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queencleo's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A dual timelines story of supernatural spiders and their silk of strange properties, of Greek myth madness, of the ambition of men.
I loved the Binding, with it's supernatural story of binding memory into books and forgotten queer love. I liked the Betrayals, with it's dark academia theme and patriarchal subversion.
The Silence Factory didn't resonate as much with me. It was enjoyable, especially Sophia's timeline of the discovery of the spiders and the ancient cult of their worship. I loved those sections of the storytelling, but there were only six diary entries of Sophia amongst pages and pages of enormously tense industrial era entrapment of Henry, and of the people of Telverton.
Desire, ambition, corruption, myth, lies, devotion, death. It's all in here, but it mostly made me feel uncomfortable as Henry doesn't realise he's being manipulated. It's unusual for me to feel relieved to finish a book, I guess that means it's a very well written book as it made me feel new emotions. I need to go and read something cute and light hearted to cleanse my palate though.
I loved the Binding, with it's supernatural story of binding memory into books and forgotten queer love. I liked the Betrayals, with it's dark academia theme and patriarchal subversion.
The Silence Factory didn't resonate as much with me. It was enjoyable, especially Sophia's timeline of the discovery of the spiders and the ancient cult of their worship. I loved those sections of the storytelling, but there were only six diary entries of Sophia amongst pages and pages of enormously tense industrial era entrapment of Henry, and of the people of Telverton.
Desire, ambition, corruption, myth, lies, devotion, death. It's all in here, but it mostly made me feel uncomfortable as Henry doesn't realise he's being manipulated. It's unusual for me to feel relieved to finish a book, I guess that means it's a very well written book as it made me feel new emotions. I need to go and read something cute and light hearted to cleanse my palate though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Ableism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
tamarant4's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"Poor Echo. I wonder sometimes what it would feel like, to be condemned to say what you never wanted to say, while the most important thing of all is beyond your reach." There was a pause that felt as though something unspoken was hanging in the air like invisible fruit, left unplucked. [loc. 1665]
Bridget Collins' third novel for adults, following The Binding (which I loved) and The Betrayals (which I liked), is The Silence Factory, which I'm still considering. It's a novel about the luxury of silence, about power and powerlessness: it features queer romance, dual narratives, abusive relationships, social class and ... spiders, again. (Perhaps the most fantastical aspect of the plot is that nobody in Collins' version of 19th-century England seems to suffer from arachnophobia.)
Part of the book is formed by the 1820s diaries of Sophia, wife to scientifically-minded and ambitious James Ashmore. James has brought her to the Greek island of Kratos, following the trace of a dead scholar's letters about marvellous spiders, the pseudonephila. While her husband becomes increasingly focussed on his work, Sophia befriends a local woman named Hira, and is drawn into the island's secrets.
The larger part of the narrative is the story of Henry Latimer, recently widowed (his wife died in childbirth) and working for his father-in-law, an audiologist. When Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy (great-nephew of James Ashmore) visits the shop in search of a device that will restore the hearing of his deaf daughter Philomel, Henry is struck by the man's charisma: he soon finds himself on a train to Telverton, with a suitcase of auricles and audinets, where he will test Philomel's hearing himself. Telverton is dominated by the silk factory, and Henry has already discovered that Telverton silk has miraculous properties. One side of the fabric confers blessed, luxurious silence. The other side of the silk gives off 'some sort of unpredictable vibration', which has rendered many of the factory workers partially deaf -- or worse. Henry quickly becomes Sir Edward's assistant and confidant, refusing to listen to the warnings of Philomel's governess. All factories have accidents, don't they?
There are no happy endings here, though the conclusion of Henry's story is undeservedly hopeful. I found it hard to like him, though his situation was pitiable: he's spineless, indecisive and blinkered. Sophia and her story were much more engaging, but she too was under the influence of a selfish, privileged man. James was monstrous in his disregard for his wife: Sir Edward's motivation, in his dealings with Henry, was opaque to me. Collins' writing is luscious and Gothic, and she writes powerfully about the gift of silence, and the ways in which women can be silenced, as well as the horrors of industry and the evils to which knowledge can be bent. I think this is a well-written, fascinating and complex book. I am not at all sure that I liked it.
Warnings for ableism, miscarriage, drowning, cruelty to animals, poverty, torture, emotional abuse, capitalism, spiders.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK Publication Date is 09 MAY 2024.
Fulfils the ‘picked without reading the blurb’ rubric of the 52 books in 2024 challenge: the author's name was sufficient incentive for me to request this from Netgalley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
woodsybookworm's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The story is split between two timelines. One timeline follows Sophia Ashmore as she assists her husband James in his search for a rare breed of spiders known as Pseudonephila Sireine on a remote island in Greece. The primary timeline follows Henry Latimer, an audiologist and poet, as he attempts to assist Edward Ashmore in gaining investors for his unique spider silk fabric.
The fabric is unusual in the fact that one side creates complete silence, cutting off all sound of the outside world, while the other side causes a sound nicknamed the Telverton malaise which causes an illness known as the echoes. The echoes cause deafness and madness, which has corrupted the town and all who live and work around the factory.
As Sophia discovers more about the island people, the spiders, and her growing love for a village woman named Hira so too does Henry learn of the curse of the spiders as he struggles with his own infatuation for Sir Edward.
This book is so hard to explain! I enjoyed it, though I will say the characters are not lovable - this book is filled with characters who are cruel, self-absorbed, and gaslight each other left and right. Even so, I found the book interesting and it kept me invested.
There are a few side characters I would have liked to see more of like Philomel, Edward's daughter, who was born deaf due to complications with the spiders - her and her mother's story would make an interesting prequel/sequel.
If you get an opportunity to pick it up on release day prepare for some gothic vibes and a lot of references to Greek Mythology! Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and author Bridget Collins for allowing me to read an ARC of this book
The fabric is unusual in the fact that one side creates complete silence, cutting off all sound of the outside world, while the other side causes a sound nicknamed the Telverton malaise which causes an illness known as the echoes. The echoes cause deafness and madness, which has corrupted the town and all who live and work around the factory.
As Sophia discovers more about the island people, the spiders, and her growing love for a village woman named Hira so too does Henry learn of the curse of the spiders as he struggles with his own infatuation for Sir Edward.
This book is so hard to explain! I enjoyed it, though I will say the characters are not lovable - this book is filled with characters who are cruel, self-absorbed, and gaslight each other left and right. Even so, I found the book interesting and it kept me invested.
There are a few side characters I would have liked to see more of like Philomel, Edward's daughter, who was born deaf due to complications with the spiders - her and her mother's story would make an interesting prequel/sequel.
If you get an opportunity to pick it up on release day prepare for some gothic vibes and a lot of references to Greek Mythology! Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and author Bridget Collins for allowing me to read an ARC of this book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Gaslighting
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