing the killer to life. He was notoriously charming, handsome, vain, and manipulative, and I enjoyed setting him loose on the page.

Your novel revolves around religion, politics, gender inequalities, vice, superstition, and murder. What does this story teach us as we struggle with these same themes today?

I think one of the book’s central questions is whether it’s possible to make a difference in the lives of others, and whether it’s worth it to try. Abby Mendenhall, treasurer of the Bethany Home, certainly grappled with that question, both in real life and in the pages of this book, in her fictional form. I hope the message readers take from this book is YES, we can make a difference, we have to try, and we should use our voices and anything else at our disposal to help both individuals in need and to push for greater change.

What’s your process for researching a time period?

One of my preferred methods of research is to read fiction written in the time period I’m writing about. For example, I read The Awakening by Kate Chopin when I was writing this book. Contemporaneous fiction helps me write believable dialogue and informs the characters’ meals, clothing, and habits: for instance, it was common in 1894 for friends to lounge in parlors and read aloud to one another, which I loved. I also read the complete diaries and correspondence of Abby Mendenhall—a treasure trove of information. That’s where I learned about obscure 19th century chores like “blacking the stove” or making raspberry vinegar. Her favorite flower was the lily of the valley, which I couldn’t work into the story because THE MESMERIST takes place entirely in autumn.

Your grasp of the life circumstances and psychological state of the residents of the Bethany Home felt very realistic. Yet, you also captured with such care the struggles of Abby in her roles as a mother figure and administrator. How were you able to write both with such effectiveness? Do you have personal experience working in non-profits?

Thank you. I don’t have much non-profit experience other than some volunteering. I tried to approach Abby from my point of view as an ordinary citizen who sometimes struggles with feeling powerless or guilty that I’m not doing enough for others. I’m also a mother, so I know how it is to be wholly responsible for younger women in my care, but I had to approach that a little differently for Abby. She had no children of her own, though she helped over 5,000 women and children who came through the Bethany Home. When I read her journals, in which she described doing things like staying the night at the home when one of the inmates was sick, taking one of them into her private residence to care for her, or searching the city for one of the inmates who she feared had returned to using illicit drugs, I wondered if she did, on some level, feel as if she’d become these girls’ mother. I figured that would make her feelings toward them very complex.

What’s next for your writing career?

I’m working on another historical mystery/thriller, this time set in Chicago in 1920. It’s again based on a real historical figure and takes some of its plot from the headlines of the day.