A June 2010 Indie Next List Notable * A Massachusetts Book Award Must-Read Book 2011

Captivity playlist on largehearted boy

Captivity reading group guide

"With her crystalline prose, Deborah Noyes creates characters who feel lit from within, and at the same time she teaches the reader to ask different questions, expect different answers. I love the many surprises of Captivity and the way the novel beautifully blurs the lines between the living and the dead, the true and the false."—Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street and Eva Moves the Furniture

"We often think of Victorian-era seances and spiritualism as a British phenomenon. This book, based as it is on the historical figures of the Fox sisters, shows that there was a mighty appetite for it in America as well . . . Captivity is an engaging novel . . . but Noyes wisely does not expect the sisters to carry the full load of the book. Their story, and especially Maggie's, is played against that of Clara Gill . . . . The mystery of Clara's background is incrementally revealed, its small-scale drama playing out in contrast to Maggie Fox's high profile, though just as wrenching for all that . . . . evocative."—David Maine, PopMatters

"Noyes' previous novel, Angel and Apostle . . . proved it's possible to revisit classic literature and give it a sharp, post-modern twist without resorting to zombies or werewolves. The remix of Hawthorne's morality tale spiked the familiar with the fresh . . . By the same token, Captivity is equal parts Henry James and Joyce Carol Oates . . . [it] takes its time building the backstory of all the characters, but once the shimmer of the book's prose folds into the tension of the plot, the book becomes an unstoppable force, culminating in an unforgettable seance."—David Abrams, BarnesandNobleReview.com

"Beautifully written, with frequent surprises in plot and character, this novel tells the story of two women meeting at the crux of their untenable, yet inescapable, paths. Noyes reminds us of the importance of pure feelings, regardless of their soiled context, and the reader becomes grateful for the reminder."—Jenn Northington, IndieBound/Shelf Awareness

"Captivity is haunting and evocative, a heartbreakingly poignant, emotionally luminescent tale of the prisons we build for ourselves out of expectation and desire. Beautiful and subtly powerful. I loved it."—Megan Chance, author of Prima Donna and The Spiritualist

"Captivity is as much about freedom as it is about love, and as elegantly written and beautifully told as it may be, the reading of it still cuts like a knife. Noyes has a gift for placing a literary microscope on the quietest parts of society; she sees these women as the discontented creatures they were and demands that we see too how pressing their cages were and how utterly unfair their lifelong confinement."—Colleen Mondor, Bookslut

"A novel of beguiling characters that probes both belief and the veracity of emotion, this endlessly fascinating work should be considered by all fiction readers."—Library Journal

"Noyes includes some of the key figures who spurred the [American Spiritualist] movement's popularity and aptly draws upon the themes of classism and sexism that influenced its leaders with wonderfully lavish period detail."—Publishers Weekly

"Told in a haunting, multi-narrative voice style, Captivity is a phenomenal, literate read packed with mystery, suspense, compassion, intrigue, and fear . . . a brilliant novel."—Historical Novels Review

"Atmospheric . . ."—The Boston Phoenix

"Original, creative, and beautifully written . . . a deeply insightful work of historical fiction."—Dayton Book Examiner

"Brilliant and searing, Noyes's Captivity has captured the essence of the female dilemma in the late 1880s for those chronically unable to bow to convention . . . an extraordinary, revelatory novel."—Luan Gaines, Curled Up with a Good Book blog

"The most interesting novels, those considered to be classics, are the ones whose stories stay with you, after the last page has been turned. Captivity is certainly in the tradition of the classics, in the very best sense of the word. Its multilayered story and characters are like petals of a flower, opening slowly to reveal something beautiful, both as you read and long after you've finished."—Christine Zibas, Associated Content

"There's not a word out of place in this gripping, touching and deeply satisfying novel. One of my favorite books of the year."—Let Them Read Books blog

"Full of questions that beg book club discussion . . . A deeply chilling tale . . . You come away with the realization that the living are far more mysterious (and sometimes scarier) than the dead."—Boxing the Octopus blog

"A haunting story, exquisite writing, compelling characters, and a really interesting plot question . . . A marvelous writer. A marvelous book." The Moveable Feast blog