After the huge success of her first novel The Silent Companions, Lara Purcell is back with her second novel The Corset.  Set in the Victorian period, with a touch of the gothic and supernatural to it, The Corset tells the story of two very different women, who are victims of their own circumstances yet at different ends of the social scale.  Dorothea, is twenty five, unmarried, living with her father but  has the luxury of being financially independent due to money left for her by her mother.  Ruth is sixteen and in prison waiting trial for murder.  She has no money, no family, and has had a terrible existence so far, working as a seamstress and suffering terrible abuse . Dorothea, as part of her charity work, visits Ruth who slowly reveals her story. These women are the narrators of the book and we see the disparity of their lives, the social systems of Victorian Britain, the treatment of women, the treatment of the poor, and the prison system.

Dorothea wants to be a modern woman, break away from convention, have some independence and choose her own path in life and marriage.  She has an interest in phrenology; the belief that the brain is an organ of the mind and that certain areas of the brain have specific functions that could be measured on the skull.  Dorothea visits female prisoners and measures their heads to see if they has a propensity towards crime, and if through repentance these areas of the brain can reduce.  This is how she meets Ruth, and is drawn into her story of how she believes has committed murder simply by sewing stitches of hate into clothing.

The Corset paints an opposing picture of nineteenth century England.  Money gives Dorothea all the opportunities available, yet she wants to walk away from that and marry a man her father would not approve of.  Ruth has no money, has seen what poverty can reduce people to and how the poor work in terrible conditions and are victims of physical and verbal abuse at the hands of their employers.  Some of the acts described really are horrific and make you question if Ruth is a victim rather than the villain, and that her situation has maybe sent her mad.

Laura Purcell captures the atmosphere of the period perfectly, both in the more beautiful settings like the Botanical Gardens, and in the cellar at Mrs Meynard's which has no light, no heat and only straw to sleep on.  The use of Victorian terminology, and language adds to the authenticity of the book and gives a real sense of place, and time.  It is a beautifully written book, with both dark and light; murder, and love, poverty and privilege.  This also applies to her characterisation, where the characters are brought to life with detailed backgrounds and descriptions, but not all are likeable. Laura Purcell's prose draws you into this plot, and you remain almost hypnotised by the story of Ruth and Dorothea, and their strange friendship.

The Corset is a deliciously dark and disturbing tale of nineteenth century England.  There is an undercurrent  of menace  that is always lurking at the edges of the  story, that adds tension and fear.   This book is about a lot more than Ruth's innocence or guilt, it is about belief, a touch of the supernatural and  society failing those in need.  A memorising, gripping and tense read, right until the last shocking page; simply superb.

This novel started out phenomenal, it completely blew me away and I felt completely invested in the characters of Dorothea and Ruth. Especially Ruth.
I had multiple quotes (9) all taken from the first 50% of the novel.

However, for me personally the novel just lost its pace and substance at the halfway mark.
In the end for me it was a DNF at 52%.

The reason I have chosen to leave this review instead of clicking DNF. Is because this novel has two fantastic characters and some superb writing. I am sure many readers will fully enjoy this title. It was just not for me.

Many thanks for the chance to review.

This book blew me away. I went into it with zero expectations but I was drawn in from the first few words. An incredible book that will stay with me for quite some time

In this book we follow Dorothea. An independently wealthy young woman (having inherited from her mother), Dorothea is a pragmatic and curious person who is highly interested in studying the human skull and everything it might reveal In order to prove her own theories (that 'turning evil' might be prevented by studying the human skull from early on and trying to nip the evilness in the bud, as it were), she visits women in prison to see if their skulls undergo any change from being incarcerated.

One of these women - a girl might a be more appropriate term - is Ruth Butterham. At 16, she is in prison and awaiting trial for having murdered her employer. Quite early on, she reveales to Dorothea that she is responsible for several other deaths.

In order to follow the progress, Dorothea visits Ruth and lets her speak. Slowly, through alternating POV chapters, Ruth's harrowing story unravels and we - as well as Dorothea - start to form our own thoughts on the course of events. Is Ruth truly a murderer? Or is she the victim?

