1899, Belle Époque Paris. Lucienne’s two daughters are believed dead when her mansion burns to the ground, but she is certain that her girls are still alive and embarks on a journey into the depths of the spiritualist community to find them.

1949, Post-War Québec. Teenager Lina’s father has died in the French Resistance, and as she struggles to fit in at school, her mother introduces her to an elderly woman at the asylum where she works, changing Lina’s life in the darkest way imaginable.

#TheBleeding @JoGustawsson #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours @OrendaBooks #blogtour #historicalfiction

2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her husband – a famous university professor – to death. Detective Maxine Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation.

Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and murder, secret societies and spiritism … and women at breaking point, who will stop at nothing to protect the ones they love.

My Review

As part of the religious studies module of my Open University degree, we studied modern Wicca and the history of witchcraft, spiritualism and theosophy in the early 19th century. I became fascinated by some of these concepts, the darkest of which was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It was founded by three Freemasons in 1888 (hence why some people believe there are links between the Masons and black magic).  

*”The Order of the Golden Dawn is a Hermetic Society whose members are taught the principles of Occult Science and the Magic of Hermes.” I haven’t thought about it for years, but I noticed in the acknowledgements at the end of this book, the author mentions it as one of the influences for the book. I have included some further reading about it at the end of this review for anyone who is interested.

But back to the review proper. The Bleeding is dark, very dark. Not at first, when it dabbles in rituals and spiritualism, but as the three stories of Lucienne in Paris in 1899, Lina in 1949 post-war Quebec and Detective Maxine Grant in 2002 progress and come together, it becomes increasingly scary. With a twist at the end, which as they say, I really didn’t see coming.

It’s 2002 and Maxine, partner Jules and forensic psychologist Gina are investigating a horrific murder. Ex school-teacher Pauline Caron is accused of stabbing her husband 31 times in a most violent and frenzied fashion. But why should she do that? They were a devoted couple, who mainly kept themselves to themselves. She was loved at school by her pupils. But she has secrets and they are far worse than anyone could imagine.

In 1899 Lucienne’s house burns down and her two young daughters are killed in the blaze. Lucienne believes they are still alive and uses her friend to introduce her to spiritualism – if they are dead they will surely let her know.

In 1949, teenager Lina is being bullied by classmate Tamara. Can the old lady at the asylum where her mother works help her to defeat Tamara? And just how far is she prepared to go to make it happen?

All three stories are terrifyingly macabre – one in particular will remain with me for a very long time. This book was absolutely brilliant, evoking both fear and dread. The questions I asked myself at the end were, ‘How could they and how far would you go?’.

*https://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/article/570

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in 28 countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding – number one bestseller in France and the first in a new series – will be published in 2022. Johana lives on the west coast of Sweden with her Swedish husband and their three sons.

As an aside the following extract is very interesting:

**”Why should anyone in today’s world care about what the Golden Dawn did? What did its members achieve? Well, if you have any regard for literature, you might be interested to know that one important member of the Golden Dawn, William Butler Yeats, won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Yeats, who was one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, stated that next to his poetry, the Golden Dawn was the most important pursuit of his life. If you love the theater, it might surprise you to learn that another member of the Golden Dawn, Annie Horniman, built and funded Ireland’s famous Abbey Theater, and was considered a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival. If you love art, it might interest you to learn that a leading member of the Order, Moina Mathers, was one of the first to employ the art form of collage, and William Horton was a prominent graphic artist in the Art Nouveau movement. In fact, many members of the Golden Dawn wrote a number of books on a variety of subjects, from many aspects of occultism to poetry, fiction, bibliography, medicine, and entomology. Among these authors in the Golden Dawn Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood are perhaps best known.

“But the real contribution made by the magicians of the Golden Dawn was in the area of magic and spiritual growth. Anyone with an interest in the occult, metaphysics, mysticism, and spiritual evolution, should be aware of the fact that almost all modern practical occultism came directly or indirectly from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In the last century, the influence of the Golden Dawn has been strongly felt in all areas of magic. Today, many magical organizations have borrowed heavily from the methods used by the Golden Dawn, but often without giving credit to the Order. The Golden Dawn was the archetype of all magical groups. No group that existed prior to its establishment could compare to it??”and no group that has come after it has ever matched its achievements.

“…the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn??”an organization which has exerted a greater influence of the development of Occultism since its revival in the last quarter of the 19th century than most people can realize. There can be little or no doubt that the Golden Dawn is, or rather was until very recently, the sole depository of magical knowledge, […] A great many other occult organizations owe what little magical knowledge is theirs to leakages issuing from that Order and from its renegade members.”

“Who were the magicians that comprised this magical fraternity? The members of the original Golden Dawn were almost all respectable middle-class people, men and women, who were interested in the occult. Some were from the upper class, and there were quite a few doctors and writers. Many members of the Order also belonged to other esoteric groups, such as the Theosophical Society. Many were Masons. They were intelligent, creative, and otherwise normal people who had a great thirst for spiritual knowledge. They sought to understand the hidden mechanics of the universe through the study of magic. In short, they were not unlike today’s practitioners of Golden Dawn magic.

“The goal of the Golden Dawn has always been the continued preservation of the magical tradition. It is the teaching of new initiates, and their continued spiritual growth. This spiritual endeavor has been referred to as the “search for the Quintessence, the Stone of the Philosophers, True Wisdom, Perfect Happiness, the Summum Bonum,” It is “the Completion of the Great Work.” The number of people who are studying the Golden Dawn’s system of magic in this day and age is steadily increasing.”

**https://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/article/570

About Orenda Books

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.