About the author
Elizabeth Schleber Lowry is the author of Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography (State University of New York Press, 2017), a scholarly study applying rhetorical analysis to the autobiographical writing of nineteenth-century female spirit mediums. The book situates Spiritualism within the social and historical contexts of Victorian America, examining how mediums used autobiography as a form of performance and self-authorization at a time when public speech by women was tightly constrained. It was a finalist for the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Religion category. Lowry's work belongs to the academic study of Spiritualism rather than to practical or devotional writing, and it will interest readers of religious history, gender studies and nineteenth-century American culture who want a close reading of how mediums narrated their own authority and experience.
📖 Where to start with Elizabeth Schleber Lowry
💬 What our editors say about Elizabeth Schleber Lowry's books
“Lowry’s rigorous rhetorical analysis is intellectually stimulating but demands patience from readers seeking accessible narrative. This academic volume is strictly for those interested in the mechanics of Victorian gender…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography
“Lowry provides a dense, academic dissection of rhetorical performance in spiritualist autobiography, making it unsuitable for casual occult enthusiasts or those seeking practical mediumship instruction. The text is rigorous and…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography
