“A wonderfully creepy Victorian tale to chill the reader.”
–Historical Novels Review

“The Company is a suspenseful thriller destined to please all lovers of classic Gothic fiction. Throughout the book, I felt I was in the hands of a master of suspense who can create a chilling atmosphere akin to J. S. Le Fanu. While it is hard to say whether a book will become a classic, I believe this one is destined for it.”
–The Gothic Wanderer

“The Company is a chilling gothic thriller, both subtle and relentless in its build-up of terror. The story creeps up on you much as the patterns in its poisonous wallpapers do: entrancing, entwining, and entrapping. J.M. Varese, with this deliciously disquieting novel, joins the company of Shirley Jackson, Sarah Waters, and Henry James.”
–Hollis Seamon, author of CORPOREALITY

“The Company is diabolically good. The sibling heirs to a troubled wallpaper manufacturer are charmed by the charismatic Mr Rivers. But is he a saviour or something corrupt and corrupting? J.M. Varese's gothic tale is sinuously elegant and claustrophobic as deadly Victorian wallpaper.”
–Kate Griffin, author of FYNESHADE

“The Company is a roller-coaster of a read. Varese brings to life the true grittiness of 19th-century London with great enthusiasm, combining historical fiction with a feel for the gothic thriller.”
–Amanda Foreman, author of THE DUCHESS

“Reimagining Victorian haunting for a new generation, this brilliant novel grounds its terrors in the company we keep and the Companies we make and trust. As eery as the stories of M.R. James, The Company creeps up on its readers before it so splendidly pounces. The new master of suspense has arrived.”
–John Bowen, author of OTHER DICKENS

“A crisp and austere work of Victorian gothic, exploring the brutal history of the wallpaper industry, where designs of entrancing beauty came drenched in blood and suffering.”
–Eva Dolan, author of THIS IS HOW IT ENDS

“The Company . . . J.M. Varese's stylish Gothic chiller.”
–Irish Times

“Perfect for the history buff in your life . . . The Spirit Photographer navigates a rich and detailed world inhabited by both the living and the dead.”
- Buzzfeed

“In The Spirit Photographer spirits lurk in the memory, as does the scarcely buried history of slavery. Atmospheric, lyrical, and poignant, the novel deftly interweaves strands of history and fantasy”
- PopMatters

“An entertaining amalgam of history and fiction, gothic and ghost story, The Spirit Photographer is an addicting tale.”
- Booklist (starred review)

“Equal parts Southern Gothic, ghost story, and political drama, The Spirit Photographer reveals the past for what it is: loud, unrelenting, and inescapable. . . . The Spirit Photographer is a sprawling, ambitious, and uncomfortable debut”
- Chronogram

“The Spirit Photographer incorporates elements of magic realism and Southern gothic . . . [and] questions the extent to which photography captures reality or alters perceptions. Readers . . . will find much to investigate and discuss in literary historian Varese's debut novel.”
- Library Journal

“An intricately plotted debut novel that combines post-Civil War history with a ghost story . . . The writing is vivid, even lyrical at times, and the passages on Reconstruction are illuminating. . . . The deep divide in the country circa 1870 is vaguely reminiscent of our own time.”
- Kirkus Reviews

“A very entertaining and haunting story of historical suspense.”
- New York Journal of Books