I'm currently cleaning out my netgalley list. I read this back in 2018 but forgot to do the review for it. This is a really good gothic tale where Elsie, recently widowed, and pregnant with her first child arrives in a remote village, with her husband’s cousin, Sarah, to live in an old home, owned by her husband, referred to as ‘The Bridge’, which has not been lived in for quite some time. Due to her husband’s wealth, and his sudden death so soon after their marriage, rumors and scandal are breathing down Elsie’s neck, but the villagers and her limited staff are also quite superstitious about her, and the house.
It's told in interweaving stories of both Elsie's point of view and that of Annie using her journal from the 1600's. I remember reading it over two days. Now would be the perfect time for a re-read as the snow & bad weather creates the perfect backdrop for a dark, suspenseful story. It kept me hooked from the outset. It's a great read and highly recommended.

I really looked forward to this spooky tale but this story just wasn't for me.  I failed to connect with the book.  I found it really slow and dragged out and I am afraid this one beat me and I never made it to the end.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. I really struggled to get into it and struggled with the format.

Huge thanks to Raven Books and NetGalley for the digital e-ARC of The Silent Companions in return for an honest review.

I ended up reading this book through a combination of ebook and audiobook because I love the way Purcell’s books are brought to life on audio. I listened to The Corset by Purcell on audio last year and absolutely loved it, so I was keen to get the same experience with this one!

Honestly I’m so glad I made the decision to listen to this one in the Autumn, it is a perfect gothic novel which had all the spooky vibes I am looking for during this season!

This novel follows Elsie, who is recently widowed and moves into her new house, which her late husband inherited from his family. But with resentful servants, and outright rude villagers, Elsie is certainly not charmed by her new grand house in the country. When she discovers a locked room, and the wooden painted figures within it, her life becomes more and more unsettled.

This novel is so so creepy. I was so spooked at times, and I’m very glad I only read it during my commute during the day, I don’t think I could’ve coped reading it at night!!

The novel jumps narratives between a mental hospital, and flashbacks to the 1630s when the Silent Companions were first introduced to the house, and Elsie’s life in the house. This split timeline works brilliantly in the novel. As readers we are never given time to get comfortable in any setting, and the sense of unease and unanswered questions is furthered by this jumping narrative.

Overall I loved The Silent Companions a lot. It is a wonderful gothic novel, with some seriously spooky statues, perfect for this spooky season!

If I'm being completely honest, I am not a fan of the horror genre, but the cover from The Silent Companions is so gorgeous that I couldn't help reading it. Luckily for me the book ended up being far less creepy than anticipated - but then on the flip side of the coin, that was disappointing. Possessed lifelike cardboard cut outs of people you know going all Weeping Angel on you? That is scary as hell. But this story was so underdeveloped that there wasn't a chance for it to be creepy. I wasn't invested in the minimally developed characters, both story lines were too rushed to really make any sense, and it was all over before it began, really. Also, the ending was predictable and anticlimactic. This book is the definition of a candle fizzling out.

I absolutely loved this creepy, gothic novel. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Elsie's past and what happened to her companion Sarah which just added to the deliciously menacing feel of the novel. 

There are a lot of layers to this spooky story and it would definitely benefit from a second reading.

Content Warnings: Suicide, murder, paranormal activity, death, miscarriage, mental health.

So far this year, I’ve been finding most books mediocre at best. It’s been difficult to find the right book for me, but I think The Silent Companions might make it into my top 10 books of 2020. Purcell’s novel is definitely one for fans of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key, and Doctor Who.

The so-called Companions in the novel are eerily similar to both Doctor Who‘s Weeping Angels and the Wood Creatures from the Christmas episode, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. That heightened sense of familiarity really encouraged an appreciation for the creepy companions. There were definitely moments where I thought they were a little flat as antagonists, perhaps in expectation of more sinister actions than just eye movements. Still, they were well-crafted and the concept itself was well thought out.

I did think around the halfway point that The Silent Companions bears heavy similarity to Anita Frank’s The Lost Ones, which was published a year later. Purcell’s novel does have the extra added element of the companions, whereas Frank’s novel used ghosts and spirits as the antagonists, so there is a slight difference. Nonetheless, both novels seem formulaic of each other: people move into a huge manor house that is haunted by something supernatural that needs discovery, there’s a discussion of an exorcism, the protagonist is declared insane etc. I’m not saying that one has been copied from the other — I’m saying if you liked one, then you’re likely to enjoy the other.

The ending had me smiling. Not because it was a nice, happy ending, or because there was a sudden change in genre. The feeling I had while reading this ending was similar to the feeling I had when I read Ragnar Jónasson’s The Darkness. The novel leaves you with a sense of predictive intelligence yet also a feeling of dread. You want to know what’s going to happen next, but you also don’t want the open-endedness of the novel to be ruined. This is my plea to Laura Purcell: please don’t write a sequel. This novel ended perfectly.

If you’re wondering why I didn’t give it the full 5 stars, it’s pretty simple. As I say in most of my reviews, I really do not like epistolary novels. The Silent Companions is told in a series of diary entries and letters written to a psychologist. As usual, I don’t understand the grammatical logistics of novels written in epistolary form, so I can personally never rate them perfectly. Had I been someone who didn’t care particularly about the prose, this book would probably have received at least 4.5 stars from me.

Elsie is recently widowed and pregnant so goes to live at her husbands old family estate but it's not a happy place. The locals avoid the the estate due to it's dark history. Elsie soon begins to realise it might be much darker than she thought and shes not safe there. 

This was an interesting read but didn't entice me as much as I'd hoped. It jumps around in three different times but it's easy to follow the story. I liked the connections between the past and the later times. The plot itself was slow but the ending was very good. The drama of the show down and then the final twist was very well done. A good story but not quite for me.