The story is incredibly well crafted and well written. The prose is so beautiful it feels as though you are on a constant high and you just want to go on inhaling all the beautiful sentences. The alternating POV style truly makes this book. Dorothea's voice is the Voice Of Reason in the story; it prevents the book from becoming a summary of a grim Victorian light, and instead illuminates all the more Ruth's questionable narrative and her disordered thinking.

All in all, a clever, beautiful and harrowing book with well written characters and a brutal story of a girl who becomes the victim of circumstance.

Thanks to Bloomsbury publishing for a review copy of this book.

I was intrigued to read The Corset after Laura Purcell’s previous novel (The Silent Companions) had both gripped and terrified (in a good way) my partner.

This novel is the tale of a young seamstress, Ruth Butterhan, who thinks that she has the power to kill people who wear the garments she has made if she sews them with hatred in her heart.

She is in jail as the novel opens and the novel is framed by her telling her story to a well meaning prison visitor, Dorothea Truelove, who has eschewed the normal pastimes for a lady of her station by studying phrenology. (The belief that various traits were governed by different parts of the brain and that measuring the skull could give some indication as to a person’s nature.)

Ruth’s the is very sad but beautifully told. The language evokes the despair into which the family sinks prior to Ruth ending up working as an ‘apprentice’ in a dressmakers establishment.

Her life her is, if anything, more unhappy and, through her eyes, we witness the horrors inflicted on those guilty of being poor.

Dorothea’s story takes a backseat earlier in the book but becomes more prominent in the latter sections. Whilst staring slowly the novel really ramps up in the final third and the twists and turns come thick and fast.

Laura Purcell had the ability to conjure a vision of the world about which she is writing. We clearly see the huge gulf between the rich and privilaged life of Dorothea juxtaposed with the squalor of Ruth’s existence.

The book also explores how mental illness could cause devastation in an age when it was not recognised or understood but never in a way that distracts from the story.

It is very hard to catagorise this novel. It is a crime story with horror, melodrama and witchcraft all subtly blended and well worth a read.

A very good read. An eye opener of times gone by. Would definitely read other books by this author Not sure about ending though!

I adored Silent Companions last year and that despite the fact that I normally don't read spooky books. Needless to say that I had high expectations for this one and although I think this is a very decent read, it did not live up to my expectations and also - in my mind - to SC.

The story is told from two characters POV and this can often be a challenge in a novel, especially, when one character has a much better, more intriguing storyline than the other. Dorothea's storyline was for me very weak in comparison to Ruth's and often D did no more than just be our commentator of what we just learned from Ruth. Ruth's story was more interesting, more harrowing and the one that gripped me. Dorothea was naive, self-involved (although I think both designed that way deliberately), but it just did not make this part of the story that interesting for the most part. I would also have preferred a different ending, but that is just me probably.

I got retroactive FOMO for Laura Purcell's novel The Silent Companions because everybody seemed to be raving about it, so I knew I needed to read this one. Especially because it focusses on two women, one of them being a prisoner on trial for murder. I love books featuring unapologetically difficult women and Ruth and Dorothea definitely fit the bill.

Dorothea Truelove is a young, unmarried woman, with plenty of suitors who would rather spend her time doing charity work (do not take her to be a kind person though, she really is not). She is most interested in prisons, as she has a strongly developed theory of phrenology that she feels the need to prove (which proves my point about her being maybe not the best person). As such, Ruth seems to be the perfect specimen to research for her: Ruth is sixteen and in prison awaiting her trial that will most likely lead to her execution for murder. The story is told in these dual perspectives, where Ruth is telling her story to Dorothea and the reader is along for the ride to figure out whether Ruth truly killed her mistress with her magic needle work.

For me, this was a really uneven reading experience. While I for the most part really enjoyed Ruth's perspective and the ambiguity of her story, Dorothea's part of the book did not work for me (except for the last chapter). Ruth is a compelling character, whose tough and hatred-filled veneer starts to crack the further her story developes. She is still so childlike while being so very broken, it hurt my heart. Dorothea on the other hand with her boring social life and her creepy obsession with phrenology did not quite keep my interest. This might be different for readers from different countries, but for me phrenology itself makes me very uncomfortable. I do not want to read about this and did not realize how obsessive Dorothea would be describing everybody's skull (there is an in-story reason for this - but it did not change my gut reaction to this).

