#Laura Purcell

[adrasteiax]

(...) waiting for bravery to possess her, like the ghosts do (...)

Laura Purcell, from The Shape Of Darkness

#quote #laura purcell #the shape of darkness #literature #lit #from my collection

[petaltexturedskies]

Spring is in full force! I do so love this season with its gentle, lemon light and the sense that all the world is awakening from a bad dream. The winter slush is gone, and it is too early for summer dust. One can actually walk, actually breathe.

Laura Purcell, The Corset

#laura purcell #spring #me rn #🍋✨

[derangedrhythms]

But this year spring was a spiteful mockery.

Laura Purcell, from ‘The Silent Companions’

#laura purcell #the silent companions #prose #killing the spring #months and seasons

[freckles-and-books]

October is the perfect time for Purcell.

#books #currently reading #laura purcell #the whispering muse #october reads

[manuscripts-dontburn]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge hosted by  Just One More Page

October 7th: Horror

#booklr #book photographer #jompbpc #Laura Purcell #mine

[constantinesbooknook]

One of my favourite reads of 2022! If you’re into gothic Victorian historical fiction set in England then I definitely recommend it!

IG: @saint_constantines

#bookblr #bookworm #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookish #booknerd #literature #bookaholic #victorian #gothic literature #victorian london #historical fiction #mysterythriller #laura purcell #the shape of darkness #paranormal #mine

[kashima-echo]

象【かたど】られた闇

The Shape of Darkness

戦慄のヴィクトリア朝ミステリ

Laura Purcell’s The Shape of Darkness nominated for Edgar Award

著：#ローラ・パーセル 様 #LauraPurcell

翻訳：#国弘喜美代 様

画：佳嶋 Kashima

#早川書房

#hayakawa

装画を描かせていただきました

#Laura Purcell #illustration #painting #mistery #早川書房 #hayakawa #book covers #イラスト

[smalltownfae]

Books read in 2024: The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell Rating: 5/5

Jenny is down on her luck when she receives a great deal from a lady called Mrs. Dyer. In exchange for money and other favors, she has to spy on an actress called Lilith while taking care of her makeup and wardrobe. The theatre is full with people that believe in superstitions and there is a mysterious clock said to whisper to someone who is in possession of it while tragedy follows.

This was one of the most engaging reads I experienced in a long time. The writing style made everything flow so naturally, the characters were interesting and the different mysteries kept me wanting to read a chapter immediately one after the other.

The book is divided into five acts and, even though I don't think it's necessary to have read the plays presented here, some knowledge about them is helpful in order to notice all the details. The author makes a good job at stating what the plays are about and their themes for the most part and someone that is familiar with them might even find the few repetitions annoying at times. The plays presented are Faust, Macbeth, The Duchess of Malfi, Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet. The plot has strong connection to these plays.

The main themes presented are family, superstition, jealousy, revenge and fame while adressing the struggles for women in Victorian London. The three major female characters have really strong personalities and are interesting in their own way. Lilith intrigued me from the start, but Jenny ended up being the best for me because I liked to see her development when it comes to her initial judgements and the care for her family while learning to take care of herself too.

The ending went on for a little too long. Near the end I caught myself thinking "it isn't done yet?" but the finale made sense and it closed with a bang.

I only read two books by this author, this one and The Silent Companions, and so far this one is my favourite. I definitely want to read more of her works.

#the whispering muse #laura purcell #books read in 2024

[judgingbooksbycovers]

The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights

By Imogen Hermes Gowar, Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Andrew Michael Hurley, and Jess Kidd.

#The Haunting Season #Imogen Hermes Gowar #Bridget Collins #Natasha Pulley #Kiran Millwood Hargrave #Elizabeth Macneal #Laura Purcell #Andrew Michael Hurley #Jess Kidd #botanical #books #book covers

[morgan--reads]

The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell

Summary: After the sudden death of her husband Rupert, a pregnant Elsie is sent to his neglected country estate, with only his cousin Sarah for company. The villagers are all scared of the house and, as Elsie and Sarah discover more about the history of the family through the diary of an ancestor, they begin to understand why. When mysterious wooden figures, painted to look exactly lifelike, begin moving around the house, seemingly on their own, Elsie begins to fear that the history of her husband’s family may dangerous even in the present.

