Book excerpt: In the aftermath of the Civil War, distraught Connecticut residents turned to Spiritualism as a means of connecting with their lost loved ones. Daniel Dunglas Home of New London held his first public séance as a teenager in 1851, and he reportedly levitated and handled hot coals without injury. Famous Litchfield native Harriet Beecher Stowe and her husband, Calvin, were believers, and Harriet's sister Isabella Beecher Hooker practiced mediumship. After the death of their son Willie, President Abraham Lincoln and the first lady invited Hartford medium Nettie Colburn Maynard to conduct secret séances at the White House. Even today, believers congregate at the Pine Grove Spiritualist Camp. Author Elaine Kuzmeskus investigates this dramatic, mystical history.