SHADOWS AND ELEPHANTS
Edward Hower, . . Leapfrog, $14.95 (317pp) ISBN 978-0-9679520-3-1
A pair of 19th-century British spiritualists travel to India to meet the masters of their craft in Hower's latest, a historical novel loosely based on the lives of Russian-born mystic Madame Helena Blavatsky and her partner, Col. Henry Steel Olcott, a popular journalist and Civil War hero. Ben Blackburn is Olcott's fictional counterpart, a charismatic journalist whose romantic interest is piqued when he encounters Irena Milanova, a sensuous, passionate spiritualist whose work is becoming increasingly renowned. Milanova's sexual hangups prevent them from consummating their affair, but the two become friends based on attraction and a deep spiritual bond that sends them off to India after they form a spiritual society together. Their journey is an up-and-down affair that starts off with some successful promotional efforts, but problems surface when Blackburn becomes involved with a married British expatriate and Milanova's jealousy causes her to take increasing risks in her various miracle-producing sessions. Blackburn goes off on a bender of his own when he discovers what he thinks is a gift for psychic healing, but soon the pair find the integrity of their efforts being investigated by a committee seeking to expose them as frauds. Hower (
Reviewed on: 11/12/2001
Genre: Fiction