In the Shadow of Blackbirds

The 1918 flu outbreak and Spiritualist craze are the setting for this gorgeous production, which features photographs and ads from the era. When her Socialist father is arrested for treason, Mary Shelley Black goes to live with her aunt in San Diego, hoping the warmer clime will offer some immunity from the deadly flu that has its hold on the rest of the nation. No such luck, for even in sunny California, the hospitals and morgues are full of flu victims and inconsolable survivors seek solace from charlatans offering means to communicate with the dead. When Mary learns that her great love, Stephen, met his end on a Great War battlefield, she begins to feel his presence all around, leading her to believe that his soul is not at peace and that his brother (himself a "spirit photographer") may not be telling the truth about his demise. The book's historic setting is as much a star as the plucky Mary Shelley, bringing to life a time when the flu was far more deadly than a few days of congestion and imposed bedrest. Fans of Libba Bray's The Diviners (2012) will particularly enjoy this one, while waiting for the next in that series.