Cathy C. (cathyskye) - , reviewed on 3/5/2018 + 2307 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I've always enjoyed a well-told ghost story. The problem is finding one that rivets my attention to the turning of each page. I'm happy to say that I found a Victorian ghost story that suits me right down to the ground: Laura Purcell's The Silent Companions.

I found the beginning of the book to be a bit slow moving until the locked room was opened and a diary was found and read. Then there were two timelines to follow, and I have to admit that I wish Anne Bainbridge's diary written in 1635 was a lot longer because that story fascinated me with its focus on a visit to The Bridge by King Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria.

The second timeline is Elsie's in 1865, and both give a marvelous sense of time and place. One of the things I really enjoyed was how my perceptions of each character changed as I read further and further into the story. Even Elsie's seldom-seen brother Jolyon (a medieval version of "Julian") isn't just a foil for showing readers women's place in society and business during the Victorian era.

I know that those two-hundred-year-old wooden figures are supposed to be the scariest things in The Silent Companions, but they aren't what creeped me out. No, that honor goes to Purcell's descriptions of the house, its gardens, and the village. The village was so mired in poverty, superstition, and hostility, the house and gardens with dirt, neglect, and resentment that the menace was palpable. As I read, I felt that eyes in the back of my head were not enough; no, I needed a team of Navy SEALs surrounding me at all times.

If you're in the mood for a good ghost story, I highly recommend The Silent Companions. I still shiver when I think of revisiting that ancient country house, The Bridge.

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