Furthermore, I found quite a bit of Ruth's backstory to toe the line to torture porn, which probably says more about me as a reader than about the book to be honest. I would have liked to have these scenes be a little bit more scarcely used.

However, I found the ending to be very satisfying - Laura Purcell pulls together the two storylines in a really wonderful way. I was fine with the men's storylines to be unresolved because in the end - this is a book about Ruth and Dorothea.

This is the second novel following author, Laura Purcell’s debut, ‘The Silent Companions’ which happened to be a book that I binge read in one sitting. That wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t supposed to have been doing a buddy read of it!

I, like many others, found ‘The Silent Companions,’ well written, cleverly crafted and engaging. As usual my review is pending (that should be my actual tagline in life) and I gave it 3 stars.

It was almost a 4 star review but not quite. It was a ‘not quite’ because the more I thought on it the more some of the events didn’t quite smooth themselves over in my overactive brain. But please don’t think a 3 star review is a bad thing. It’s not. I’m beginning to worry that people think it is. A 3 star review means that I enjoyed something very much and I’m glad I read it but that either some of it wasn’t 100% my cup of tea or that it was enjoyable in the way that cake is…delicious to consume but with no nutritional value.

So far, from the reviews that I have read of The Corset, the impression that I’m getting is that people like it but they don’t love it as much as they loved The Silent Companions.

What do I think, you ask?

The Corset is also well written, cleverly crafted and engaging and as I actually enjoyed it more than The Silent Companion’s it gets 4 shining stars from me!

Why did I enjoy it more?

I’m truly worried that I enjoy suffering. This story is filled with suffering and people doing horrible things to others and both are sometimes described in gory, visceral detail. But it’s all very Victorian, all very Gothic (which I like) and I also enjoyed the ‘maybe magic, maybe mundane’ approach to a character that (maybe) inflicts pain on others through her own feelings as she sews their clothes.

I also clearly like stories about murderesses if my opinion of Alias Grace is to be counted.

The Corset does have a slight ‘Alias Grace’ feel to it. In Alias Grace, a male doctor (Simon) who has an interest in psychiatry meets with Grace, our possible murderess, to dig into her past in an attempt to understand why she killed her employers. Or if she did. Grace tells us (through him) her story and we also get Simon’s own story woven into events.

In The Corset, a female aristocrat (Dorothea) who has an interest in phrenology meets with Ruth, our possible murderess, to dig into her past (and feel her skull) in an attempt to understand why she killed her employer. Ruth tells us (through Dorothea) her story and we also get Dorothea’s own story woven into events.

Hmm. Similar vibe. But I clearly like this approach so I guess I wouldn’t say that I’m too bothered.

This approach does rely on both characters having meaningful interaction and also relies on both stories being interesting. For me, this doesn’t necessarily fully work here. Ruth and Dorothea’s interactions are surface level until the end and Dorothea’s interest in Ruth is purely from a non-emotional, scientific viewpoint.

Also for me, Ruth’s story is far more interesting than Dorothea’s. Ruth’s kept me engaged all the way through while Dorothea’s only really became interesting towards the end when suddenly hidden truth’s from her own life come into play.

The other issue I had with Dorothea’s story were the loose characters. There were a few that felt superfluous to requirements and whose ending was never resolved. For example Dorothea was in love with David, a policeman. We know nothing about David and meet him occasionally and so never really feel what Dorothea claims to feel.

David seemed to serve less as a character and more of a plot device to show that Dorothea didn’t want to marry someone of her father’s choosing. The reason given was that she was already in love. I felt it would have been more valid to state that she, a woman of scientific ambition who craved independence, didn’t want to marry simply because she didn’t want to.

Despite my grumbles, Dorothea and Ruth had incredibly distinctive voices which can be hard for writers to achieve in multiple, first person POV but I felt that it was done successfully and when Dorothea’s story picked up, it picked up.

The writing style is just as good as it was for The Silent Companion’s and it’s clear that the author has talent. I really did find this an interesting read and was invested in the characters (especially Ruth) and wanted to know how this would end.

While I feel like the story itself ends on a whimper rather than a bang, this could also be because I felt I could read another couple of chapters of the story quite happily.

