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• Summarise your overall thoughts about the book. (Mini Review):

 

Lauren:

I really enjoyed The Silent Companions. For me it was the ghost story I wish I’d studied during my Gothic Literature module in A-Level English. It was hard to put down; as much as I wanted to hide behind a pillow at certain parts, The Silent Companions took me on a tour of a haunted  house with a dark past and ghostly inhabitants.

 

I’m giving The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell 4.5 Stars.

 

Mathew:

What hides in our homes? Who lived there before we did, and what happened to them? Sometimes you will find remnants of someone from the past – what if those remnants were left for a reason. The Silent Companions is an enjoyable story that blends together mystery and suspense. Laura Purcell invites you to read this Gothic literature novel, and honestly it would be a shame if you didn’t. This is truly an amazing book and certainly one of my favourites this year.

 

I’m giving The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell 4 Stars.

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Spoilers Below Here

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• What did you think about the relationship between the three narratives?

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Lauren:

I feel that the three narratives worked together really well. In some novels having different narrators can add confusion, or often enough they don’t seem relevant until the very end. That was not the case as each narrator and time setting complemented each other in a way that kept you reading. You knew from the start that these narrators were linked and you read on, peeling away the layers until the truth was revealed.

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Mathew: 

The narratives combined like stitch work. You saw the needle as it threaded but couldn’t see the end until the very last stitch was sewn. The three narratives added to the story. They propelled it. Even as we went into the past the plot continued to move forward. The use of the narrators was what really stood out about the story and you could see the craftsmanship between them as they all balanced out equally.

 

 

• Which themes resonated with you the most?

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Lauren:

Motherhood. Elsie spends the first quarter of the novel pregnant and a widow. She has her brother, Jolyon, and her husband’s cousin, Sarah, but ultimately she is alone. There is one line that has stayed with me through my reading of the novel, and still remains weeks after finishing it, and that is: “She was a shell, and another body, a foreign body, was growing inside.” (p.159) There is something starkly honest about this line and in my opinion it reflects the fear an expectant mother carries. Motherhood and creating life are themes often present in gothic literature. The Silent Companions is no different. Elsie’s pregnancy represents a natural conception, compared to Anne’s unnatural conception through potions to conceive Hetta, after the unlikeliness of carrying a child once more. Hetta’s unnatural conception is only strengthened by the belief of witches, the devil, and her disability through the eyes of 17th century society, whilst Elsie’s pregnancy is terminated in unnatural circumstances in the 19th century.

 

Mathew:

Hysteria. Throughout the novel we see the characters delve further into hysteria and superstition. The idea that a collective thought can be denied and passed on through people is something that I find interesting and I can see it play out beautifully within this story. There is a sense of a manifestation of hysteria as we hear people talk about witches and the plague.

 

 

• How did you feel about history repeating itself and the effect it carries?

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Lauren:

I felt that the repetition of events was handled really well. Events like the dead cow/dead horse were close enough to recognise as history repeating itself, but if you weren’t paying close enough attention you could write it off as a coincidence. Nothing in The Silent Companions is a coincidence, Laura Purcell drops enough breadcrumbs in each chapter to eat up and leave you reading on. Elsie and Anne’s narratives run parallel to each other, only diverging at the very end of the novel, which really surprises you as to how the story ends. You pick up these breadcrumbs, gathering them and plotting out how they’ll all come together…and then they don’t.

 

Mathew: 

The events within the story were written for a reason, by including the past and having the events occur in the present you can really see the breadcrumbs. It highlights the talent behind Laura Purcell and the skill it has taken her to craft this story. She has beautifully interwoven the stories through time to carefully execute a piece of literature that leaves you guessing where the story is going. If you are anything like me and needs to know what is happening, you will be on the edge of your seat while reading this novel.

 

 

• What do you think about the societal views of women throughout history expressed by Elsie and Anne?

