Laura Purcell

Originally published: London: Raven Books, 2017.

The Silent Companions

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Andrew Michael Hurley

Imogen Hermes Gowar

Bridget Collins

Sara Collins

Natasha Pulley

Jess Kidd

Elizabeth Macneal

Nine Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights

The Haunting Season

"As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another... Why is the killer seemingly targeting her business? Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them. But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something that they can never put back."--Publisher.

The Shape of Darkness

'Laura is a masterful writer, her deliciously gothic stories so skilfully woven that you can't get them out of your head even if you wanted to' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars 'The Corset is a contender for my Book of the Year. Beautifully written, intricately plotted, a masterpiece' Sarah Hilary Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain? Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorothea's charitable work leads her to Oakgate Prison, she finds herself drawn to Ruth, a teenage seamstress – and self-confessed murderess – who nurses a dark and uncanny secret. A secret that is leading her straight to the gallows. As Ruth reveals her disturbing past to Dorothea, the fates of these two women entwine, and with every revelation, a new layer of doubt is cast... Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? Bone China, the new Daphne du Maurier-esque chiller from Laura Purcell, is out now.

The captivating new novel from the prize-winning author of The Silent Companions

The Corset

'Du Maurier-tastic' GUARDIAN'Deliciously sinister' HEAT 'A clever, creepy read' SUNDAY EXPRESS 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 same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home. Forty years later, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralysed and almost entirely mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try and escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers that her new home may be just as dangerous as her last...

Bone China

A thrilling Victorian gothic horror tale about a young seamstress who claims her needle and thread have the power to kill "A romping read with a deliciously dark conceit at its center... Reminded me of Alias Grace."--Kiran Millwood Hargrave Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorothea's charitable work brings her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted by the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets one of the prisoners, the teenaged seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another strange idea: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread--because Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches. The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations--of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses--will shake Dorothea's belief in rationality, and the power of redemption. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? For fans of Shirley Jackson, The Poison Thread is a spine-tingling, sinister read about the evil that lurks behind the facade of innocence.

The Poison Thread

The Whispering Muse

A new gothic Victorian tale from Laura Purcell, set on the atmospheric Cornish coast 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. 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.

The House of Whispers

Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Stuart Turton

Catriona Ward

Susan Stokes-Chapman

FROM THE CREATORS OF THE HAUNTING SEASON COMES A DAZZLING COLLECTION OF NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN GHOSTLY TALES. Featuring new and original stories from: Bridget Collins Imogen Hermes Gowar Kiran Millwood Hargrave Andrew Michael Hurley Jess Kidd Natasha Pulley Elizabeth Macneal Laura Purcell Susan Stokes Chapman Laura Shepherd-Robinson Stuart Turton Catriona Ward The tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. These twelve stories - authored by some of today's most loved and lauded authors of historical and gothic fiction - are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience. Taking you from a haunted Tuscan villa to a remote Scottish island with a dark secret, and drawing inspiration from festive traditions from all around the globe, these vibrant haunted stories are your ultimate companion for frosty nights. So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of Christmases past . . .

Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights

The Winter Spirits

An emotional tale based on historical fact imagining the impact of King George III's madness on the lives of his wife and daughters London 1788: the calm order of Queen Charlotte's court is shattered by screams. The King of England is going mad. Left alone with 13 children and with the country at war, Charlotte has to fight to hold her husband's throne. It is a time of unrest and revolutions but most of all Charlotte fears the King himself, someone she can no longer love or trust. She has lost her marriage to madness and there is nothing she can do except continue to do her royal duty. Her six daughters are desperate to escape their palace asylum. Their only chance lies in a good marriage, but no prince wants the daughter of a madman. They are forced to take love wherever they can find it, with devastating consequences.

Queen of Bedlam

Il filo avvelenato

"Inspired by the work of Shirley Jackson and Susan Hill and set in a crumbling country mansion, The Silent Companions is an unsettling gothic ghost story to send a shiver down the spine. Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge. With her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked room and beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary and a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure - a Silent Companion - that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself..." -- Provided by publisher.

The Perfect Spooky Tale to Curl Up with This Winter

Gli amici silenziosi

"Una historia de fantamas victoriana que evoca un miedo inquietante que atraviesa la conciencia de la manera más inesperada, al igual que los acompañantes silenciosos". Ambientada en una mansión rural en ruinas, Compañías silenciosas es una turbadora historia gótica de fantasmas que provoca escalofríos. Elsie, recién casada y también recién enviudada, es enviada a vivir su embarazo en la deteriorada casa de campo de su difunto esposo. Rodeada de sus nuevos y resentidos sirvientes y de aldeanos hostiles, Elsie solo cuenta con la incómoda compañía de la prima de su marido. En su nuevo hogar, en una habitación que durante un breve instante aparecerá abierta, encuentra un diario de doscientos años, con la inquietante historia de la madre de una niña muda y de su poco natural concepción. Y de unas figuras de madera pintada con un parecido sorprendente a los personajes de esta novela que lo dejará sin aliento.

Compañías silenciosas

Las tragedias de la musa

Set in Victorian England, this book is a disturbing gothic story that will send shivers down your spine. Hardly married for a few months, Elsie has become a widow and is sent to live at her late husband's crumbling estate, The Bridge. Surrounded by resentful servants, Elsie has only her husband's awkward cousin for company. But the new home is no less hostile, as suddenly closed rooms open, and she encounters painted wooden figures that terrify the servants of The Bridge with their restless, following eyes.