I know I have my gripes but I enjoyed it and (against popular opinion) enjoyed it more than the author’s debut. Again, I’m worried its because I really like stories about murderesses. Is this a problem? Do I have a problem?

Please tell me if this is a problem. Someone needs to check my skull.

Laura Purcell is going to become an auto-buy author of mine. I can just tell.

I really enjoyed this book ,a Gothic Thriller set in Victorian London .The story is told through Dorothea and Ruth ,Dorothea is a wealthy young woman who likes to visit women's prisons .Ruth, a seamstress is one of those prisoners with a very strange tale to tell ,she claims she is able to kill people with just sewing hatred and bad thoughts into the garment .The story is dark and gruesome ,the social divide between classes was very wide ,if you were poor life was extremely hard for you .There are plenty of twists and turns in this very atmospheric tale which I found very sad in parts I didn't expect the ending .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review .

I do love a good slice of Victorian Gothic, and Laura Purcell’s The Corset is a prime example of the genre. Not for nothing is her Twitter handle @spookypurcell. She beautifully conjures up a Dickensian setting in which the characters take on a sometimes very chilling life of their own.

The Corset is a particularly horrifying tale, wrapped up in the gentility of the rich and then dressed in the garments of respectability, whilst underneath all is rotten and despicable.

Our main protagonists are two women at different ends of the social spectrum. Dorothea Truelove is young and the daughter of a wealthy man. Ruth Butterham (I love these names) is 16, poor and has been exploited all her life. Both women lack freedom of choice in their lives. Dorothea is dependent upon her father for her living and Ruth is in Oakgate Prison for the murder of her erstwhile mistress.

Dorothea is slightly unconventional and is dedicated to good works, such as prison visiting. She also has a somewhat obsessive scientific interest in phrenology and she uses her prison visits to help test out some of her studies. It is while visiting Ruth that she hears first-hand the terrible treatment that Ruth has endured and the darkness that has almost engulfed her completely.

For Ruth is nursing a secret, one that could cost her life and Dorothea cannot help but be drawn to her dark and dreadful story.

I could not help being sucked into this intricately woven story. Beautifully written, full of quite terrifying images, immaculately plotted, this is a tale of immense cruelty and casual indifference to human life. Some of this story is so gruesome that the images that have been created in my head will take a long time to dissipate.

Purcell is an extraordinary storyteller whose writing sucks you into her world and doesn’t let go. The Corset is immersive, propulsive and utterly gripping. Tense, draining and downright freaking scary in places, it is a terrific read.

Verdict: Dark, twisted, authentic and surprising.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Dorothea is a young noble lady who spends most of her days studying phrenology (a study focused on measuring the human skull, that believes that certain areas of the skull have specific functions). She dreams of being able to prove that the shape of someone's skull can determine whether a person is good or evil. To assist in those studies, she often visits women prisoners who will share their stories with her and agree to have their head measured. That's where she will meet Ruth Butterham, a young girl of 16 who was imprisoned for murdering her mistress. Ruth insists that she can curse people through sewing and that she had already killed people accidentally before setting on murdering her mistress. By spending time with Ruth, Dorothea will have to figure out whether Ruth truly has supernatural powers or whether she's making it all up.
The first thing that struck me about this book was the similarities to Atwood's Alias Grace. In Alias Grace, a doctor visits Grace, a young lady awaiting trial for the murder of her master, and the story is told by Grace so as the book goes on both the doctor and the reader are taken through her memories of the events. The Corset is very similar on this point, as Ruth tells the story from her own point of view and we are taken through her memories too. Both books comprise very dark secrets being revealed. I was a bit put off at first by how similar the book was to Atwood's (especially since Atwood is one of my all time favourite authors and there is no rivalling her) but then I let myself be transported by the story and I dare say it took me places I didn't see coming.
I did not anticipate how dark and gruesome the story would get and I have to say that it sent chills down my spine and left me gasping a couple of times. If it wasn't for this dark turn of events I probably would have gotten bored quite early on, so I believe this was what kept me entertained.
On the whole I would say that it was an enjoyable read. I didn't feel particularly strongly about it but it was nicely written and entertaining.
I had heard good things about Laura Purcell after her bestseller The Silent Companions came out (which I own but am yet to read) and I also heard people say that The Corset wasn't quite as good. I try not to let that put me off reading The Corset, as everyone's tastes are different, but it does make me look forward to reading The Silent Companions.
The Corset is a perfect read for anyone who likes historical fiction, murder mysteries and horrors. I don't think it classifies as a horror book but it definitely has some gruesome bits to it!

