THE BLURB
Inspired by the work of Shirley Jackson and Susan Hill and set in a crumbling country mansion, The Silent Companions is an unsettling gothic ghost story to send a shiver down the spine…
Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband’s crumbling country estate, The Bridge.
With her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband’s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. But inside her new home lies a locked room, and beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary and a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure – a Silent Companion – that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself..
Published by Raven Books
BUYING LINKS
About the Author
A former Waterstones bookseller, Laura is now a full time author of chilling Gothic fiction. Her ghost story THE SILENT COMPANIONS was published by Bloomsbury Raven in October 2017 and will be followed by THE CORSET in 2018.
Laura has also blogged extensively about the Hanoverian monarchy. Her biopic novels QUEEN OF BEDLAM and MISTRESS OF THE COURT are the first in a series covering the lives and loves of the Georgian era queens.
Twitter – @spookypurcell
Website – http://laurapurcell.com/
MY REVIEW
If you are looking for a stunning, chilling read then look no further! I was drawn to this by the exquisite cover – it’s beautiful – and the story inside was just as beautiful in the most creepy, unsettling manner! It’s one of those books that makes you sleep with one eye open and noticing anything out of place.. did I really leave that cupboard open? I don’t remember putting that there……. seriously spooky!!
This book is set in the 1600’s and 1800’s and centres around a mansion named The Bridge, and features two women – Elsie who is in an asylum unable to speak as she recovers from a traumatic event, and Anne whose diary we read from back in the 1600’s when the Silent Companions are introduced to the household. The Dr at the asylum is completely fascinated by Elsie and her silence and gets her to write down what she can’t say and this is when we get to ‘hear’ her story of what happened after she ended up living at The Bridge after the death of her husband. The distressing events that then follow her time living there are expertly crafted and written in such a way that you are experiencing the isolation, the fear, the terror and every alarming event with the character.
Elsie only has her husband’s awkward cousin for company when she moves to The Bridge. Or so she thinks. For inside her new home lies a locked room, and beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary and a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure – a Silent Companion – that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself… Even the locals are wary of the house so refuse to work there and Elsie wants to try and understand why there is such fear of her new home. The events she witnesses leave her wondering if she is losing her mind but help explain the terror of those living nearby.
As the pasts of both characters reveal disturbing events you are often unsure how the story will play out, and there were a number of shocking twists that took my breath away! I’m not normally a big fan of spooky stories (yes I’m a wimp!) , but this was so well written and beautifully set out that I was gripped and I loved the dark vibes and the many creepy moments!
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Books and Me! 
Very strange coincidence makes me want to read this. Read on …… 😂. When I was a small child living in Hull, one of my favourite outings was to Wilberforce House in Hull’s Old Town, which I know sounds hellishly precocious; I don’t know how it first came about but anyway .. attached to the main museum was a pair of meticulously preserved Georgian houses, called oddly enough the Georgian Houses. I loved the dark rooms with their low ceilings and polished floorboards that had were worn with age; all the mahogany which was the last thing in modernity at the time. Here and there around the rooms were painted wooden figures – a little old man (why?), a nursemaid, and a parlourmaid. No doubt they were brighter when first painted but had been varnished over and over again thoughout the years. Absolutely beyond scary, but I loved coming upon them in the same way that I liked going on ghost trains. When somebody told me they were called Silent
These museums have all changed now but I can still see them in my mind’s eye. So the cover has drawn me to this, it’s wonderful, but when I saw it was about those silent companions ….. I’ll let you know how I get on with it.. Pxx
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ooh i love that story! You would definitely connect with this book then!! You can relive those scary times lol! Really hope you enjoy it!! xx
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Oooh sounds very spooky!
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It blooming well was!! Just glad there were no spiders in there! 😉
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I’m a wimp as well but that dark vibe sounds amazing! Great review!
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thank you! We will be wimps together! I think you’ll be brave enough for this read! 😉
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I absolutely loved this one and am happy to hear you did too! I can’t wait for Purcell’s next book, The Corset, to come out this fall. Hopefully it will be just as atmospheric, creepy, and brilliantly written!
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we both have very good taste in books then it seems! 😉 The Corset is now high on my most anticipated list!
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