Blurb:

Some doors are locked for a reason…

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. 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…Some doors are locked for a reason…

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. 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…

Review:

I’ve had The Silent Companions on my TBR for a while now, but I’m so glad I chose to read it at this time of year, as it is the perfect Halloween book! From the outset, Laura Purcell writes in such a atmospheric way and I love the sense of foreboding that permeates the whole story and makes it almost impossible to walk away from it!

The Silent Companions is set in the nineteenth century, firstly in an undefined year in a hospital, then at The Bridge, Elsie’s residence, in the 1860s, then in the same location thirty years earlier. Laura Purcell has researched the way of life at this time really well and she paints a vivid picture of Elsie’s circumstances. I loved being transported to these places by the author’s words and immersing myself in Elsie’s story. I was also intrigued to find out how the characters in the different timelines were connected, as this created a lot of tension and made the novel incredibly compelling.

The central character is The Silent Companions is Elsie and I instantly felt sympathy towards her. We meet her at a very difficult time in her life and her loneliness and discomfort only increases as the story develops. She is a character with so many layers and it was fascinating to be able to peel them back through the novel. It is testament to Laura Purcell’s talent as a writer that Elsie’s character is so compelling.

As the novel reaches its conclusion, I found the plot escalated really quickly, and the story became very frantic. I really wanted to know how the story would be resolved and I was listening very intently to the audiobook! The concept of the companions is unique and I was on the edge of my seat as the ending played out. There were a few moments in the last few chapters that I did not expect and this novel will stay with me for a while to come.

The Silent Companions is available from Amazon.