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Summary
Summary
During the English Age of Reason, a woman cloistered since birth learns that knowledge is no substitute for experience.
Raised by her father in near isolation in the English countryside, Emilie Selden is trained as a brilliant natural philosopher and alchemist. In the spring of 1725, father and daughter embark upon their most daring alchemical experiment to date--attempting to breathe life into dead matter. But when Emilie--against her father's wishes--experiences the passion of first love, she is banished to London, where she soon discovers she knows nothing about human nature--or her own family's complicated past. So begins her shocking journey to enlightenment.
Also available as a Random House Large Print edition and as an eBook
Author Notes
Katharine McMahon was born in Britain. She is an author who has published nine novels. She is the bestselling author of "The Rose of Sebastopol" which was short listed for the Best Read Award at the Galaxy Book Awards in 2008. Her previous book "The Alchemist's Daughter" was one of Waterstone's Paperbacks of the Year in 2006. Her latest book, 'The Woman in the Picture", was released in 2014.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A child of the English Age of Reason learns lessons of the heart in McMahon's fifth historical, her first published in the U.S. Like Philippa Gregory, she mixes historical accuracy with a heroine modern at heart if not in outward appearance. It's 1727, and 19-year-old Emilie Selden, cloistered since birth at Buckinghamshire's Selden Manor, is docile under the iron rule of her domineering father, John, a scientist by reputation and an alchemist by calling. Under his stern tutelage, Emilie, who narrates, studies nature using the same methods used by their hero, Sir Isaac Newton. While on the verge of formulating her own theory of air and fire, Emilie meets two men: Thomas Shales, a clergyman and natural philosopher who alienates John Selden as much through his regard for Emilie as through his disregard for alchemy, and Robert Aislabie, a London adventurer who calls at Selden Manor to gain the father's secrets and ends up taking the daughter's heart. Father and daughter soon learn that love and loss cannot be kept in the confines of the laboratory. McMahon highlights social turmoil through Emilie's maid, Sarah, and intellectual conflict at the Royal Society, including a memorable evocation of Newton's funeral. Emilie's voice is clear, and McMahon doesn't shy away from the Enlightenment's darker sides, giving this popular historical a satisfying gravity. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
In her U.S. debut, veteran British novelist McMahon animates a historical setting with confidence and a 21st-century sensibility. Emilie Selden is an oddity, a female scientist in 18th-century England, but her story revolves around her education in a more commonplace subject: matters of the heart. Since her French mother died in childbirth, Emilie has lived an enclosed, studious life with her father, alchemist, natural philosopher and Royal Society fellow Sir John Selden. Her true getting of wisdom, however, begins when a wealthy merchant, smooth Robert Aislabie, penetrates cloistered Selden Manor. Swiftly seduced and impregnated by Aislabie, Emilie finds herself expelled from her father's laboratory and life. She marries Aislabie, moves to London and learns to be a lady with the help of her moody maid Sarah, but she loses her baby and experiences deep homesickness. When her father dies, Selden Manor passes to Aislabie, who has grand plans to replace the old house with a neoclassical mansion complete with park and lake, which will require the demolition of a local village. McMahon busily weaves social commentary on London slums, rural poverty, infant mortality, prostitution and the slave trade into Emilie's initially introspective narrative, which slowly moves outward from grief to the growing recognition of Aislabie's exploitative nature and an awakening to emotional engagement. This alchemical transmutation speeds up when Sarah is revealed to be Aislabie's mistress, pregnant with his child. Emilie throws her out, but after an explosion in the laboratory uncovers Sir John's diaries, which chart his undying love for his daughter and the truth about her lowly origins, she has a change of heart. She rescues Sarah's baby, stands up to her husband and acknowledges her love for the local rector, who has offered quiet succor throughout her ordeals. An intelligent and sensuous romance. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Historical fiction lovers will find themselves swept up in McMahon's gripping tale of a young woman whose learning is at odds with her heart in eighteenth-century England. Emilie Selden has been raised to be a scientist by her reserved, brilliant father He's made her his apprentice in his studies of chemistry, physics, and even alchemy, and although she loves both her father and her studies, she is pulled in another direction when one day handsome young Robert Aislabie arrives on the Seldens' doorstep, purportedly looking for scientific information. He leaves with Emilie's heart, and the two begin a secret courtship that results in Emilie becoming pregnant. When her father finds out, he refuses to speak to her, although he does allow her to marry Aislabie. Emilie's initial bliss soon wears off when she loses the child and discovers Aislabie is not what he seems. Her troubled marriage leads her back to Selden Manor, where she discovers the truth about her own past and has an emotional awakening. An involving, moving tale. --Kristine Huntley Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Because incredibly intelligent Emilie Selden performs scientific experiments under her possessive father's tutelage and assists him in his attempts at alchemy in their laboratory, she knows nothing of the world outside the gates of their Buckinghamshire estate. But when Robert Aislabie, a charming dandy from London, arrives, na?ve Emilie is swept off her feet and becomes pregnant. After a quick wedding, she moves to London with her new husband; soon after, her father dies of a broken heart, and the Aislabies return to Selden Manor, where Robert has extravagant plans for renovating the house and grounds. While Emilie fiercely clings to everything familiar, she makes some shocking discoveries about her husband, her family, and herself. Set in 18th-century England, McMahon's (A Way Through the Woods) novel reveals both intellect and emotion. Emilie herself is an experiment, and the results are often unexpected. This character-driven novel is absorbing and the scientific aspects a treat to contemporary readers. Recommended for all libraries with historical fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/05.]-Anna M. Nelson, Collier Cty. P.L., Naples, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.