The Illusionists

By: Rosie Thomas

Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis

Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the best-selling author of the phenomenally successful The Kashmir Shawl.

London 1870: a terrifying place for a young, beautiful woman of limited means. But Eliza is modern before her time. Not for her the stifling if respectable conventionality of marriage, children, domestic drudgery. She longs for more.

Through her work as an artist’s model, she meets the magnetic and irascible Devil - a born showman whose dream is to run his own theatre company. Devil’s right-hand man is the improbably-named Carlo Bonomi, an ill-tempered dwarf with an enormous talent for all things magic and illusion. Carlo and Devil clash at every opportunity and it constantly falls upon Eliza to broker an uneasy peace between them. And then there is Jasper Button. Mild-mannered, and a family man at heart, it is his gift as an artist which makes him the unlikely final member of the motley crew.

Thrown together by a twist of fate, their lives are inextricably linked: the fortune of one depends on the fortune of the other. And as Eliza gets sucked into the seductive and dangerous world her strange companions inhabit, she risks not only her heart, but also her life.…

©2014 Rosie Thomas (P)2014 Audible Studios

Critic Reviews

"Love, seduction, magic, and illusion collide as Rosie Thomas takes us on a spellbinding journey through an extremely shadowy world." (Daily Express)

"A superbly researched and vivid evocation of wartime Kashmir and Ladakh." (Daily Mail on The Kashmir Shawl)

Started well and went downhill

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the characters had been less annoying! The "independent" lady seemed to accept the arrogance, selfishnish and verging on violent "hero". It started off really interesting and I thought it would be about the characters in the playhouse. I enjoyed the victorian atmosphere and particularly Carlo. I continued listening to see if the hero would get his comeuppance.

What could Rosie Thomas have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The two main characters could have had a different storyline!

Which character – as performed by Lucy Price-Lewis – was your favourite?

Carlo

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Illusionists?

The last third of the book

Any additional comments?

I found it strange that people could find the hero attractive - he hinted several times that he could/would rape her.

Atmospheric tale of late Victorian music hall life

I chose The Illusionists after reading the blurb and being attracted by the concept of intrigue and mystery against the backdrop of a magician's stage show. Like most of us, the glamour of magic and illusion is appealing to me, and I had visions of a tale something like the Christian Bale film 'The Prestige', with competition and camaraderie between the main protagonists ending in potential conflict.

As it turned out, this was a little more mundane in terms of story, but very entertaining nonetheless. I couldn't really work out what genre the author was aiming for - thriller, period piece, romance - as the book has elements of all of these. There is a slight nod to the supernatural too, but only a hint which is developed far more in the sequel novel. The characters of Eliza and Devil are infuriating and appealing at the same time. The supporting players are interesting too, especially Carlo the Dwarf who is a brilliant but melancholy character destined to always play second fiddle to the handsome and charismatic Devil, much to his continual annoyance.

There were some strange plot points that never seemed to get fully developed - I won't mention them for fear of spoilers, but they were significant enough to make me think they would be important and they ended up going nowhere. There were a few cliches etc but overall, it was an entertaining read and prompted me to download the sequel to find out what happened next.

amazing behind the scene look at illusions.

What made the experience of listening to The Illusionists the most enjoyable?

i have learnt that you can never tell where a story is going to take you

What did you like best about this story?

the continued love hate friendship between devil and carlo

What does Lucy Price-Lewis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

keeps you enthralled lovely voice.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when carlo died and how upset everyone was

Any additional comments?

brilliant story great setting in london.

A Sunday afternoon read

Long, but I stuck with it. Almost a comfort read. Interesting in parts but not very exciting.