At her new doctor's encouragement, a seriously injured, traumatized and mute woman called Elsie Bainbridge attempts to remember the events that resulted in her internment at St. Joseph's Hospital for the Insane by writing them down in a third-person narrative. She recalls how, on a gloomy day in 1865, pregnant and recently widowed, she came to live at her late husband's long-neglected home with his tiresome cousin Sarah as her companion, and the curious discovery they made while exploring the house: the eerily realistic painted figure of a young girl who bears a remarkable resemblance to Elsie herself. In the same garret room, they found the journal kept by a Bainbridge ancestor — later executed as a witch — two centuries previously, a tragic record that casts a disturbing light on the incidents that begin to unsettle the household. Is the house cursed, or is there a conspiracy at play?
As with many books that become very popular, I worried that The Silent Companions was overhyped, but I found to my delight that the praise and enthusiasm were thoroughly justified. I enjoyed this novel tremendously! For a start, it's deliciously gothic and creepy; the main backdrop of a slowly decaying house provides the perfect claustrophobic atmosphere. It also offers an interesting twist on women and madness, both in a household that is to all intents and purposes entirely made up of women and in an institutional setting that has begun to adopt gentler, more "modern" methods. The journal excerpts from the 1600s act as a reminder that society has long tended to single out its female members who, for one reason or another, don't fit its very narrow definition of acceptability. Plus, I must admit that it was very satisfying to pick up on the threads of themes such as distance and estrangement, locking and unlocking, death (of course), and mirrors and reflections that are skillfully woven throughout.
If you're in search of a gripping read, look no further than this amazing debut novel — but be warned: you may never see wood the same way again...
I purchased this book online.
Rating: ****
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