There are many aspects of this book that are important and well worth the read. I expected the ESP and supernatural aspects of the story to be featured more than they were. ( )

Quiet housewife meets the Twilight Zone, with a deadly twist. Kennedy did a great job of bringing everything to life, especially the historical setting and dynamic between each of the characters. I had chills running down my spine each time Loretta had a vision, they were just so vivid. It also broke my heart to see how she was treated be her overly religious husband, but I also know those views weren't entirely left in the 50s. The tension is high right from the start, and the story moves along smoothly, even through what should be duller moments of everyday life. There's just a thread that keeps tugging you along, cover to cover. If you enjoy thrillers mixed with a bit of women's fiction and paranormal, then you're going to want to grab this one! ( )

Set in 1955 Missouri. Loretta Davenport, a housewife and mother of two, gets a fever. After she's recoverd she realizes she can communicate with the dead. She continues to investigate her newly found ability with the help of a parapsychologist Dr. Hansen. She helps the police to find the body of a girl who recently disappeared. Loretta's husband Pete is a religious, controlling man, who does not like what's happening to her. Their life together grows strained and at the same time the home they live in begins to show cracks.

This was an interesting book to read. I learned a lot about homemakers in the midcentury America. The story was menacing from the start, and the atmosphere kept getting darker and darker. There were passages that were truly painful for me to read. Loretta was so naive, having lost her mother when she was just a child, and also for having married young. It was nice to see her waking from slumber and trying to find a new way of life for herself and her children. I did not really like any of the characters in this book, but they were really just products of their society and time.

The author's note in the end is a great read. You can really see her appreciation of homemakers and love of Shirley Jackson in the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book. ( )

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy is a period piece from the 1950’s, but many parts of it are still relevant today. It’s unsettling, maddening, and sad that so little has changed.

There are many trigger warnings at the beginning: physical, emotional, sexual, and religious abuse; fatphobia; racism; homophobia; murder; self-harm; alcohol dependence; pregnancy; and abortion. While that seems like a lot, and it is, Kennedy was still able to write a novel that left you hopeful for the main character.

If you are looking for an excellent gothic novel, filled with feminist themes and the supernatural (and who isn’t!!!), I highly recommend The Devil and Mrs. Davenport. ( )

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport is not a book that I'd normally read because of the psychic aspect but I'm really glad that I gave it a chance because I found it to be a well written book that kept me turning the pages.

This book takes place in the 1950s and is a good reminder of how little freedom women had in those years. They were expected to be good wives and mothers and to cater to their hard working husbands. They were second class citizens in many ways -- they couldn't even cash a check or open a bank account without the approval of their husband or a male relative. This is the environment that Loretta Davenport lives in. Her husband teaches at a Christian college and believes that his word is law in his house. Their lives begin to change when Loretta starts to receive messages from beyond. Her husband believes that the devil is at work in her mind and that she just has a female's imagination. For the first time, she defies her husband's rules and starts to talk to a parapsychologist to help her understand what is going on in her mind. She also begins to help the local police department solve a murder. When Pete finds out, he realizes that he is no longer in charge of his family and takes drastic measures to regain his control. Can Loretta continue to defy her husband and use her powers for good or will the things that her husband plans for her, take her back to her role as a dutiful housewife who obeys her husband's every wish?

What I liked most about this novel was to see the evolution of Loretta Davenport and to see her defy her husband's rules as well as the rules that society put on women during this time. One of the most disturbing parts of the novel was the minister who tried to exorcise the devil from Loretta's mind.

This is a well researched and powerful look at a woman gaining strength while she fights against the norms of society and the rules of her husband to become the person that she wants and needs to be. ( )