Waiting on Wednesday: Born of Illusion, by Teri Brown

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine to highlight upcoming releases that we're exited about.

This week's pick:

Expected release: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Format: Hardcover, 245 pages

Goodreads description:
Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?

Born of Illusion is the first book in a new series. Each book in the series will introduce a new historical figure, whose legend is shrouded in magic, along with the young woman whose fate is irrevocably tied to his. The through line in each of the books will be The Ghost Club, the real life secret society that was founded in 1862 by the likes of Charles Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle, and W. B. Yeats to advance mankind’s knowledge of the paranormal. The first three books in the series will deal with Houdini, Aleister Crowley and Rasputin.


This book sounds sooo awesome! I love historicals with street smart heroines! Also, séances and secret societies - I always find that so mysterious and I can't wait to see how it's dealt with here. The part about Anna being the daugher of an illusionist also reminds me a bit of Erin Morgenstern's Night Circus. The idea for the series sounds amazing in general. I like how it's apparently tied to real historical personages. Can't wait for the Aleister Crowley novel!
What do you guys think? And what's your pick today?