In the last few months it seems like The Silent
Companions by Laura Purcell has been following me around in every bookshop and
Instagram page I’ve visited. The cover is really quite impressive and promises
exactly was I found within its pages, a light and undemanding tribute to the Victorian gothic, which will go perfectly well with
some candles, hot chocolate and a box-set of Downton Abbey.
Elsie Bainbridge, recently widowed and pregnant, travels
by horse and carriage to her late husband’s country estate, along with her
cumbersome cousin-in-law, Sarah. When she gets there, she navigates her way
through dusty cobwebs, an eerie nursery, a pesky cat in the attic and an unruly
set of maids. Flashbacks also make up chunks of the story, one storyline has
Elsie years later in a lunatic asylum, the other a diary from a previous
occupant.
A smorgasbord of historical titbits is crammed within the
book’s 364 pages: a matchstick factory, herbal folklore and Black Magic,
treason, pearl-drop diamond necklaces and a mysterious shop selling curiosities
for wealthy clients. I didn’t find the “monster” nearly as horrifying as The
Woman in Black, in fact it was quite sweet. All of this combined makes a tale
which you can breeze through during a couple of cold December evenings at home.
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