Dark and delicious, this gothic thriller will satisfy and enthral with strong characters and attention to period details. Dorothea Truelove is a modern women living in a restrictive society. She uses her considerable intelligence and talents to pursue the study of phrenology and visits the local prison to gain insight into the head shapes of the criminal fraternity. There she encounters Ruth Butterham who is convinced she has killed through the power of her sewing. The two women provide the narrative, filling out their characters and situations until a violent twisted ending. Great stuff.

The Corset is another beautifully written Gothic thriller by Laura Purcell. I have read her first novel The Silent companions, so I was thrilled to receive a copy of this.
The story is set in Victorian England about two women. Dorothea Truelove, a wealthy woman who is on the committee of New Oakgate Prison. Who spends her time visiting the inmates in prison and then there is Ruth Butterham, 16-year-old seamstress who has an exceptional talent. She is on trial for murder. The two women are poles apart from each other. But when Ruth tells the horrific story of the murder of her employer, and Mim it somehow effects Dorothea by impacting on her own life. Dorothea has her own problems with her own father who is hounding her to get married, even finding her a suitor.
The story alternates between both characters throughout the book but, the story expertly fits together somehow. There is a lot of twists and turns and sometimes this story was very bleak and gruesome at times but, this made it more realistic. I love historical novels and this does not disappoint. I also love the twist at the end I didn’t see that coming.
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a copy of this book.

Psychological thrillers are not my usual things these days, and trading back and forth of voices can be tedious, but I could see that this is a better formula of what can really feel successful in these.. set in 19th century ..our main do-gooder/ narrator, Dorothea is less stereotyped than I thought and there's a crime lurking early in her life she did not know .. an anxious father and the event of a new stepmother indicate clues ..the prisoner she hopes to support is a weird, damaged young girl who is driven by other voices to enact her fatal fate. Very adept and chilling, carefully worked through and immensely ambitious... but still not my first love.

Ruth is in prison for murder. But it is the way in which she causes people's deaths that is chilling: the teenage seamstress says she does it all with a needle and some thread. Ruth's dark thoughts and anger, she claims, are sewn into the clothes she makes. And people who wear her clothes soon meet their untimely end.

Is Ruth mad? Can any hint of truth be hidden behind her words?

Dorothea Truelove is wealthy and unmarried. In a society that already regards her as a spinster at the age of twenty-five, this intelligent young woman spends her time studying phrenology; which is what leads her to Oakgate prison. And that is where she meets Ruth. Intrigued by her allegations, Dotty will spend hours listening to Ruth's heart-breaking, bitter story, while at the same time she will struggle to distinguish the truth from a disturbed person's stories. What will she be able to find?

The Corset is a thrilling story that keeps the reader on their toes. Plot twists are everywhere, keeping you guessing throughout the whole book: is Ruth sane? Is there any truth in her words? Highly controversial and thrilling, the end is completely unexpected, making this all the more worth reading. With intricately constructed characters and impeccable story building, the author made it extremely easy for the reader to empathize with Ruth, even though she is convicted of cold-blooded murder.

The Corset is quite dark, but it is a beautiful story nonetheless, one that you find easy to love. You will get engrossed in it in no time - and the time you spend reading this will certainly be worthwhile!

Ruth is a poor young seamstress in prison accused of murdering her mistress.
Dorothea is wealthy, beautiful and has a fascination for phrenology - the study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities.
Dorothea's charitable work leads her to Oakgate prison where she meets Ruth, who claims she has killed with supernatural powers in her stitching.
Is Ruth lying to Dorothea or is there something much more sinister going on?
This is a dark gothic tale with an unexpected twist that I did not see coming. Fabulous.

One of my favourite genres has to be dark historical fiction and this one fits the bill a little too perfectly! We follow two women of seemingly polar opposites but are both caged, in very different ways. Ruth, a disturbed teenage girl has found herself in prison receiving visits from the elegant, well meaning Dorothea who has an interest in phrenology. What follows is an exploration into Ruth's past, the hardships and horrendous treatment she has experienced as well as Dorothea's struggles.

I read her previous book The Silent Companions which I really liked and I liked this one also but I think out of the two, the Silent Companions was definitely more eerie and creepy. However, that's not to say that The Corset isn't, in fact it's very gruesome at times (especially the birth section, shudders), extremely bleak and lacks pretty much all hope. I like the writing style, the time period, setting and atmosphere but it is just incredibly bleak and depressing! I would still definitely check out Laura Purcell's books in the future as she can write a page turner!

