The House of Whispers: A gripping new contemporary psychological thriller with a chilling twist!

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I jumped at the chance to read this because I loved the author's previous two offerings, The Silent Companions and The Poison Thread. Laura Purcell has become my "go to" author for gothic historical fiction. However, this book fell just a bit short for me compared to those previous two. The characters are well drawn out and detailed. The story is full of deep and vivid imagery. It is quite reminiscent of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, with the same gothic undertones. The House of Whispers" by Laura Purcell is an atmospheric, historical Gothic novel incorporating Cornish folklore as well as exploring the underground caves thought to possess healing powers though fresh air, sea bathing and exercise. The lives and secrets of two women, Hester Why (Esther Stevens) and Miss Louise Pinecroft unfold. Author Purcell maintains the spook factor throughout this novel of 19th Century superstition, fairy hauntings and "strange things on the moors". Highly recommended. The last quarter of the book was very slow and lead up to a not so climax ending. A more, what? If that was what author Purcell was going for she achieved it with me. A dark, gothic story… Purcell alternates character narratives to question motives, reality, and truth on a ‘bumpy’ ride full of violence and death.” —Booklist

The second part of the novel will reveal what Hester is running from and that Hester is not even her real name. This part of the novel gives the reader some insight into Hester’s character and reveals that she is an alcoholic. This affliction plays a wonderful role in the narrative placing doubt in the reader’s mind about everything Hester encounters later in the novel. I must say that I loved the character of Hester. A broken young woman, addicted to gin, stealing the laudanum from the supplies. Hester is flawed and far from your perfect cardboard heroine.The unsettling ambience of the book keeps you on the edge of your seat, as it’s quite chilling. You’re never too sure of some of the characters’ intentions, and whether the fairy legends and folktales are true after all.

I was still excited for Bone China because I love her spooky, gothic writing style. Also, the history and atmosphere she contains in her books are amazing. I still find the historic and atmospheric quality of her books very strong. But, I just don't get along with her plots. Parts of this felt entirely rushed, like Purcell wanted to bring the plot up to speed, but by doing this, she missed out key developments, which would have been handy for the reader.Bone China is an eerie tale of obsession and redemption. It would appeal to readers who enjoy a psychological gothic mystery. The book opens with Hester Why on her way to Morvoren House, In Cornwall, where she has acquired the position of a nurse, for Miss Louise Pinecroft. A Victorian tale replete with laudanum, tuberculosis and possibly fairies… a clever, creepy read.”— Sunday Express, Best New Thrillers

Purcell has a sure storytelling touch, a command of atmosphere and a keen eye for the telling details of social history. Oh, and she stores up some satisfying and suitably macabre final revelations.”— The GuardianI have read and loved The Silent Companions and The Corset, so I was really excited when I saw LP had a new book due out. Bone China continues LP’s reign as the new Queen of Gothic Fiction. There’s a definite nod to Du Maurier with the Cornish setting, the house on the cliffs and the gothic nature. The protagonist is Hester Why (I found myself asking that question on a regular basis). She is fleeing London after a misunderstanding with a previous employer and taking up a post looking after an older woman, Miss Pinecroft. There are three different timelines and we see Miss Pinecroft in her youth. One of the themes is the search for a cure for TB. Miss Pinecroft’s father had bought the house for the caves underneath as there was a time when it was thought that cave and sea air was good for TB.

With Louise’s help, Dr Pinecroft does experiments and tries to test his theories of treating consumption. He takes a group of prisoners, who are suffering from the illness, and places them in a cave beneath the cliffs, where he says the salty sea air will be good for their health. The details of Dr. Pinecroft’s research are based on real life cases from the Victorian era. Bone China did not let me down. There was my much loved Cornwall which can indeed be a spooky place up on the moors and on the bleaker parts of the coast line. There was all the history of the time - the folklore, the strange to us medical practices, the china clay industry in earlier days. Hester arrives at Morvoren House forty years later to work as a nurse for the ailing and partially paralyzed Miss Pinecraft. She comes with some baggage, so to speak. She is fleeing from a previous job and finds her new living situation strange but not as strange as the customs and bizarre behavior of others who live there. Something isn't quite right here, but what?I think at this stage, we can say the only book I enjoyed from Purcell is The Silent Companions. The Corset was a miss being very crowded and having plot holes in it. When I see a book by Laura Purcell now I snap it up instantly. I also know what to expect - something Victorian, gothic, slightly creepy, containing lots of accurate historical fact, well written and very enjoyable. Hester soon realizes that the task at hand is not as simple as she thought. Miss Pinecroft, hardly moves or speaks and spends her time sitting in a room surrounded by china cups and plates. Miss Pinecroft’s ward is Rosewyn, a strange young woman. There is also a highly superstitious maid called Creeda who believes in fairy folklore, and keeps insisting that Rosewyn needs to be protected from fairies who are trying to whisk her away and leave a changeling in her place. The third part of the novel takes us forty years into the past where Miss Pinecroft is a young woman working together with her father on an experimental treatment for consumption. Dr Pinecroft lost his entire family, apart from Miss Pinecroft, to consumption, and his grief has left him with a burning obsession to find a cure for this pernicious disease. A burning desire that perhaps clouds his medical mind and reasoning. He is certain that the answer to curing consumption lies in the sea air. To aid him with his work he has been assigned a group of convicts who have contracted consumption and are all trapped within its grasp, bereft of a cure that is yet to be found. These convicts are confined to the caves that adorn the cliffside beneath Morvoren House. And it is within these caves that the treatment takes place. Creeda, who is an unnerving young woman at the time is just as obsessed with fairy legends and folk tales in the past, as she is in the present and tells Louise all sorts of stories about fairies and changelings.