Books and Movies

Last year, I read Debra Ginsberg’s memoir, About My Sisters. As a woman who also has three sisters, the memoir resonated with me, and has stuck with me since then. When asked to review Ms. Ginsberg’s latest novel, The Grift, I was happy to oblige.

The Grift is the story of Marina Marks, a woman working in Florida as a psychic. She doesn’t believe in psychic abilities, but she uses her keen observation skills and intuition about human relationships to tell her clients what they want to hear. She makes a pretty good living at it, even if she’s deceiving the people she’s helping about the nature of her observations.

When some competition and persecution from other psychics and gypsies force Marina to move from Florida to Southern California, she sets up a prosperous business and is well on her way to her goal of retiring in comfort before age 40. But then a mysterious man shows up who throws a wrinkle into her plans. Not only does she find herself immensely attracted to him, but she suddenly starts having premonitions and visions that she had never had before. Marina has to come to terms with her grift, her gift, and her future.

It took me a while to be drawn into this book. I enjoyed the eclectic group of characters that made up Marina’s clientele, but I wasn’t really compelled to keep reading until Gideon arrived. When he showed up, and along with him, the manifestation of Marina’s true psychic abilities, I was hooked and couldn’t stop reading. I stayed up until almost 1 am finishing it.

As the mystery unfolds, I was sure I knew who the culprit was, but Ms. Ginsberg managed to keep me guessing until the last possible minute. While the ending wasn’t fairytale happy, it ended with resolution for Marina’s story and hope for her future.

4 out of 5 stars.

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