REVIEW: The Silent Companions

The Silent Companions
Author: Laura Purcell

This book is an incredible, creepy-cool story! Two women living 200 years apart experience evil in the Bainbridge ancestral home. In the 1860's, Elsie comes to the house. She is a widow. Her husband recently died, and she feels lost. In the 1660's, Anne Bainbridge lives in the house. Her daughter Hetta is unable to speak and Anne feels incredibly guilty for using her herbal knowledge to bring about the girl's birth. She firmly believes her actions caused the girl to be born with a malformed tongue. Both women come under the spell of the Silent Companions.....wooden effigies painted like people. At first they seem beautiful, more lifelike than mere paintings....but then, they move. The horror of what lurks in the Bainbridge home is truly chilling.

What an awesomely dark Victorian horror novel! The suspense and horror build steadily until the very end. Descriptions of the Silent Companions are detailed and unnerving. Just the idea of fumbling around in an attic by candlelight with those things in the house.....supremely scary! The ending smacked me right in the face....I didn't see it coming. Twisted, demented, and frightening. The intro to the book tells readers not to read this story at night....I should have listened. There were a couple times it really creeped me out. I loved it!

This book would make an awesome horror movie!

I definitely recommend this book to any reader who likes gothic horror, ghost stories or darkly creepy tales.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Penguin Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**