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A review by maccymacd
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell
5.0
The second Laura Purcell I have read. I am saving the other two so I don't finish them too quickly.
Purcell really is the Queen of the ultimate creepy, gothic read. 'The Shape of Darkness' concerns the beautiful artistry of 'shade cutting' - the act of creating a person's profile on black paper. It's an extremely delicate and complex art form, but Agnes has been doing it for years, and since her terrible bought of pneumonia she has been focussed even more on honing her craft and giving herself something to get up for. Looking after her elderly and infirm mother Agatha and her nephew Cedric has also taken it out of her, but she does her best in their cramped home. Luckily, she herself is being kept an eye on by Simon Carfax, the widowed husband of her late sister, Constance.
In a parallel to Agnes, Pearl is a young albino child, who lives and works with her sister Myrtle. Their job is mesmerism. Pearl is known as 'The White Sylph' - the girl who can conjure up spirits of the past for paying customers. Pearl and Myrtle are also living with an elderly parent. Their father. He is confined to bed, in a state of agony due to a rotting jaw that he has as a result of working in a match factory. Myrtle refuses a doctor, saying she can cure him with mesmerism, but Pearl is torn and doesn't know what to believe. Pearl herself is not in a good state, as every time she takes part in a séance she finds herself vomiting and feverish for days after.
These 2 families are going to collide, hard. First one, then two then a third person is found dead - murdered. And each person has previously sat for a shade with Agnes... is there some logical explanation? A coincidence? Or is there something supernatural at work?
This was just a superb book. It had just the right tone of unease, strangeness and perfect descriptions of Victorian Bath. I adored it. I recommend Laura Purcell to everyone!!!
The two
Purcell really is the Queen of the ultimate creepy, gothic read. 'The Shape of Darkness' concerns the beautiful artistry of 'shade cutting' - the act of creating a person's profile on black paper. It's an extremely delicate and complex art form, but Agnes has been doing it for years, and since her terrible bought of pneumonia she has been focussed even more on honing her craft and giving herself something to get up for. Looking after her elderly and infirm mother Agatha and her nephew Cedric has also taken it out of her, but she does her best in their cramped home. Luckily, she herself is being kept an eye on by Simon Carfax, the widowed husband of her late sister, Constance.
In a parallel to Agnes, Pearl is a young albino child, who lives and works with her sister Myrtle. Their job is mesmerism. Pearl is known as 'The White Sylph' - the girl who can conjure up spirits of the past for paying customers. Pearl and Myrtle are also living with an elderly parent. Their father. He is confined to bed, in a state of agony due to a rotting jaw that he has as a result of working in a match factory. Myrtle refuses a doctor, saying she can cure him with mesmerism, but Pearl is torn and doesn't know what to believe. Pearl herself is not in a good state, as every time she takes part in a séance she finds herself vomiting and feverish for days after.
These 2 families are going to collide, hard. First one, then two then a third person is found dead - murdered. And each person has previously sat for a shade with Agnes... is there some logical explanation? A coincidence? Or is there something supernatural at work?
This was just a superb book. It had just the right tone of unease, strangeness and perfect descriptions of Victorian Bath. I adored it. I recommend Laura Purcell to everyone!!!
The two