The Secret World of a Spiritualist Family

I discovered the family photo album of the spiritualist author Shaw Desmond and his author wife Karen Ewald. They strongly believed in life after death, to incredibly extreme levels, sadly concluding in what could be looked at as attempted murder.

They were fascinating people, way ahead of their time. The album is full of images which could have been taken in the 1960's. There are scenes of yoga, children being free to be themselves and all the emotions of life captured from sadness to joy - all taken between 1900-1930's.

Karen seemed incredible, keeping her name after they married, and living with a debilitating illness. She was the daughter of the author Carl Ewald and the niece of the philosopher Victor Kuhr.

Shaw travelled the world evangelising about Spiritualism. In the album he visits a plantation in Mississippi revealing shocking images of the racial divide there.

Through newspaper cuttings and his 60 publications you can trace his journey step by step.