Elsie Bainbridge knew that life was looking up. She had married a wealthy, eligible bachelor, was pregnant with child, and would soon join her husband at his ancestral home, The Bridge, where he had went to prepare it for her arrival.
Now she is a widow, alone but for her younger brother who must remain in London to run their family match factory, and a female relative of her deceased husband, and headed to live in a run-down manor house in a country where the people do not seem inclined to welcome her.
Suspicion and gloom abound, which turns to mistrust and fear, as soon after her arrival strange things seem to be happening, things that only she and Miss Sarah Bainbridge are experiencing.
Laura Purcell’s novel is a Victorian ghost story/haunted house story that drips with gothic atmosphere and a growing and foreboding sense of dread on each and every page.
Told from the point of view of Elsie being interviewed by a psychiatrist in which she relates the events that happened to her in 1865/1866 at The Bridge, interspersed with flashbacks to the original family who lived in the house in 1635. Laura Purcell deftly intertwines these stories in a way that builds the suspense right up until the very last page…until the very last word!
I am not a fan of gory horror stories, or those that cut too true to life with extreme brutality and abuse. If I want that, I can sadly just turn on the news. I love those scary, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night stories that take me back to the creepy books I read as a kid (Dracula and Edgar Allan Poe being among them) and those old black and white movies that would come on late at night.
The Silent Companions provided that kind of reading experience to me. At less than 300 pages I never felt like the story dragged, which is important considering a story like this has to build up slowly to create the perfect moody atmosphere where you just know something bad is going to happen, or perhaps several somethings.
If this kind of story is in your wheelhouse, then I highly recommend you find a copy for your autumnal reading.
#ripxv @perilreaders
This is definitely too tense and scary for me. Have you read other books by this author?
I have not, this is the first one. I am certainly up for reading more of her work though after enjoying this one.
This sounds pretty darn amazing. Perfect for this time of the year. I just finished Heart-Shaped Box which is also a ghost story, but one of a different kind. I enjoyed it. Now I am reading yet another ghost story, The Sun Down Motel. Sounds pretty good. Hope it lives up to my expectations.
I was worried about this one not living up to expectations, having seen other readers really praising it. Was happy that it did. Definitely a good chilly weather, read-at-night book.
Wow this one sounds spooky. I have not read this author. It seems a perfect read for RIP month. thanks for the idea.
You are welcome, I hope you enjoy it.
Glad you enjoyed your book! I just hope I finish one before Halloween! It’s 700 pgs long and I am lucky if I can read 20 0r 30 minutes before the floaters in my eyes blur everything!
700 is a big one! I’m still so gun shy of entering into a commitment with books that long or longer, despite the many truly amazing experiences I have had with long books.
Tell those floaters to float off somewhere else!!!
This sounds excellent. I know I have this on my Kindle. Like you, I prefer these type of scary stories. Well written and they can truly make you want to read them with the lights on!
I’ve had mixed to negative experiences with novels set in two time periods, but this one sounds really intriguing. I’ll have to add it to my list!
There is a surgery for it… a bit scary but if I ever can get this breathing thing and stomach thing and know what they are and how I can live with them… then come the eyes… heck, by the time I’m “fixed up” I’ll be to old to anything!! lol
That require surgery! I do hope to get to it one day!… finished the 720 page book just in time to count it as “september” lol..
This definitely sounds like one I’d enjoy. I’m pleased to see it available through my library app, so I’ve tagged it for future reference. Maybe I won’t even wait until next year’s RIP! (no time for it this year, since I’m still working on my huge pile of potentials)