I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to see an invite to The Shape Of Darkness blog tour in my inbox. I have been watching this book fly around social media and those lucky enough to receive a proof copy. I absolutely love Laura Purcell's books and have read and enjoyed each one. I even pre-ordered a signed copy of The Shape Of Darkness from Goldboro Books Limited. So when I saw I had a chance to get my hands on this book before publication day I knew I would do anything to be involved.
21 January 2021 | Raven Books | Hardback £12.99 | eBook £9.09 | Audio £21
SYNOPSIS:
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...
MY THOUGHTS:
In true Laura Purcell style this book is both haunting and mesmerizing. The characters came to life on the page and I immediately felt a strong connection to the two main female characters Agnes and Pearl. I adore the historic era that dominates Purcell's novels including the names given to her characters. For me, the setting, Victorian Bath, was just the perfect location for this novel. Living quite near to Bath, and through Purcell's descriptions, it was easy to visualise Bath back in the Victorian age and Agnes' movements around the city. The writing; atmospheric with a gothic feel, adds to the ghostly encounters and mysterious deaths that are taking place. Both chilling and gripping, the intricate plot cleverly weaves its way through the novel providing tension, some harrowing scenes and shocking surprises.
Being a bit of a Laura Purcell geek I found myself finding parallels between her other novels which I loved. In The Silent Companions you have the supernatural element which not only fascinated me but gave me chills. I was delighted to find this ghostly theme running through The Shape Of Darkness through Pearl and her ability to communicate with the dead. In The Corset you have a child/young woman trying to survive through poverty and mistreatment. I found there were links here to both Agnes' and Pearl's life as both had lost someone dear and were trying hard to get by. Just like Ruth in The Corset, Agnes has a skill, a silhouette artist. It was fascinating to read about this rare and timeless artform which, using just scissors and paper, Agnes cuts out the subject's portrait in profile. I could really imagine the charming, detailed and accurate likeness that Agnes could create in a few minutes. It is traditions such as these, that were highly popular during the Victorian era, that Purcell brings alive again through her writing. Educating and adding a uniqueness to her novels.
You can always count on Purcell to throw you into a world of darkness and to expect the unexpected. Even though I was fully prepared to be shocked and tried to surmise the outcome I was still left unprepared for the ending. Normally I rush to finish a book through sheer determination to find out what the outcome is. However, with The Shape Of Darkness I found myself slowing down, I truly did not want the reading experience to finish. As always the ending was perfect, the characters have routed themselves in my heart and I am now bereft having finished. I now wait in anticipation for my signed, UK First Edition, copy to arrive so that I can rejoice in the fact that Agnes and Pearl are back sitting on my bookshelf. I can't wait to see what Purcell writes next, I just hope I don't have a wait too long.
Many thanks as always to Anne Carter at Random Things Tours for inviting me to join the blog tour, to Bloomsbury Books for my gifted copy and to Laura Purcell for another gem of a book.
AUTHOR:
Laura Purcell is a former bookseller and lives in Colchester with her husband and pet guinea pigs.
Her first novel for Raven Books, The Silent Companions, was a Radio 2 and Zoe Ball ITV Book Club pick and was the winner of the WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award, while her subsequent books – The Corset and Bone China – established Laura as the queen of the sophisticated, and spooky, page-turner.