A well-to-do Victorian lady, Dorothea, begins visiting a new women's prison as part of her charitable work. One of the prison inmates, Ruth, is a 16 year old girl who is awaiting trial for murder. Ruth has already admitted to the killing, and tells Dorothea that this was just the latest in a long line of murders and maimings that she, Ruth, is guilty of. For each of her crimes Ruth says she used the same weapons, a needle and thread and her hatred or other strong emotion for each victim. During her visits with Ruth, hearing a bit more of her story each time, Dorothea tries to work out whether the girl is mad, a murderer or actually capable of some kind of supernatural stitchery?

This is a very original, sometimes gruesome story of Victorian brutality and revenge. The story is heartbreaking at times, especially so when you realise that part of of it is actually based on true events (see the Acknowledgements at the end of the book). In spite of this it is an excellent read.

I loved The Corset, a spooky gothic psychological thriller with two brilliant female main characters. Beautifully written and the physical copies are also beautifully produced, I can't wait to sell as much of this as possible!

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, after reading and loving Silent Companions. Unfortunately it fell short of her previous one.
I really think Purcell is a talented writer with her atmospheric historical settings, creative plots, ability to raise tension. However, she couldn't escape certain pitfalls in this book that some writers often do.
The Corset was also a Gothic story like Silent Companions with 2 protagonists Ruth and Dotty with intercepting lives. I don't want to give spoilers, so I will be very brief with my review :)
I found the idea in this book very original, even more so than the first book. I loved Dotty and Ruth as characters. However, there were many problems in the plot. In addition, there were too many characters.
Purcell created a very good suspense at the beginning, but as we moved on in the story, more and more characters were added, the story line became unstructured, sloppy at times. She couldn't tie all ends together as there were too many fronts open.
I couldn't understand the point of some characters' existence. She spent so much time fiddling around some unimportant characters and events that we lost sight of the main story.
Yes, people say the end was a surprise, and it was. But, I think because of the side stories and characters, the reader was not allowed a chance to add two and two. I don't appreciate this kind of surprises personally. I'd like to have all the elements in front of me, and still the writer should be able to surprise me.
Additional comment, there was quite detailed gore in this book, which I'm surprised about. I thought they were totally unnecessary and didn't add much to the story. Plus, it made my stomach cringe.
In summary, I still enjoyed Purcell's writing, especially parts of the book when there was suspense building. But, there were too many loose ends, too many unreasonable actions from characters, and too many side stories and characters to deal with.
For those reasons, I gave this book 3 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Raven books for a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Raven Books at Bloomsbury for an ARC via NetGalley of this second Gothic thriller by Laura Purcell.

While I had enjoyed her ‘The Silent Companions’, I did find it had some anachronisms that bothered me. Not so with ‘The Corset’ as even if its premise was less creepy I remained fully engaged with the narrative and historical period throughout and found it hard to put down.

I felt she brought the period to life in a very Dickensian way including the quirky character names such as Miss Truelove and Sir Thomas Biggleswade. The story moved smoothly between Dorothea as a wealthy young woman, who was still unable to love as she wishes, and the distressing life story shared with her by Ruth Butterham as she awaits trial and likely execution.

Dorothea’s interest in phrenology and her ongoing commentary about the shapes of people’s heads was a delightful eccentricity that added some levity to a very bleak tale. Also, her earnest desire to reform society was appealing. I dare say born a little later and she would be in the front lines of the Suffrage movement. She was not a complete paragon of virtue as at times she acted like an entitled brat though these bouts of jealousy made her more real.

There were some quite graphic and visceral moments and the appalling conditions in which the seamstresses laboured were hard to read but made a very strong point that has relevance even today. The mystery was developed well with plenty of satisfying twists and turns.

Certainly a novel I am already recommending to friends. In addition, the cover art and details are stunning.

Ohhhhh......I loved this book...so so much!!!

