The Fox Sisters

Spiced cardamom cake with orange zest and candied red currants, caramel cream, dragon’s blood resin, and flecks of vanilla bean. On one dreary spring day on the eve of April Fools, two young girls inadvertently started one of the greatest movements of the 19th century. The unlikely founders were frightened when they heard rapping on their bedroom wall at night, and reported the phenomenon to their mother. Maggie, Kate, their mother Margaret, and a neighbor organized a séance to contact the spirit in their house. Three, five, and then thirty-three raps on the table communicated the spirit’s past and surprising knowledge of people in the room.  In fear of the spirit that seemed drawn to her daughters, Margaret sent Maggie and Kate to live with their eldest sister in Rochester. Rumors of the Fox sisters’ ability quickly spread through the city. Rochester was unique in that it had been the site of a number of spiritual movements, and the city was primed to accept the sensational story of t