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A gothic tale set in a rambling house by the sea in which a maid cares for a mute old woman with a mysterious past, alongside her superstitious staff--from the author of The Silent Companions.
A perfect spooky read!
Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr. Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the disease in the caves beneath his new Cornish home. While he devotes himself to his controversial medical trials, Louise finds herself increasingly discomfited by the strange tales her new maid tells of the fairies that hunt the land, searching for those they can steal away to their realm.
Forty years later, Hester arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralyzed and mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try to escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.
Laura Purcell's THE SHAPE OF DARKNESS is now out from Penguin!
Genre: Historical
A perfect spooky read!
Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr. Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the disease in the caves beneath his new Cornish home. While he devotes himself to his controversial medical trials, Louise finds herself increasingly discomfited by the strange tales her new maid tells of the fairies that hunt the land, searching for those they can steal away to their realm.
Forty years later, Hester arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralyzed and mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try to escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.
Laura Purcell's THE SHAPE OF DARKNESS is now out from Penguin!
Genre: Historical
Praise for this book
"If Charles Dickens and Emily Brontë had a love-child, it would be Laura Purcell. Bone China is a deliciously creepy novel full of rambling houses, storm-soaked nights, sinister secrets and hidden agendas that kept me turning the pages." - Lorna Cook
"Menacing, macabre and utterly gripping. Laura Purcell has done it again." - Essie Fox
"Laura is a masterful writer, her deliciously gothic stories so skillfully woven that you can't get them out of your head even if you wanted to." - Stacey Halls
"A brilliantly atmospheric and chilling tale and I raced through the pages hardly daring to find out what would happen next! Laura's characters and the world they inhabit are compelling, unsettling and richly drawn. A fabulous tale!" - Ruth Hogan
"This is an absolute treat, all wrapped up in Laura Purcell's gorgeous and compelling prose. I would very happily be pixy-led for days through the pages of this book!" - Alison Littlewood
"So many books are hyped up as being the next Jamaica Inn or the next Rebecca, but Bone China really is, and I think Queen Daphne might have to hand over the crown to Queen Laura. The research was just exquisite ... A cut above anything else I've read this year." - Natasha Pulley
"I absolutely loved it! I raced through it, transfixed, as the gloomy and atmospheric Morvoren House offered up its chilling secrets. Laura spins her plot with all the mischievous cunning of a Cornish Fairy." - Sonia Velton
"I absolutely loved it. Sublime gothic atmosphere, completely gripping story and I honestly didn't expect it to hit me so hard emotionally. It's not just that I couldn't put it down, I just couldn't let go of those characters." - Martyn Waites
"Menacing, macabre and utterly gripping. Laura Purcell has done it again." - Essie Fox
"Laura is a masterful writer, her deliciously gothic stories so skillfully woven that you can't get them out of your head even if you wanted to." - Stacey Halls
"A brilliantly atmospheric and chilling tale and I raced through the pages hardly daring to find out what would happen next! Laura's characters and the world they inhabit are compelling, unsettling and richly drawn. A fabulous tale!" - Ruth Hogan
"This is an absolute treat, all wrapped up in Laura Purcell's gorgeous and compelling prose. I would very happily be pixy-led for days through the pages of this book!" - Alison Littlewood
"So many books are hyped up as being the next Jamaica Inn or the next Rebecca, but Bone China really is, and I think Queen Daphne might have to hand over the crown to Queen Laura. The research was just exquisite ... A cut above anything else I've read this year." - Natasha Pulley
"I absolutely loved it! I raced through it, transfixed, as the gloomy and atmospheric Morvoren House offered up its chilling secrets. Laura spins her plot with all the mischievous cunning of a Cornish Fairy." - Sonia Velton
"I absolutely loved it. Sublime gothic atmosphere, completely gripping story and I honestly didn't expect it to hit me so hard emotionally. It's not just that I couldn't put it down, I just couldn't let go of those characters." - Martyn Waites
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