Books like The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Two 19th-century stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, engage in a bitter and deadly feud over a stage magic trick. The effects of their feud are still felt by their respective families a hundred years later. Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls, they prowl edgily in the background of each other's shadowy life, driven by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity. At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple, but to the antagonists, the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of the trick.
First publish date: 1995
Genre: Historical Fiction/19th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Christopher Priest
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