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Lauren:

In society during the 17th and 19th centuries, there are rules which cannot be ignored. Society was governed by status and money, which gave an individual/family importance. In Anne’s narrative we see how important it is to the family that the King and Queen visit The Bridge. This is at a time when the Royal Family often traveled, staying in their subjects’ homes; it was a way of saving money. Anne’s lavish spending of the silent companions and the food for the feasts is not out of place. A lady of Anne’s status was in charge of the home, and we see that as she navigated the household. However, there is a limit to her power that manifests once she reveals she allowed the gypsy boy to work in the stables. After that no one seems to have time for her, not even her daughter, Hetta, driving Anne into a corner.

For Elsie, she is a widow and acts as a substitute for the master of the house. Unless her brother, Jolyon visits, then Elsie is pushed back into a ‘woman’s place’. In one scene Elsie reveals she owns a buttonhook. This one scene breaks open Elsie’s character, you know she’s not from the upper class and that her beginning was less savoury, leaving readers asking questions and separating Anne and Elsie’s social standing further.

We see more prejudice in the 19th century through Elsie’s eyes, than in Anne’s narrative which is fueled by embarrassment.

 

Mathew:

Through the 17th and 19th century narratives we can see the comparisons and the contrasts between the two women. You get a real sense of the time period that you are in and are able to explore the world that the women are in. Whilst reading I was reminded of Jane Austen’s novels, there is a clear depiction of women's views and how they are subjected to these patriarchal times. Elsie’s character is reduced to a shroud of hysteria as she is marked as a widow; she is reduced due to the lack of a husband and is heavily reminded of this throughout the novel. The story is terrifying because of the societal views and the restrictions that are included, the women are bound to the household – they are trapped, encased in the walls in which they are being tormented. This setting adds a dimension of horror that would be amiss if the setting was in a contemporary environment. There is a level of despair and helplessness that is felt through Elsie and Anne as the story progresses.

 

 

• How is the Uncanny used throughout the novel?

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Lauren:

The companions reflect the Uncanny well, they’re human-likeness adds to the horror of their existence and the fact that they move around and are responsible for many brutal deaths only adds to the dark tale spilling out between the words. The Uncanny is furthered when several of the silent companions are revealed to be based on real characters: Anne’s daughter, the gypsy boy, and Elsie’s dead husband, Rupert Bainbridge. I was shocked to see Rupert as a silent companion. He had recently died and he was the last person I expected to see. As did Elsie.

 

Mathew: 

We have no answers to the questions that we have. The story is not going to end with a bow all tied up ensuring that everything has been answered - the novel plays on what we do not know to create a sense of ambiguity. The companions look lifelike, they are almost like us and yet they are not. Many people have ornaments and dolls that are in their homes, if one was to move it would be terrifying. The companions are never fully explained as they remain silent, we never really know what they desire or what their motives are, leaving a level of mystery that cannot be explained.

 

 

• To what extent do you think guilt plays a role in the characters’ actions?

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Lauren: 

I think guilt plays a role in Anne’s actions, more than Elsie’s. Anne, because of her sister’s death and the birth of her daughter. She blames herself for her daughter’s disability, and how she overcomes this guilt is very vicious. Anne also feels guilty for the gypsy boy, and his sister that begs for his freedom, and the consequences of her not acting result in unhappy endings. I think for Anne, the final act against her daughter is the only possible outcome to redeem herself, and mend the laws of the world she broke in bringing her daughter into this world.

For Elsie, I don’t think guilt plays a large role in her actions. I think Elsie is motivated by protecting Jolyon. Even as a widow and living at The Bridge away from Jolyon, her actions are a form of maintaining the household and protecting Jolyon’s status in society. I think she may be haunted by her own guilt, but Elsie was not ruled by it to the same extent that as Anne was.

 

Mathew:

Guilt is reflected in both of the narrators, and in a way I feel as though it is reflected in a lot of the other characters too. It is almost as though the companions are justice seekers in claiming back redemption from the people who have been guilty. Anne basically blames herself for her daughter’s birth, the king and queen, and what happened with the gypsy boy. She comes to a point where she tries to revoke what she has done by taking back the life that she gave when it wasn’t hers to give. She played at being God and ended up destroying everything.

In comparison, Elsie’s guilt is a lot more hidden, we do not know what has happened until the end of the novel. Elsie is guilty for taking life.

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