The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy Published by Lake Union Publishing on March 5 2024
Genres: Adult, historical, Paranormal
Pages: 347
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Purchased
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The nitty-gritty: Murder, ghosts and a controlling husband are just some of the ingredients in this thrilling, historically accurate treat of a story.
There’s been quite a bit of buzz surrounding The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, which led me to buy a copy as soon as it was released. And I’m so glad I took time out of my normal review schedule to read it. The story takes place in 1955 and revolves around a woman named Loretta Davenport, who wakes up one day and realizes she can see ghosts. Aside from the paranormal elements, though, the main draw for me was the character of Loretta, an oppressed housewife who is living with an abusive, controlling husband. Loretta’s journey was harrowing (and unbelievable at times!), but she’s such a strong, resourceful woman, and I couldn’t help but cheer her on, even as she’s stuck in a time period where women have very little control over their lives. Near the end of the book, the story veers off into an overly dramatic subplot that didn’t really work for me, but otherwise I enjoyed this a lot.
Loretta Davenport lives with her husband Pete and two children in the small town of Myrna Grove. Pete works at a local religious school and expects his family to attend church and adhere to his conservative lifestyle, and Loretta has dutifully obeyed all of Pete’s rules, even though she’s bored and has dreams of being a writer some day. After getting sick, Loretta wakes up with some strange new abilities. She sees ghosts, who seem to want to tell her things. She’s also able to sense past events when she touches objects. When she starts to have fainting spells, Pete takes her to the doctor, where she’s told the spells are probably related to depression (yeah, right).
This leads to her connecting with Dr. Curtis Hansen, a psychoanalyst who is also fascinated with parapsychology and the study of ESP. When Loretta tells him about her ghostly visitors, he encourages her to meet with him once a week, so they can delve into the reasons behind Loretta’s unsettling experiences. And when the ghost of a recent murder victim contacts her with information about her killer, Loretta and Dr. Hansen work together to try to solve the mystery.
Loretta is keeping her visits with Dr. Hansen a secret from her husband (who would never allow it), but what happens when he finds out? Loretta is about to find out how far Pete will go to keep tight control of his family, while she inches closer to the truth about the murder.
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport is a fascinating—and terrifying—look into the life of a 1950s housewife, and Paulette Kennedy did a fantastic job of making her story feel authentic. She explores all kinds of laws that existed back then, most of which gave husbands full control over their wives. For example, women weren’t allowed to open their own bank accounts and had to be accompanied by a male family member in order to do so. The psychiatric profession wasn’t kind to women either, and part of the story takes place in an insane asylum where women are committed by their husbands against their will (more on this later). Loretta has very few freedoms and isn’t allowed to work, so she’s been skimming money when she buys groceries and hides cash around the house in places where Pete won’t look. It’s her only safety net for the future, and I loved that her mother taught her to take care of herself in this way.
Which brings me to my favorite part of the story—Loretta. She appears to be a compliant, meek woman in the beginning, eager to please her husband and stay in his good graces. Because, guess what? Pete has a drinking problem and a nasty temper, and he often takes it out on Loretta and the kids. But once she meets Dr. Hansen, her world opens up with all sorts of possibilities. Curt encourages her to start writing and submit her pieces to magazines and newspapers, which she does. He also believes in her abilities to sense the otherworldly, and he works with her in their sessions to improve those talents. Loretta begins to see her marriage in a whole new light and starts to stand up for herself, and it was a joy to see this change in her.
The murder mystery was really good too. I loved watching Loretta piece together all the different clues she gets from her visions and speaking to ghosts, and I liked the way everything was resolved. Along the way, she makes friends with other women who are also dealing with unhappy marriages and controlling men, and I loved the sense of sisterhood that came through.
The paranormal elements are very subtle, and I thought it was the perfect balance for this story. One of the ghosts who visits Loretta is her mother, and we learn about a traumatic event in her childhood that she’s still dealing with, and those scenes were so emotional. Curt helps her through this, and I was glad she had one male figure in her life that she could trust. Although I will say there are several twists in the story, and at one point I wasn’t sure if Curt was trustworthy or not. There is also a hint of a blossoming romance between him and Loretta, but luckily it’s just a hint and doesn’t turn into anything. Loretta might hate Pete, but she’s faithful and would never consider cheating.