Wow where do I start. I had previously read Laura Purcell's work in the silent companions and fell in love with the Gothic style of her writing. I was eager to read this and I am so excited that the same gothic tone was used in this book. The story follows two main characters Dorothea and Ruth. It moves with ease from past to present the story starting in the present with Ruth in prison and Dorothea a charitable chair on the committee. She visits Ruth in several occasions and the story drifts into Ruth's past, the story being then brought back into the present by Dorothea and her monologue. The book has so many twists and turns. I shed a tear at the treatment of Mim, and also the life of Ruth. The ending of the book so brilliantly written and the final reveal was something I never saw coming. I loved this book and cannot wait for more if Laura's work in the future.

This book was a departure from my normal reads but I found it impossible to put down. The stories of 2 women whose lives, on the face of things, are radically different entwine as one is awaiting execution. Set in the mid 1800s, this story of Ruth the seamstress and her prison visitor, Dorothea, is told from both women's perspectives.
It is a dark tale, written in a style that reminded me of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's 'The Shadow of the Wind'. Ruth story is based on a real-life event, researched by the author and this is evident in the finer details, which make this story both realistic and (paradoxically) supernatural. The book is a compulsive read, driving the reader to the end in order to discover whether Ruth's version of events could possibly be true. There is a twist towards the end which I did not see coming, although the foundations had been carefully laid within the plot. The final twist is a little more predictable, though nonetheless satisfying in its conclusion.

I enjoyed Laura Purcell's previous novel, The Silent Companions, and snapped up the chance to read, The Corset, her latest novel.. I love Victorian Gothic novels and i was certainly not disappointed with this one.
The story begins in Victorian England and follows the misfortune and tragic life of Ruth Butterham, who is awaiting her trail at New Oakgate prison, charged with murder. Although only sixteen years old Ruth is an exceptional seamstress, who believes that she has the ability, to stitch her angry emotions into her needlework, with tragic repercussions for the finished garments, new owners.
Dorothea Truelove, a wealthy heiress, who sits on the women's prison board, and has an interest in pyrenology, takes an interest in Ruth, and listens to her account of the circumstances that led to her arrest.
The story interweaves between the two characters with lots of twists and turns, which had me gripped, as i really cared about the two women and that they would both find happiness and i felt that the author held the story together with a satisfying ending.
Readers who enjoy Victorian Gothic and psychological dramas with an element of supernatural would love this novel
.I just reviewed The Corset by Laura Purcell. #TheCorset #NetGalley
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I was attracted to this book by the Victorian setting, although the gothic and vaguely supernatural elements are outside of my usual comfort zone. However, I was rewarded for taking a chance on this - it is a creepy, disturbing and compelling story.

The story is told from two perspectives. Firstly, there is rich but unconventional Dorothea Truelove. She deliberately casts off society's expectations for her, choosing to spend her time engaged with the running of Oakgate Prison and visiting its inmates. It is here that she meets Ruth Butterham, a poor seamstress who is on trial for murdering her employer. As Dorothea listens to Ruth's story, she gets caught up in a tragic story that impacts on her own life.

The two narratives fit together so cleverly that I found it hard to put this novel down - I just wanted to see how it all fitted together and what would happen to the women in the end. I can't pretend that it's a cheerful story - the historical research has been well done by Purcell and it's horrific to think about the kind of lives some of these young women must have endured. However, Purcell keeps the narrative moving quickly, presents us with a range of engaging characters (plus some horrible ones!) and adds in some really creepy elements.

I'd recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, even if you are unsure about the slightly supernatural slant - it's cleverly written and never feels unbelievable (which was my concern before I started reading). It's beautifully written, tense and shocking in places, but will certainly keep you reading long into the night.

I absolutely loved this book from the very first page. It follows the dual story line of wealthy Dorothea who could want for absolutely nothing and Ruth who would want for even the smallest act of kindness or compassion. Ruth's mother was born into a life with the trappings of wealth but turned her back on them for the man she loved and subsequent ill health. Ruth is sold into an apprenticeship with a family company of dressmakers but things go from bad to worse as people begin to die. Ruth is eventually charged with murder and this is where the story of Ruth and Dorothea cross paths. Dorothea believes the shape of peoples heads determine their actions and as the plot builds both girls question their beliefs in the world. This is an amazing book and I thoroughly enjoyed it from the beginning to the very last page. I would highly recommend reading this book and learning about Victorian London.

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I've just finished The Corset by Laura Purcell and oh my goodness what an insight in to what must have been an appalling time to live if you were without wealth of any standard. Poor Ruth is from a background where money is tight and ends up working for the horrible Mrs Metyard. Things happen, which you'll need to read about and she ends up in prison. Dorothea on the other hand is from a very privileged background and is a bit of a goody two shoes. She thinks she can help people through her studies of the skull.........mmmmm!!!

It was a good read with plenty plot twists. Realy worth a read.

