The Shape of Darkness

I've been so looking forward to reading The Shape of Darkness and not only did I love it but I thought it was actually spectacular.

This is the story of two women: Agnes Darken (what a name!), a silhouette artist in Bath; and Pearl Meers, an 11 year old girl who is using her gift as a medium to contact spirits and pay her way with her half-sister, Myrtle, and to help her father who is gravely ill. Agnes has cause to consult Pearl when the people who are sitting for their silhouettes are being murdered. Is somebody targeting Agnes and if so, why?

This is ostensibly the story but there is so much else going on. I was totally and utterly bewitched by it from start to finish, being at turns enthralled by Agnes' cutting skills and Pearl's show more great powers. The juxtaposition between Agnes, who is probably beyond middle-aged for Victorian times, and the young Pearl is marked, each stepping forward and taking centre stage in their own environment and providing such contrast.

I feel it's quite hard to do justice to this wonderful book in a review. It's so complex and intricate, so beautifully and compellingly plotted. I thought I had an idea of where it was going only to be surprised over and over (there was even a hand over the mouth moment). The characters and settings leap off the page and it wasn't hard to imagine the grimy streets, the dark and dingy rooms lit only by candlelight, the manifestations, and even the smells. Laura Purcell really has created something so completely three-dimensional and full of atmosphere.

With a sinister feel underlying even the most everyday scenes, The Shape of Darkness is a book I didn't want to put down. With every page I was drawn deeper and deeper into the murky world of séances, mesmerism and murders. I thought it was an authentic and fantastic gothic read, with a plot that kept on astonishing me and characters that I will not forget. show less

‘’Shadows flee across the cobbles and climb up walls. Agnes has spent her life studying them, but she has not appreciated their sheer number until tonight. She sees shadows thrown by a dancing flame, the shadow of a tree branch, of an alley cat, shadows from nothing at all.’’

Agnes works wonders with her skilful hands. A silhouette artist in an era when the photograph is about to become THE fashion, she has to keep her business alive and provide for her mother and her nephew. But this is not the hardest part of her daily life. Still recovering from a severe illness, the shadows of the past are playing hide-and-seek. And then, clients of hers are murdered. One after another. A child with otherworldy powers seems to provide the show more only solution. A game of shadows begins…

Yes, one more masterpiece by the inimitable Laura Purcell.

‘’The gas lamps are up. Not high, but enough to taunt her. By their light, the parlour looks shabbier: the wallpaper a weak and faded lilac chintz that depresses the spirits. Pearl’s spirits, that is. She doesn’t know about the ghosts. They haven’t complained about the decoration as yet.’’

I don’t think that Laura Purcell’s work needs an introduction. In her fourth novel/masterpiece, we meet Agnes and Pearl. Taking place in Bath during the 1850s, this is the story of a woman and a child, two souls that have been plagued by the spirits of the past for so long…Grief and Death are their companions, and the narrative becomes haunting and mesmerizing in an almost twisted way as we witness the toil that burdens Agnes and Pearl’s shoulders.

To what extent should you sacrifice yourself, your dignity, your happiness, your sanity for the sake of your family? Why is it that the innocents are left to atone in blood and tears for the mistakes of others? Laura Purcell creates a marriage between the themes of shadows - literal and metaphorical- and silhouettes and the daily responsibilities and hardship women have had to face to keep their families safe. The beautiful characters of Agnes and Pearl, their faith, determination and bravery are a wonder to behold within the pages of this beautiful book.

To say that the novel is rich in this distinctive, superb Gothic atmosphere we have come to associate with Purcell’s works is an understatement. The conviction that the soul would be captured within a portrait or a photograph. The Victorian obsession with Spiritualism, mesmerism, the unethical madness of body-snatching, the popularity of the Penny Dreadfuls. What more could we possibly want as readers?

Every Victorian Gothic element is here, in this novel, in all its eerie glory. Perfection after perfection, Laura Purcell never seizes to generously lure us into a mesmerizing net of pure literary delight.

