The Silent Companions

Name: The Silent Companions

Author: Laura Purcell

Published: 2017

When Elsie someone walks down the aisle, she didn’t expect to be walking the other way out of the church a few months later after her husband’s casket. And that wasn’t the only death she would have to deal with…

Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy in her late husband’s crumbling country mansion, with only his boring cousin for company. Or so she thought. Because deep within the house lie dark secrets, and silent companions that have every intention of making Elsie silent aswell. Want to play?

This gothic thriller is a perfectly creepy novel that will have you hooked until the last word. I loved the setting, the whole build up, all the characters were perfect. The book is split between Elsie in an asylum in the present, the build up of events that led her to be in the institute, and a 17th century diary recounting why the house was haunted in the first place. I thought it was a really clever, unique idea and the three accounts all tie together for the finale. The only problem I had with it was that it was just SO cliche! Okay, her husband dies in suspicious circumstances, she has a mysterious past, and then she gets stalked by strange noises and paintings. These ‘silent companions’ are literally pieces of wood that have been painted to seem like people Elsie knows and, of course, they just move by themselves. The unorginality is killing me.

SWEETENER: The bleak victorian moorland and 16th century superstitions are the perfect setting for this unique ghost story. Purcell uses lots of creative techniques to bring them to life, from pathetic fallacy (…I’m so fancy) to cutting cliff hangers. However, discovering that the source of Elsie’s terror is actually just the sound of a saw, or an attic door closing o n  i t s  o w n, makes you think maybe some things are left best to your imagination, like ‘It’ or a happy Brexit. But, on the other hand, I loved the ending and the shock reveals along the way. Worth the read on a cold winters night…*

DON’T BRIE SCARED… Even if you are a beloved fan of the supernatural, I would recommend ‘The Silent Companions‘ for young adult readers plus. There are some scenes that may disturb anyone younger than that. Don’t try before bed!

*Yeah, I know its practically summer, but it doesn’t seem like it, does it?

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