“Ghosts were supposed to visit by night, weren’t they? Why was that? Did they envy the peaceful rest of the living?”

When Wilfred Bainbridge’s father passes away, he inherits the Bridge Manor. His pregnant wife, Belinda and their five year old son Freddy are to join him in what is to be their new home. Little do they know what already resides there. The silent companions, wooden life-like figures that have been in the Bainbridge family for centuries, wait patiently for the new owners to arrive. This is a house full of dark and sad stories, this is a family with equally dark and sad secrets. But the past won’t stay buried for long. When Wilfred’s brother Nathan returns from India much is to be revealed and Belinda tries desperately to keep her family safe.

Perfectly haunting and atmospherically unsettling House of Splinters by Laura Purcell transports readers back to the Bridge Manor where deadly forces await. 

Though House of Splinters is set in 1774 and therefore is a prequel to Purcell’s The Silent Companions I personally have found the experience of reading both books in publication order much more satisfying. Here’s why. In the opening few chapters of House of Splinters Belinda Bainbridge is preparing to join her husband at the Bridge Manor with her young son Freddy and already I felt a sense of foreboding knowing exactly what they’d find there. Upon arrival at the Bridge it is not long until Freddy stumbles upon the silent companion figures, they begin to pop up in various rooms, they begin to take on the profiles of recognisable figures from Bainbridge ancestry and their malevolent presence begins to be felt. I personally feel this opening is more eerie, more threatening, having already met and having previous knowledge of these wooden figures in The Silent Companions because the hairs on the back of my neck were instantly raised, I could anxiously anticipate the horrors to come. Then there is also the factor of historical context concerning Anne Bainbridge, a woman accused and executed for witchcraft, and her daughter Henrietta Maria. Anne’s diary is a focal point in the previous book as Purcell plunges us into 1635 to read Anne’s in-depth account of events, and oh my do we learn some dark history there. Anne and Henrietta also play a pivotal role in this novel too but knowledge of their past is scarce and I think that context is needed to truly appreciate Anne and Henrietta’s story. This is not to say that it wouldn’t be enjoyable to read these books the other way around too, it is just that I am glad to have read The Silent Companions first.

“The past trod closer than ever, right on his heels.

He supposed there was no such thing as a secret in a house like this. Events could be concealed, but they bled into the walls, a record held in time. The stains on the flags. The boarded-up well. The spliced handrail and the newer balusters in the gallery, which did not quite match the others.”

During the beginning of this novel Purcell spends time building up the characters of Wilfred and Belinda  Bainbridge and their family. It was so nice to initially have such a loving family unit. Wilfred was a very attentive husband, always thinking of Belinda‘s comfort and what would make it easier for her to settle into the manor. Likewise, Belinda also strove to lessen the burdens on Wilfred by taking on the role of the upkeep of the manor and organising its household servants. They were both loving parents to Freddy, kind, protective and a touch indulgent but not to the point of overly spoiling their son. Though, as the novel progresses the cracks within their relationship begin to show. Freddy being a child, befriends the silent companion figures, which seems innocent until he begins to express how they had been talking to him, how uneasy they made him feel and then how erratic his behaviour became, particularly towards protecting his baby sister, Lydia. In turn Belinda begins to express her own uneasiness, which her husband tends to brush off. Then we learn more of Wilfred and his childhood—his estrangement from his father, his mother’s death, his sister Tiffany, and his brother Nathan who was mysteriously sent away. As all of these secrets are revealed, I became so engrossed and every scandalous piece of history surrounding this family was oh so juicy. Purcell always crafts characters that fit well within the social climate of the time period each book is set in; Belinda may have been reliant on the men in her life due to women having very little control of finances or even their own health care during the 1700s, but that does not mean she lacks in strength, courage or a drive to protect those she loves. Her character is likable, determined and so when the horrific events unfold towards the climax, I felt for her all the more. 

Once again Purcell superbly delivers a novel of psychological horror and then hits readers with outright horror. At first the wooden figures randomly make themselves known around the Bridge estate, strange hissing and scraping noises can be heard, a sense of unease permeates and the patch of earth that Belinda so desperately wants to cultivate into an English garden continuously rots. Belinda, naturally, becomes more and more agitated. Are these the signs of a haunted house? Or is Belinda, having recently given birth, showing signs of anxiety and postnatal depression? But then Freddy too shows signs of distress when faced with the silent companions, he claims they warn him not to lock them away, he claims they have an obsession with baby Lydia. Are all of these signs of a child with a wild imagination or do his claims hold true? Purcell makes us question the validity of supernatural occurrences that could all be reasonably explained and therefore messes with our perception of reality. Until the novel reaches the halfway point, until events and bad omens begin to mirror the past, this is when reason gives way to nightmares and we are hit with some spine tingling scenes. There were points in the novel where I was jumping at shadows, reading into the autumn evening, with the dark and cold enveloping. 

“Could it be that both things were true at once?

Elements of worldly reason and the supernatural blended together until you could not distinguish one from the other?”

House of Spirits expertly captures the essence of a classic gothic haunted house tale. I was suitably spooked!

ARC provided by Ben at Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review—thank you for the copy! All quotes used were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication. 

House of Splinters is available now – you can order your copy on Bookshop.org