The Shape of Darkness

LoveReading Says

This is Laura Purcell’s fourth novel and I’ve devoured the previous three – The Silent Companions, The Corset and Bone China. She is the absolute queen of the modern gothic novel, weaving tales of love, loss, darkness, spirits and revenge. I buy few hardbacks these days, but my collection of Purcell’s takes pride of place and I know I’ll return to them again and again. This is the story of Agnes Darkin a silhouette artist, cutting portraits from black paper, who is struggling to keep body and soul together. Her business is failing and she’s unable to make ends meet. When a client is murdered after sitting for her, and then another, Agnes turns to a child medium for help and take a step into the darkness. I love the twists and turns in this story – a real page-turner.

Selected by Carole Matthews, Our Winter 2021 Guest Editor. Click here to read the full Guest Editor Piece.

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What a gloriously dark and thrilling treat of a read this is! If I’m not careful I will go into exclamation mark overdrive as I adored every single moment spent with this novel, from the cover on the outside to the content within. Silhouette artist Agnes believes that her clients are being murdered, in an attempt to find answers she asks spirit medium Pearl to make contact with the dead. Victorian Bath is the setting with a dramatic and shadowy atmosphere that oozes from the pages. The characters are beautifully constructed, I found myself investing in their every word and move. The plot is fascinating, the uncanny elements thrilling, and yet it all feels so convincing, so vividly real. And oh, that ending, it gave me goosebumps in the best possible way! If you delight in a deeply satisfying story containing elements of the supernatural then this is the book for you. Slithering between thoughts into the darkest of places The Shape of Darkness is an eloquent, mesmerising gothic tale and one of my Liz Picks of the Month.

Liz Robinson

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