A review by cyanide_latte
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This wasn't a bad read! It was given to me by a friend, and one of the blurbs on the back of the book mentions it is a good read for a winter night, so I have done my best to read it fast during these cold evenings.

As far as gothic horror goes, this delivers the slow build of increasing dread and horrific events. Things start dreary and only go from bad to worse. It's told in three separate time-frames that alternate, most of the story being told from the main character's "present" recollection as she tries to document the events that happened to her before, and another perspective from the entries in an old diary she finds. These are alternating in a way that I find really allows the reader to start to draw the lines of connection on their own, as crucial details from the diary entries foreshadow what happens in the upcoming chapters.

I think where this book falls short however, is that it's one of those where knowing the ending robs the story of its power on a re-read. Once you know everything that unfolds, I don't believe it will enhance the reading experience on a second go-through. There is also period-accurate bigotry and racism, which has me having a sigh; I'm not going to condemn the book on that point, but it got tiresome quickly when held in tandem with the fact Elsie is a very unlikeable and miserable main character. Additionally, there is a lot of brutal child harm/death, and animal death as well, and I think that would also put me off a re-read.

There is also, if I'm not mistaken, a plot point that's spelled out but not said outright that
the character of Jolyon is probably Elsie's son as well as her brother. The text implies, when speaking of the abuse she suffered as a child, that her father may have raped her and her mother let it happen. Certainly there's a line talking about her father's pinching, wandering hands around the girls who worked in his match factory, and there's multiple instances of Elsie remarking her mother never did a thing to stop the abuse she went through, and in fact blamed her for it, among other things. There are additional moments in the book between her and Jolyon hinting to him having been her son she bore at 12 years old, where she indulges him, refuses to leave him alone to deal with other businessmen, and is repeatedly fretting over his thoughts of her. She also remarks once that he "doesn't even know who she is," and is frantic when he dies, moreso than she was shown this entire time to be over her late husband, calling Jolyon her boy numerous times and insisting she must be there when he is buried, as she was when he was born.
This book certainly took its twists and turns, but that one I saw coming. The hints were there throughout.

Still, it was worth reading at least once, and I'm glad I gave it a chance!
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