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This book was very good and quite enjoyable! I love books which are atmospheric and evoke feelings of dread and unease. This book, like the silent companions, will creep up on you and have you worrying about things that go bump in the night (or shall I say hiss?). Purcell builds the suspense as her story unfolds. I really enjoyed how all the story-lines/plot timelines came together and brought about the end of the book! Plus, the ending? Was anyone else scratching their head at the end, thinking "what just happened? “I have my theories and think I have it figured out but like that I was left with questions. I feel like I was in the same boat as Elise at the end. Wondering what the hell just happened!?! Her ancestor, Anne Bainbridge’s diary is found and there are entries from this throughout. Her story with her mute daughter Hetta was where the true gothic horror in The Silent Companions lay the most, in my opinion. Thank you to Netgalley, Laura Purcell and Penguin Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked the sense of vagueness left at the end of the novel. The story was left open to the readers interpretation which suited the novel completely. I went from being an author at a small press, waking up at 5.30am every day to write before work, to the privilege of writing full-time as a client of one of the UK’s most sought-after literary agents. Finally, there was some weirdness going on about class that rubbed me the wrong way. Elsie is presented as having risen ‘above her station’ by marrying Rupert, and so a number of times expresses compassion for poor and lower class people, but she’s also really rude to the servants throughout the book. Not to mention being inexcusably rude to poor Sarah. Sarah was the only character I really liked, so it was depressing to see her either replaced or possessed by Hetta at the end. You just have to swap out the stately home for a northern factory town. It’s also a love story that could give Pride and Prejudicea run for its money.The Silent Companions is Laura Purcell’s unnerving tale of Gothic horror that gradually reveals itself over multiple timeframes. The novel opens during an undisclosed year as the main character, Elsie Bainbridge, finds herself imprisoned in an asylum. She is suspected of murder and arson and has lost the ability to speak. Inexplicably, she is also covered with terrible burns.
Countless tales have emerged to explain the origin of these curious objects. Because they create the illusion of a real human presence, it’s been suggested they were used to deter potential burglars or enemy soldiers. A very different explanation is that they were used to combat loneliness, hence their other name, silent companions. Other uses for dummy boards Irresistibly creepy, this romps along, Purcell turning her screws with skill. It’s what crumpets and dismal afternoons were made for.”
When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting . . . A creepy, unsettlingtale that I had to finish reading in broad daylight― Stylist, 'Must-Read Books' Take Ben's new survey via http://hearingthevoice.org/2016/03/22/feelings-of-presence-new-article-and-survey/
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