Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
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. 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 . It's not a good sign when I'm hoping I can finally get through that last hour my kindle is showing me I have to go until it's finished. The book's beginning held great promise, so I was disappointed with the book's progression. There were a lot of really strange things going on with supposed fairies, bone china that sometimes changed pictures, sounds of drips and disembodied singing, that all added up to a lot of hogwash to me. My favorite part of the book was when Hester was first welcomed upon arrival into the warmest part of the house, the kitchen- fussed over and made to warm up with freshly baked bread and hot tea. I also loved hearing about how they made hot chocolate each morning for Miss Pinecroft. I guess you could say my favorite part of the book was in the kitchen! Although I was slightly disappointed with this offering, I will definitely look forward to reading her next one.
I have had Bone China on my list for some time, and considering how much I loved "The Silent Companions" I was hoping for something just as good. Unfortunately, this just wasn't the case. 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. 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. 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.
Customer reviews
I enjoyed reading the two separate parts of Louise's life and trying to work out what had really happened in the past. Then came the totally surprising ending and I realised we will never really know. I usually hate endings that leave things unexplained - for some reason I do not mind when this author does it! What will she write next I wonder.
This one contained 3 different story lines very separate from each other, and they were very disjointed. And for the life of me, I couldn't understand why she chose to have an end leaving it untied . If you're having different plots going on, they need to come together at some stage, but it didn't. This is a good book, if you like slow burning gothic horror. I love Author Laura Purcell she is one of my favorites. This particular book is not my favorite of hers. The book is true to Purcell, a slow burn into the story with a sudden end. I loved the first half of the book but the second half when a new characters past started up I was a bit confused. I also didn't understand some of the dark fae? 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. I didn’t love this one as her previous two books. Neither have come close to The Silent Companions - I loved that one.Forty years ago, Louise and her father, Dr Pinecroft, lost their entire family to consumption, leaving them the only survivors, weighed down by an unbearable grief. Dr Pinecroft becomes convinced that sea air is the key to a cure for the ravages of the disease. To prove his controversial ideas, he undertakes an experiment, acquiring some prisoners with the disease, with his daughter, Louise helping him to manage. He brings them to the house, has them taken down into the caves, looked after by carers. What happens there has consequences that echo down the years, and form the basis of local legends and myths. Hester is a woman with the love of gin and opium, it is rather difficult to discern just how far we can trust her through the blurring haze of unreliable experiences. The author excels in creating the psychological conditions where ambiguity runs throughout the narrative, is it the supernatural at work or is it madness?
Great Deal 
New Comment