‘’When the hours of day are numbered,
And the voices of the night
Wake the better soul, that slumbered,
To a holy, calm delight.

Ere the evening lamps are lighted,
And, like phantoms grim and tall,
Shadows from the fitful fire-light
Dance upon the parlour wall;’’

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ show less

In my years spent enjoying books, tv shows and movies set in the Victorian era (1837-1901) I can't believe I've never come across the art of shadow portraits and silhouette artists before. Popular from the mid 1700s, profiles of a person were painted or cut by hand from black cardboard in order to retain their likeness and often worn in lockets or mounted as gifts. They were a cheaper alternative to painted miniature portraits but began to fall out of fashion with the introduction of photography.

The fact that Laura Purcell was the author to introduce me to a silhouette artist was more than I could hope for. Her novel The Corset was one of my favourite books in 2018, so naturally I had high hopes for The Shape of Darkness.

Agnes Darken is show more a silhouette artist living in Victorian Bath struggling to make ends meet. Left to provide for her mother and orphaned nephew, she works hard to make enough money from her trade of cutting shades to support her family. When a sitter of hers dies, soon followed by another, Agnes worries she has somehow unwittingly caused their deaths.

Pearl is an eleven year old albino girl and spirit medium, and along with her half-sister Miss West, they hold seances to commune with spirits. Their sickly father is dying from Phossy jaw (phosphorus necrosis of the jaw) as a result of working in a match factory and the girls are left to run the household as best they can.

In an attempt to get to the bottom of the murders, Agnes consults Pearl but together they are frightened by what they discover.

The Shape of Darkness is a gothic tale full of references that let me know immediately I was in Victorian England. Seances, ear trumpets, reticules and plenty of mourning etiquette was on display within the pages, making this a real pleasure to read. Here's an example from early on in the novel.

"Agnes finds the Boyles' residence almost at once. There is the telltale straw laid out before it to deaden the sound of wheels and the windows are shuttered fast. She adjusts her grip on the package. Perhaps this was not a wise notion, after all.
Black material swaddles the brass knocker. It makes a muted, pathetic sound as she lets it fall. Some moments later, the door opens like a tender wound. Behind it is a squat woman dressed in mourning, but the expression upon her face is one of harassment, not grief." Page 32-33

And another from later on in the novel:

"The glass hearse displays a coffin suffocating in lilies. It travels feet first so that its occupant cannot look back and beckon others to follow.
Yet they do follow: mourners trail wearily behind on foot and the family creep along in their own elaborate carriage. They have not pulled the curtains for privacy. Each stricken and contorted countenance is on view.
Agnes knows she should lower her eyes in consideration of the family's pain, but she does not; no one does. Everyone peers into the carriage, eager to see the mark death has left on those it passed so closely by." Page 248

Laura Purcell has a gift for setting the scene in her novels and she does it so well. Author of The Silent Companions, The Corset and Bone China, I continue to enjoy the manner in which she conjures the hustle and bustle of her chosen setting. Here's another example if you haven't yet had the pleasure of her books.

"Everyone hurries: to the dyers, to the locksmith, to the grocers, to the chophouses that issue a malodour of hot beef fat. She cannot keep pace. And none of the men emerging from their work at the brewery possess enough gallantry to grant a lady a wide berth on the pavement." Page 96

This gothic delight of a novel is presented with a gorgeous cover design showing a character's silhouette on a visually stunning background of Victorian era scissors spotted with blood. A silhouette adorns the back of the book too and I believe this to be Pearl, with either Agnes or her sister on the front cover. If you've read the book, who do you think graces the cover?

Miss Darken must have one of the best character names of the year and she experiences her fair share of problems in the novel. Grieving the loss of her sister in a mysterious accident and recently recovering from ill health, her physician and brother-in-law Simon attempts to thwart her efforts to solve the case. Is she as emotionally frail as he suggests or is there more to it?

All is revealed in a surprising conclusion although I'm still chasing the absolute perfect ending that was The Corset and this fell a whisker short. Highly recommended for fans of Victorian era historical fiction and all things gothic.

* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury * show less

Set in Bath in 1854, The Shape of Darkness is a atmospheric historical novel from Leah Purcell.

Agnes Darken supports her ailing mother and orphaned nephew with her work as a silhouette artist, but with the growing popularity of the daguerreotypes, she’s finding it harder to attract clients. She is shocked when the local Sergeant calls on her to ask questions about a recent sitter who was brutally murdered shortly after their appointment, and worried that notoriety might attach to her business. Her physician and brother in law, Simon, is quick to assure her that all is fine, but when a second and then third client dies, Agnes fears she may somehow be connected to their deaths. Desperate for answers to both the current circumstances and show more a past tragedy, Agnes reaches out to a mesmerist Myrtle West and her young half sister, Pearl, known as ‘The White Sylph’ who is said to communicate with the dead.

The Shape of Darkness embraces all the elements of a Victorian gothic tale - a physically and emotionally frail heroine, high emotion, a bleak, wintry setting, murder, and the supernatural. Purcell deftly builds suspense and dread as she develops the plot, revealing dark secrets and making good use of misdirect to ensure the final twist is a surprise.

Fragile and high strung, Agnes has an nervous energy that plays into the narrative. Her suspicions about the connection between the dead and her silhouettes seems fanciful, but her panic is almost contagious as she becomes more certain she, and her family are in danger from an unknown foe. With hints of a tragic background, involving a doomed romance, and a grievous accident, she is exactly what you’d expect as a gothic heroine, except for perhaps her age.

Pearl is a desperately sympathetic character, used terribly by her her half sister, Myrtle. Blamed for her mother’s death during her birth, her father now lays dying gruesomely, a victim of phosphorus poisoning. An albino, eleven year old Pearl is easily envisioned as a medium, but there is an ambiguity to her ability that Purcell exploits, so that you’re never quite sure where the line between this world and the next lies.

Though overall I found it a touch melodramatic for my taste, The Shape of Darkness is evocative, haunting and enthralling. show less

I wanted to love this. I really thought I would. I adore stories about spiritual mediums so much. I was excited that the main character was a silhouette artist because I think those things are cool as hell. The premise was fantastic, part ghost story, part crime novel. Should have been an entertaining read for me, and it started out that way. Slow burn, Gothic, atmospheric. I love that shit!

However, there is a reason I tend to veer from Victorian novels set in time periods like this. I HATE reading about weak women! All of the fainting and swooning and being terrified of every damn thing! It annoys the hell out of me. I like my female characters to be strong even when scary shit is going down. It is a completely personal preference, I show more know this.

There were some spectacular twists that I didn't see coming. Those parts were great, but I couldn't enjoy them completely because in my head I kept thinking..."this bitch fainted again? She fell to her knees AGAIN?"

All that being said, I would recommend this book. The story itself and the twists were fantastic. show less

Set in Bath during the Victorian era, The Shape of Darkness is about an older woman, Agnes, an artist who cuts silhouettes, and Pearl, a young girl, an albino who works for her sister as a medium and has a father who is dying horribly of phosphorous poisoning from working in a match factory. The two are brought together by a series of deaths, murders of people whose silhouettes Agnes had recently cut. They hope to find out who the murderer was through seances. There is a twist, which I guessed early on, but I did want to keep reading to see if I was right. As in Purcell's previous books, she has infused this novel with rich and unusual historical detail centering around that era's craze for spiritualism and mesmerism. I didn't find this show more novel quite as affecting or as layered as the previous two by Purcell that I have read, but it held my attention and had several creepy scenes. The reader is left to wonder whether or not the supernatural has really been at work or whether it was all in the characters' imaginations. show less

I love Laura Purcell's writing style - she is a wordsmith and crafts characters, and atmosphere in a most talented way. Really interesting historical detail in this novel regarding silhouettes and match factory phosphorous poisoning. There was just something a bit unsatisfying about this novel; I haven't quite been able to pinpoint what it was yet but I was just left feeling slightly cheated, hence only 4 stars..