The Disturbing Tales of the “Fasting Girls” in the Victorian Era

The Disturbing Tales of the “Fasting Girls” in the Victorian Era

Shannon Quinn - November 29, 2022

The Disturbing Tales of the “Fasting Girls” in the Victorian Era
Mollie Fancher, a fasting girl known as The Brooklyn Enigma. Credit: Messy Nessy Chic

“The Brooklyn Enigma” Was a Fasting Psychic

One of the most famous fasting girl cases was known as “The Brooklyn Enigma“. Mollie Fancher spent nearly 50 years in bed. In 1865, she was in a tragic accident when she fell out of a horse-drawn trolley. Her body was dragged along the road, because her scarf got caught in the trolley. She lost her sight during the accident, but claimed that she gained psychic abilities in exchange. Mollie would put her hands behind her, and claimed that she could see out of the back of her head. She also claimed that she could “read” books just by touching them. Her story was published in Newspapers around the country. One of her new “abilities” was her claim that she no longer needed to eat or drink. She claimed to be “living on air”. On her gravestone, it reads, “Mollie Fancher knew the secret of life.”

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