In the last quarter of the story, things take a very dark turn, and this part didn’t really work for me (although it was entertaining as hell!). When Loretta starts seeing and hearing ghosts, Pete insists she’s hallucinating, but later decides she’s possessed by a demon and takes shocking action to “heal” her. This leads to a subplot about an insane asylum (for women, of course) and a child custody case, and for me this section was way too over the top and didn’t fit in with the rest of the story. I guess I can see why the author chose to go in this direction, as it does show how Loretta’s journey comes full circle. It also emphasizes that women at that time had very little agency in making choices for themselves, especially in regards to their health (and not much has really changed, it’s sad to say), and I was shocked by some of the things Loretta had to go through. Still, I was more invested in the murder mystery, and I thought this section went on a little too long.
By now you can probably guess who the “devil” of the title is! It was nice to read a book that was mostly out of my normal genre—I used to read literary fiction all the time and I miss it sometimes. There’s never a dull moment in this book, so if you’re looking for a page-turner historical thriller that deals with some controversial women’s topics, I highly recommend you try this. I’ll definitely be reading more books from Paulette Kennedy when I have time.
I always enjoy discovering something out of my usual reading choices and then having a great time reading it. Glad you enjoyed this one so much and hope you get chance to read more of the author’s work. I’m sure I also have one of her other titles on my TBR list from a while ago. Will have to check. 😀
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I’m definitely going to try another book of hers:-)
It has been a hot minute since I read literary fiction, but this one has definitely piqued my interest. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it!
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Reviews – FUNNY STORY & CHRISTA COMES OUT OF HER SHELL
It was a nice change of pace:-)
The absolute irony of Pete saying Loretta is hallucinating when she starts seeing and hearing ghosts but then decides she’s possessed by a demon. SURE PETE *side eye*
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LOL I never thought of that!
What an intriguing review! Thank you so much for sharing this 🙂
I’m certain that I would love this book for Loretta’s journey and also hate it for the (sadly true) depiction of the times she lives in and the almost total lack of agency allowed to women at the time. There is indeed a very sad consideration in there, when we observe that some elements of that past seem to want a… reboot of sorts… 🙁
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It was both fascinating and horrifying! I’m so glad I read it:-)
This sounds like a good read. However, it seems like there is A LOT going on in it and I had to glance back and see how many pages there were. I would have guessed many more. Maybe I’ll grab this if I can get a copy from my local library! Great review.
There is a lot going on! And the part at the end that I thought was over the top could have been left out.
This book sounds mighty intriguing and unsettling, more for the condition of woman and Loretta situation than for the mystery part, and your review was great to read!
Exactly, the way Loretta was treated was awful!
I love when authors open my eyes on women’s condition in the past decades! That’s not so far away from us!
I learned a lot! And you’re right, this isn’t that far in the past, sort of scary!
I don’t understand how Loretta just wake up and see ghost. At least the cover look cool. It has an old faded photography tone to it.
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She got sick and had a bad fever, and the fever changed her in some way, I think that’s what happened.
I hadn’t heard of this but it sounds as if it blends some interesting elements together. I’m glad you enjoyed it and that Loretta’s story was depicted so well. Its just a shame that the ending went a bit over the top for you. Oddly I read a thriller with a domestic abuse storyline (a fair few years back now so I can’t remember all the ins and outs of it) and the ending of that too was utterly over the top, so much so that it was a major struggle to finish.
This is definitely worth reading, even with the over the top ending:-)
For some reason I kept being reminded of Hendrix’s “Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” as I read your review. I guess Loretta just reminds me of the ladies from the bookclub.
It definitely has that vibe!
Sometimes I really enjoy these more literary novels that are more about the “real” world with just slight speculative touches. Granted, they’re just another part of the spectrum of speculative fiction, but they definitely have a different feel from the other end of the spectrum.
The author did such a good job combining the two genres:-)
This gives me vibes from Lessons in Chemistry as far as how women can be treated. (Mistreated)
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I had forgotten Lessons in Chemistry was set in the 50s. Now I want to read it:-)
Not sure if I’d read this, but I could see it as a tv show or movie that I’d watch! Great review!
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It would make a good movie!
I’ve not heard of this but it sounds like something I would like.
Lynn 😀