Quote: “She had an urge to confess everything: tell him about the splinters on Rupert’s neck; the nursery; the garret; the handprint; the eyes. But to speak of such things made them a farce. You could not explain fear; you could only feel it.”

My rating: 3.0/5.0   Goodreads: 3.89/5.0 

Review: Solid, but mostly unmemorable gothic horror. All the elements are here: a grieving widow unsure if she’s going mad, hostile villagers, family secrets, cursed dolls (though made of wood), a spooky house, and a tragic fire. It also leans, more problematically, on the trope of a child who is both physically deformed and dangerous. The pacing is great and the mystery interesting enough, but I didn’t feel like the book did anything particularly original. It scratched an itch, but didn’t have more of an impact than that.

#the silent companions #laura purcell #book review #horror #gothic

[lord-phantasm]

I’ve just started reading The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell. So far it’s fantastical, atmospheric, and dark with lots of little nods to The Phantom of the Opera!

The leading actresses’s surname is Erikson and the play we’re introduced to us is Faust.

#laura purcell #the whispering muse #gothic literature #gothic #literature #dark literature

[adrasteiax]

(...) she sits and gazes at me With those deep and tender eyes, Like the stars, so still and saint-like, Looking downward from the skies.

Laura Purcell, from The Shape Of Darkness

#poetry #laura purcell #the shape of darkness #literature #poem #lit #from my collection

[semper-legens]

133. Bone China, by Laura Purcell

Owned?: No, library Page count: 430 My summary: Hester Why is fleeing her past. Newly appointed as a lady’s maid to an ailing old woman, she is hoping to get away from all that has come before - but the creaky old mansion that she now calls home has its share of secrets. A strange child, a fairy curse, a haunting past. They are coming to claim their own. And they will stop at nothing. My rating: 3.5/5 My commentary:

I really enjoyed the previous Laura Purcell book I read, The Corset, so I decided to give this one a chance in spite of the fact that it’s one of those really annoying books that doesn’t have a summary on the back and instead just has a list of quotes from reviews. This one I enjoyed a bit less, I thought its focus was a little strange and I didn’t connect as well to the characters, but I still liked it overall. Hey, who doesn’t want a ghost/fairy story set in the Victorian era, right?

Our protagonists here are Hester Why and Louise, the former a lady’s maid sent to look after an old woman, the latter her charge, who we see as a young woman in a couple of extended flashbacks. It’s weird, because I was attached to Hester’s story, but then the narrative suddenly decided that it was more interested in Louise’s story, to the point where Hester’s story seemed more like a diversion. It affected Hester’s character, but Louise’s story was more the ongoing plot, with Hester’s kind of complimenting that. In that way, it felt like most of the Hester backstory didn’t really matter, which is a weird thing to be reading through.

One of the things I liked about The Corset was Purcell taking on history on its own terms. Her protagonist there is a hardcore phrenologist who thinks she’s on the forefront of scientific progress, and there’s a similar thing happening here. Louise’s father is trying to cure consumption, and believes he can do this through superior medical science. Based on the four humours! It’s clearly not going to work to a modern reader, but never really does Purcell have her characters display anachronistic knowledge. It’s a tragedy, mixed in with a supernatural thriller.

Overall, the mysterious and spooky tone of this book works, I just think that there was so much going on that I felt it hard to focus on any one aspect. There were a lot of good ideas here, but this could easily been split into three different narratives and all of them would be interesting to read, but mashed together like this is just felt a bit too muddled.

Next up, a take on the Cinderella story, as a black-eyed woman gives a girl seven wishes.

#Bona China #Laura Purcell #bookblr #book blog #book blogger #3.5

[derangedrhythms]

Death, once conceived, was rapacious. It took all with it.

Laura Purcell, from ‘The Silent Companions’

#laura purcell #the silent companions #prose #death

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Whispering Muse | Author: Laura Purcell | Publisher: Bloomsbury (2023)

#books #The Whispering Muse #Laura Purcell

[diaryoftruequotes]

Imprisonment was never the real punishment: it was the people you were stuck with. Laura Purcell, The Silent Companions

#Laura Purcell #The Silent Companions #quotes #book quotes