The Mesmerist | Barbara Ewing | Talks at Google
1,889 views · Published 12 December 2008 · 49:00 · Indexed 27 October 2026
Channel: Talks at Google · 2008 · Entertainment
Barbara Ewing visits Google's London office to discuss her book "The Mesmerist." This event took place on November 24, 2008, as part of the Authors@Google series. London, 1838: the controversial practice of Mesmerism, with its genuine practitioners and its fraudulent chancers, has hypnotised the city. Miss Cordelia Preston, a beautiful, ageing, out-of-work actress terrified of returning to the poverty of her childhood, suddenly emerges as a Lady Phreno-Mesmerist. In her candle-lit Bloomsbury basement she learns to harness her talent - and to finally look towards the future. But success is fragile when you have a past filled with secrets. On a wintry, moonlit night a body is found in Bloomsbury Square, and what began as an audacious subterfuge erupts into a scandal. Cordelia's past is revealed, bringing not only heartache but terror - and the mystery of a cloaked figure who waits for her in the shadowy London streets.
More from this channel
-
55:06
The Littlest Hitler | Ryan Boudinot | Talks at Google
-
47:59
Talking Right | Geoffrey Nunberg | Talks at Google
-
48:58
Paradigm Found | Anne Firth Murray | Talks at Google
-
55:22
The Cigarette Century | Allan Brandt | Talks at Google
-
1:02:44
Reaching out to Rebels | Jeffrey Mapendere | Talks at Google
-
3:47
The Life and Times of Dona Gracia Nasi | Andree Aelion Brooks | Talks at Google
-
53:13
Brookings Institution | Strobe Talbott | Talks at Google
-
1:27:59
Global Warming Solutions Act | Google.Org Speakers | Talks at Google