In Jesi Bender’s new experimental historical novel, she explores Victorian girlhood in the burned-over district of upstate New York, where death hovered close and people learned became conduits between this world and the next. Thirteen-year-old Ambrétte Memenon connects to her parents through their interests: Spiritualism for her Maman and electricity for her Papa. In her pursuit, Ambrétte is drawn into a deep abyss of the unknown as she learns more about both death and the electric spark of the human spirit. In this talk, author Jesi Bender will share her extensive research about the so called burned over district in Upstate New York, and its connection to spiritualism, and read from the book.