Spirits and Spirituality in Victorian Fiction argues that supernatural encounters in
nineteenth-century fiction show Victorians trying to achieve greater spiritual agency by
adapting scientific theories to traditional Christianity. The increasing presence of ghosts
across the nineteenth century ¿ in fiction newspaper accounts séances and magic shows ¿ thus
highlights a significant countercurrent to the general decline of faith during the period.
Through examining ghost encounters in the fiction of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu Charles Dickens
Margaret Oliphant Rhoda Broughton E. Nesbit Rudyard Kipling and others this book
demonstrates how the supernatural served as a site where a range of stances toward spirituality
could be tested: from ambivalence toward both scientific and religious epistemologies to
fascinating instances of spiritual evolution. Not only do fictional ghosts suggest that belief
persisted despite an intellectual climate that often associated spirituality with credulity
but they also illustrate the way faith adapted to scientific innovation and evolved to
encompass new theories regarding the mind.