A complex dark story, in the style of a Victorian Gothic thriller. Elsie finds that her late husband's estate is less salubrious than she expected. Despite, her newly widowed state and pregnancy, she meets hostility and resentment from everyone she encounters, except for her companion who wants to discover her family history. 

There is a disturbing supernatural element in this story, the villagers are driven by superstition and Elsie, gradually succumbs to the evil around her, with terrible consequences, whether this is real or a delusion is something the reader has to decide.

The setting and the atmospheric ambience is cleverly created, the pacing is slow and many of the images unpleasant. The historical elements are well researched, and the fact that many of the practices are based on historical fact makes the story even more chilling.

This is a claustrophobic, immersive Gothic story full of strange events and menace.

I received a copy of this book from Bloomsbury Publishing -Raven Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I loved this story and was completely engrossed in the plot. It was a perfect cosy read. I'll be reading more by this author.

Gothic horror, with the usual cast - creepy house which is dilapidated, new mistress who receives a cold welcome from the few remaining staff, unfriendly villagers and the scene is set for weird goings on!  It was ok but didn’t leave me scared of my own shadow which is a must for horror books.  It might have worked better as a short story or novella, made it more sinister, something like less is more, sort of thing.  Loved the cover, for me, the best part of the book.

I really loved this book. It was so atmospheric and creepy. What an excellent subject. I enjoyed the way the author changed from the present to the past and then to the historical past.  It all flowed so the story could unravel and then the ending finished it all off. If you like creepy houses with things that go bump in the night then this book is worth a read.

This book was creepy!! It was so strange and so eerie that I had goosebumps reading it in places. I loved the plot, I thought it well written and exciting. It was easy to read despite being historical and is an absolute must read for horror/ creepy book fans!

My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing U.K./Raven Books for a digital edition via NetGalley of Laura Purcell’s ‘The Silent Companions’ in exchange for an honest review. It was originally published in October 2017.

I welcomed this opportunity to reread ‘The Silent Companions’ as when I first read it I wasn’t that taken with it. However, it may just have been that I wasn’t in the mood for spooky Gothic. Since then I have rediscovered my love for the Gothic and also enjoyed both of Purcell’s later novels, ‘The Corset’ and ‘Bone China’. I had thought more than once about rereading it and this proved an excellent opportunity.

In this novel newly married and newly widowed Elsie Bainbridge arrives at her husband’s country estate, Bridge House, where her husband is about to be buried. There she mets his cousin, Sarah Bainbridge. A few odd things occur and Elsie and Sarah find a previously locked, now open, door admits them to a garret where they discover a 200 year old journal belonging to Anne Bainbridge as well as painted wooden figures of people. In the journal Anne, who is later accused of witchcraft, tells of the origins of these ‘silent companions’ as well as tragic events in the house.

The story unfolds over three timelines: the two noted above and a later one in which Elsie is in an asylum, unable or unwilling to speak, and being evaluated by an earnest young doctor seeking to understand the events that led to her being admitted.

This shifting about in time and the slow pacing formed a good part of what I found distracting the first time I read it. Being aware of this and having experienced more of Purcell’s style did assist me in reevaluating it this time around. 

While not perfect, I found this quite an engaging reread and again those creepy, creepy companions and some of its shocking scenes will stay with me for a long time. I was also very fond of the resident black cat, Jasper, who did some excellent catting throughout the novel.

So creepy and scary! I don't really like being scared or feeling my heart thumping in my chest, so I could only read this is small chunks to avoid having some kind of seizure. Good if you like that kind of thing though!! Recommended for reading aloud round the fire of a winter evening... *shiver*

I really enjoyed this creepy book. Very atmospheric setting with some seriously spooky goings on. The whole companion thing gave me the shivers. Fab winter read.

Gothic tale with a twist. Absolutely beautifully written and chilling to the core. It’ll make you jump and it’ll keep you awake. It’s BRILLIANT!!

A real gothic horror novel - unputdownable. I don't normally read historical novels, but this one drew me in by the fact that the story starts with the protagonist in a mental asylum. As the story unfolds, we wonder whether she is indeed insane, or if there are supernatural forces at work or if someone is framing her in order to steal her inheritance. Flits between the time frame of the protagonist and that of several generations before, when women were acused of being witches if they used herbs to heal illnesses. There are one or two instances of vocabulary or syntactic errors that do not match the era of the story, but I didn't find that these impaired my enjoyment of the book too much. A cracking good read that I would recommend.

This wonderfully atmospheric multiple timeline gothic novel tells the story of newly widowed Elsie Bainbridge, moving into her deceased husband's creepy family estate.  The other timeline is of Anne Bainbridge, one of her husband's  ancestors, told via her hidden journals.  We also meet Elsie later on in life.  This is a story of secrets, lies, unimagined horror, and where nothing is quite as it seems.

I found this story quite slow at the start, and struggled a little with separating the timelines, but once I got into it found it mesmerisingly creepy and compelling.  There are twists and turns and shocks throughout, forcing me to turn page after page no matter how tired I was, because I just had to find out what happened next.  It was never what I expected! 

I have always found the weeping angels very creepy and disturbing, and the Companions in this book have similarities to them but I found them even more nightmarish.

The ending I totally didn't see coming which made it even more perfect.  There is a layer of ambiguity there, but I like endings that provide some element of closure yet also leave you guessing to a degree.  This book was made all the more intriguing by its ending.  Wonderful!

I found this quite a difficult book to read, I was drawn in by the description but, I found it slow and quite tedious at times and was glad when I finished it. Having read other reviews I’m going to say I wasn’t the only one to find this.
I’m sure a lot of people would enjoy this type of book especially if they are into a Victorian story but, unfortunately this one was not for me.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.