Curiosity

In 1835, Rufus, twelve-year-old hunchback and chess prodigy, is taken in by Johann Maelzel, owner of the Turk, a chess-playing automaton. They can't seem to escape the mysterious Woman in Black, or the attention of Edgar Allan Poe, who aims to expose their operation for the fraud it is. Blackwood excels in writing historical fiction that is as informative as it is entertaining.

It's 1835 in the bustling city of Philadelphia, and Rufus, an undersized twelve-year-old hunchback, is in dire straits with his minister-turned-naturalist father now in debtors' prison and no foreseeable means of sustenance. But Rufus is a chess prodigy, and a fateful turn of events takes him out of the orphanage and into the patronage of Johann Maelzel, owner of the Turk, a world-renowned chess-playing automaton. Rufus secretly operates the Turk from inside, feeling confident and powerful, but otherwise he's virtually a prisoner of Maelzel and his gruff French henchman, Jacques. When their popularity wanes in Philadelphia, Maelzel closes up shop and moves everyone to Richmond, but they can't seem to escape the mysterious, haunting Woman in Black or the unwanted attention of Edgar Allan Poe, who aims to expose their operation for the fraud that it is. Blackwood excels in writing historical fiction that is as informative as it is entertaining. The period details, including cameos by famous people, bring the era to life, but it's the vivid characters and the inventive plot, told through Rufus's sympathetic first-person narrative, that drive our interest in the story. jonathan hunt