Ruth Butterham knows what betrayal is. Dorothea Truelove is about to find out. Fate brings together Ruth: poor, charged with murder and convinced of her own otherwordly powers- and Dorothea: wealthy, well meaning but misguided. In ‘The Corset,’ the supernatural collides with social injustice.

The plotting is first rate, the dual narrative is executed brilliantly and increasing feelings of claustrophobia and suspense are ratcheted up to a delightfully chilling resolution.

‘The Corset’ cements Laura Purcell as a leading proponent of contemporary Gothic fiction. Enjoying this so much prompted me to purchase her gripping debut (‘The Silent Companions’) and it’s safe to say that this hugely talented writer is going from strength to strength.

Having enjoyed Laura Purcell’s novel The Silent Companions – a creepily Gothic tale of ghostly presences and paranoia in a remote country house – I was attracted to her follow-up. Once again set in the Victorian period, this has a similar atmosphere to her debut: again Purcell teases us with possible supernatural events, but I felt The Corset didn’t have quite the same eerie originality as The Silent Companions. It focuses on the relationship between two young women: Dorothea Truelove, a wealthy heiress of twenty-five who spends her time doing good works rather than snaring a husband; and Ruth Butterham, a teenage murderess awaiting trial in the prison which is one of Dorothea’s pet projects. Two very different worlds collide as Ruth confesses her history to Dorothea: not just the women’s drastically different upbringings, but also the worlds of science and superstition, logic and fantasy, reason and the unexplained.


Ruth has been bitter since childhood. Her mother was once wealthy, but married for love and has now had ample chance to repent at leisure, while her feckless father has a career of diminishing returns as a portrait painter. Ambitious for Ruth’s future, her mother sends her to a good school, but this only places Ruth among snobbish young girls who make fun of her poverty and torment her – on one memorable occasion, kicking her down in the street with such violence that they break her corset. Hatred and shame worm their way deep into Ruth’s soul. The only thing she’s good at is sewing, for which she’s inherited a rare talent from her mother. When her mother gives her the chance to leave school and work alongside her, Ruth leaps at the chance; but she soon comes to believe that a strange power is seeping from her fingers into her needlework. Whatever she feels or thinks when she stitches something seems to be transferred to the item of clothing and, in due course, to the person who wears it. This gives Ruth terrible power – but power in the hands of one untrained and immature can be an awful thing.

In due course Ruth finds herself working as a seamstress for the fashionable dressmaker Mrs Meteyard and her daughter Kate. This should have been a step up the ladder, but the reality of an apprenticeship is shocking. Abused both physically and emotionally, Ruth struggles to find a place among the other girls working in the shop. Fear, suspicion and distrust of one another creates a punishing environment and, when Ruth loses her only friend, she’s pushed to new and extreme measures. Inspired by the memory of a corset she made for herself as a girl, Ruth conceives a plan to get her revenge upon the world.

In comparison, Dorothea comes across as fairly colourless. She isn’t some simpering miss, because we’re shown that she has a deep interest in phrenology (judging character by the shape of the skull) and she has a powerful social conscience. But, try as she might, it doesn’t look as if she’ll be able to shape her own future. Although she has her heart set on marrying a young policeman, inspired by the justice and nobility of his work, Dorothea must wage a constant battle again her father’s efforts to marry her off to someone with money – or at least a title. Her visits to the poor and criminal give her a bit of vicarious excitement in her life – and her interest in Ruth has a sensationalist tinge that rather undermines her superior intentions. As she listens to more and more of Ruth’s story, she begins to question some elements of her own life.

In principle, it’s a fine story. The intertwining voices of the two protagonists are both well created and, crucially, distinctive. But my problem is that I feel I’ve heard it all before. The idea of having a well-meaning young person visiting a criminal woman in prison, and being caught up in some mysterious story of death and the uncanny, is far from unfamiliar. Obviously Affinity comes to mind, although there’s nothing erotic about the relationship between Dorothea and Ruth; I also felt that there were parallels with Anna Mazzola’s The Unseeing. And I suppose I didn’t feel that anything in The Corset really lifted it above these other examples of the ‘Victorian women’s prison visit’ genre. Affinity retains its place at the head of the pack. I thought The Silent Companions was much more original in its subtle layering of tension and its choice of focus.

Purcell is a gifted writer and has an acute sensitivity towards the speech patterns and the ‘feel’ of Victorian life, with its privileged and impoverished living cheek-by-jowl. She was especially good at conjuring up the miserable hard work of the seamstress’s trade and she’s obviously done a lot of research into the pseudo-science of phrenology that so fascinates Dorothea (although she’s a tad prone to melodrama in the matter of Captain Meteyard). It’s just that this particular period of historical fiction is becoming rather crowded now, and I’ll be interested to see how Purcell strikes out in her next book to distinguish herself from the other authors writing about Victorian England.