Compañías Silenciosas

Orphaned and trapped in an abusive marriage, Henrietta Howard has little left to lose. She stakes everything on a new life in Hanover with its royal family, the heirs to the British throne. Henrietta's beauty and intelligence soon win her the friendship of clever Princess Caroline and her mercurial husband, Prince George. But, as time passes, it becomes clear that friendship is the last thing on the hot-blooded young prince's mind. Dare Henrietta give into his advances and anger her violent husband? Dare she refuse?. Set in the turbulent years of the Hanoverian accession, Mistress of the Court tells the story of the two remarkable women at the centre of George II's reign.

Mistress of the Court

The Moonstone

Lange, kalte Winternächte: Zeit, um den Kamin zu entzünden, Zeit für Geistergeschichten. Ob in den wilden Mooren von Yorkshire, auf dem verschneiten Gelände eines Spukhauses oder auf dem belebten Londoner Weihnachtsmarkt – diese Geschichten, die von Gespenstern vergangener Tage erzählen, jagen den Lesenden die köstlichsten Schauer über den Rücken. So herrlich britisch wie Yorkshire Pudding, so stimmungsvoll und gruselig wie ›Eine Weihnachtsgeschichte‹ von Charles Dickens und so spannend, dass man dieses Buch kaum aus den Händen legen kann. ›Schaurige Nächte‹ vereint acht Erzählungen ausgewiesener Gruselexpert*innen, die eine alte Tradition neu beleben: Als Meister*innen des Unheimlichen und Makabren bescheren sie uns einen Nervenkitzel ganz besonderer Art.

Unheimliche Geschichten für den Winter

Schaurige Nächte

Stacey Halls: »Eine meisterhafte Schriftstellerin. Ihre fabelhaften Schauergeschichten sind so gekonnt aufgebaut, dass man sie nicht mehr aus dem Kopf bekommt, selbst wenn man es wollte.« Laura Purcell arbeitete in der Kommunalverwaltung, in der Finanzbranche und in einer Buchhandlung, bevor sie Vollzeitautorin wurde. Laura lebt mit ihrem Mann und ihren Meerschweinchen in Colchester, der ältesten bekannten Stadt Englands. Sie ist fasziniert von der finsteren Seite der königlichen Geschichte. Ihre unheimlichen, historischen Romane haben ihr schnell viele Fans beschert und den Ruf als neue Queen der Gothic Fiction. https://www.laurapurcell.com/ d104Als ihre gemeinnützige Arbeit Dorothea Truelove zum Oakgate-Gefängnis führt, freut sie sich über die Gelegenheit, die Theorie der Phrenologie zu erforschen. Kann die Form des Schädels eines Menschen ein Licht auf seine dunkelsten Wesenszüge werfen? Doch als Dorothea die junge Schneiderin Ruth Butterham trifft, stellt sie sich ganz andere Fragen: Ist es möglich, mit Nadel und Faden zu töten? Denn Ruth schreibt ihre Verbrechen einer übernatürlichen Kraft zu, die ihren Stichen innewohnt. Die Geschichte, die sie über ihre tödlichen Kreationen zu erzählen hat – von Bitterkeit und Verrat, von Tod und Kleidern – wird Dorotheas Glauben an die Wissenschaft erschüttern. Ist Ruth verrückt? Nur ein Opfer? Oder eine eiskalte Mörderin? Geheimnisvoll und quälend intensiv. Der neue viktorianische Thriller von Laura Purcell schildert, wie beängstigend es war, in dieser Zeit zu leben. Dem auf Goodreads: »Laura Purcell ist jetzt meine Queen der Gothic Fiction.« Guardian: »Ein eindrucksvolles Porträt einer Gesellschaft, die Frauen bestraft, die es wagen, gegen soziale Normen zu verstoßen ... und ein großartiger Thriller mit angemessen melodramatischen Schnörkeln.« Mail on Sunday: »Purcells Geschichte fängt das eingezwängte Leben viktorianischer Frauen auf brillante Weise ein, während sie Aberglaube und Wissenschaft gegenüberstellt.« Anna Mazzola: »Mehr makabre Pracht von Laura Purcell, mühevoll zusammengenäht wie eine der schrecklichen Kreationen der Schneiderin Ruth. Das Korsett wird dich wie ein Schraubstock zerquetschen. Brillant.« ES Thomson: »Mit der Gabe einer geborenen Erzählerin hat Laura Purcell eine Geschichte geschrieben, die so verschlungen und makellos ist wie Ruths Nadelstiche. Das Korsett erinnert an Sarah Waters und Margaret Atwood, ist aber einzigartig und unverkennbar Laura Purcell.« Stacey Halls: »Eine meisterhafte Schriftstellerin. Ihre fabelhaften Schauergeschichten sind so gekonnt aufgebaut, dass man sie nicht mehr aus dem Kopf bekommt, selbst wenn man es wollte.« Mit farbigem Vor- und Nachsatzpapier. Die Hälfte der ersten Auflage erscheint mit einem Buchschnitt aus Goldfolie und wird zuerst verkauft, danach sind Exemplare mit einem blauen Farbschnitt lieferbar.

Laura Purcell

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