I seem to have a bit of a thing at the moment for Victorian stories I've noticed. I adored this book.

We meet Dorothea, a young lady, with a wealthy father who has prospects of her marrying into a good family (whilst she plans on marrying a policeman) with an interest in phrenology, and undertakes charitable work at a prison.

We also meet Ruth - a young woman who has been accused of murdering her mistress.

The two are introduced at Oakgate Prison, as the warden believes that Dorothea will be very interested in Ruth's scull - her being the only child murderer they have.

Ruth tells Dorothea her story as they gain each others trust. Is Ruth mad? or is it true?

and what really did happen to Dorothea's mother.....?

This is a fantastic book..I know what i'm buying the mother in law for Christmas this year....and probably both sister in law's as well.

My thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for this advance copy.

Another Gothic neo-Victorian read from Purcell but this one feels far less creepy and original than The Secret Companions. The women-in-prison trope is starting to feel overdone and this isn't a patch on Sarah Water's Affinity. Although this is well-researched, I found it overpacked with issues: phrenology, abuse, revenge, murder, evil sewing or something more human... All the same, it's a page-turner but I'd like to see Purcell come up with something more original in her next book.

What a good book. I sincerely enjoyed it. It was so very creepy. Ruth and Dorathea become known to one another in prison. Dorothea wants to measure Ruth's head - for phrenology - and in the process hears Ruth's story. And what a story. Bubbling in the background is Dorothea's own life, a rich life, with her father, who wants her to marry, her totally unsuitable fiance - of which her father knows nothing, her father's future wife and her mother's past. It all comes together in a wonderful, heartbreaking explosion.

I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who enjoys creepy, murder mysteries.

***This review contains spoilers***

I am one of the first people who run around picking up Silent Companions and shouting out the world: hey people, read this book, it's amazing! I am not going to lie, picked up the book being amazed by the Victorian Gothic looking cover, but I was amazed by Purcell's story telling and the eeriness of the book.

The Corset was a long awaited book for me, after devouring companions, and I feel extremely lucky to be given the opportunity to read this earlier.

I wish I could say I liked this book as much as SC but sadly this isn't the case. In general, there is no doubt that Purcell is a skillful story teller and she's done an extensive research to take us back to the times the book is in. However there are problems in The Corset that spoiled the book for me.

My main problem in the book is that there were too many characters, which Purcell invested time to develop and left them like unfinished dresses lying around. Sir Thomas, David, Sir Thomas's sister, Dotty's to-be stepmother Mrs Pearse, even the twins. Ruth's plot and Dotty's plot, were not connected and was the most final touch to the story necessary? What happened to Thomas, and David? Why were they even in the story? Was Thomas only the way to hint about Dotty's dad and what he's possibly could have done?

Second flaw for me was the lenght and repetitious events. We start with Ruth's unfortunate backstory, which was to me far too stretched, then pulled into a world of cruelty in Metyard's. There was again no joy for me reading what Ruth have been through Mrs Metyard's house . A plate breaks, there is torture, then a candle falls, there is more torture, I think at one point there was also a stain or slime in the clothings, so there was more torture/cruelty. I can't understand why those repetitions were necessary and looking back I can't see what it adds to the story line. The big reveal was a total hideout, except the mention of one of the villain's 'expressionless-ness' and a coming and going cocoa a few times there was no way to see it coming. But then If I am not falling into a misunderstanding, I am quite baffled by the way the villains plotted their revenge. Surely, getting rid of the older Mrs Metyard's were more important for them, so why did they planned the younger one but the fate of older one was more coincidental? Also why couldn't Dorothy do anything after realising what was happening to Ruth? She is surely a women from a respectable status in the society as hinted many times in the book. So for me, these look like plot holes.

Long story short, this was still a good book but for me it was a bit crowded, and the real villains weren't properly portrayed. I hope this review doesn't sound too harsh, I think I am not feeling satisfied, maybe because I had really high expectations. I really liked the vague, elegant ending in Companions and this one felt like just looking after to surprise/shock the reader, but without really building the premise up to the surprise.

Thanks to NetGalley and Raven books for a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyably chilling historical novel with lots of twists and turns. Really held my attention and kept me guessing. I think fans of Sarah waters would love this!