For the review, see:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/08/09/the-corset-laura-purcell/

Loved the book, written with such imagination and such a feel for the times. To say that it is an enjoyable read is to do it something of a disservice, it's so much more than that. From the first word to the last, I was hanging on the every word wondering what would come next - for me, the very definition of an immensely enjoyable, well written and well thought-out book.

A perfect read for the Summer Sun and a much spookier read if you wait until the dark of Winter to read it. Enjoy it now, I most certainly did.

Purcell has already proven herself victorious when it comes down to the gothic genre with her debut novel, The Silent Companions. Her follow-up, a creepy Victorian thriller, is just as enthralling.

As with her debut, Purcell employs interweaving narratives to tell her chilling story. The Corset depicts the juxtaposing lives of two young women who sit at opposite ends of the social spectrum. Dorothea Truelove is a well-off, beautiful lady, who refutes all her father’s attempts at having her married and is in love with a man lower than her social station. She’s a charitable lady and upon visiting prisoners of Oakgate prison, her fascination with phrenology and with observing the characteristics displayed by criminals only elevates when she meets teenage seamstress Ruth Butterham.

Ruth is poor, has zero prospects and is awaiting trial for the murder of her employer. From just the age of 12, Ruth has a notable talent for sewing. However, each person she has ever stitched for dies in a horrific manner. It’s inevitable for her to wonder that maybe, in some inexplicable way, it is her fault. She spends her final days in prison determined that she has the supernatural power to bring death by sewing hatred and ill will into the garments she works on. Purcell triumphs in making the reader question, has Ruth Butterham gone mad or is there really some supernatural evil at play? Is she really a victim in all of this?

After leaving home, Ruth embarks on a life of drudgery as she toils for the malevolent Metyards, resides with merciless twins, befriends a black girl called Mim, meets the charming Billy and comes upon the contemptible Captain. The unsettling scenes that occur from the Metyard house are hard to forget.

As in the first book, The Corset’s writing is vibrant and drips with Gothic imagery. As Dorothea learns more about Ruth’s dreadful past, we join her in wanting to know whether Ruth is telling the truth or is merely delusional. Purcell also successfully illustrates the subordinate position of women in the Victorian period when telling this heart-breaking, gripping tale. As the story unravels, as does a twisted revenge plot, interlacing between both narratives leading us to a startling climax. I couldn’t put this book down; Laura Purcell is definitely an instant buy for me from now on! An enchantingly chilling read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thankyou to Bloomsbury for the opportunity!
After reading and absolutely loving The Silent Companions earlier this year I was very excited to get the chance for an early read of Laura Purcell’s latest work - The Corset.
This novel follows Dorothea Truelove as she meets an accused murderer Ruth Butterham at Oakgate Prison, where Dorothea is working with prisoners whilst pursuing her own interest in phrenology. Dorothea become fascinated with Ruth and her harrowing story and finds herself questioning the girls guilt.
I thought The Silent Companions was great... this is even better. It’s a fantastic atmospheric read, I was drawn into Ruth’s world and story and found myself completely incapable of putting the book down. There were some incredibly intense scenes, and I feel like I should warn readers about a fairly graphic birth scene! Having said that though I thought this novel was incredibly well written and plotted, I wasn’t bored while reading at all - I just found myself quickly turning pages trying to unravel the mystery behind how this poor girl ended up in the situation she found herself.
I absolutely recommend this book, just make sure you have a clear schedule for a day or two 😉 Between this and her previous work, Laura Purcell is a new auto buy author for me, and I intend on purchasing myself a finished copy of this novel upon release!

An atmospheric, chiller thriller of epic Gothic proportions!

The story centres around two ladies. One genteel lady Dorothea Truelove who spends her inheritance and time visiting prison's to talk to women criminals. Dorothea has an interest in skulls (phrenology) and wonders if the shape of a person's head can make someone a criminal by or if they are a victim of circumstance.

On one prison visit Dorothea meets 16 year old Ruth Butterham who has been accused of murdering her mistress and that is where this delicious story unfurls one chilling thread at a time.

The story immerses you in a dark world where Ruth fights for survival in a workhouse as a seamstress pouring her love and energy into her creations, when she realises it isn't just her good emotions that have gone into her work, but her true, deepest, darkest feelings. People start dying and falling ill under mysterious circumstances and Ruth begins to think that perhaps it all started with a needle and thread....

A dark, chilling mystery, woven with friendships in adversity, the power and dignity to survive no matter what the odds. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - especially if you loved Laura's first novel Silent Companions.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/39098246-the-corset

Having previously enjoyed The Silent Companions I was very happy to receive an e-arc of The Corset for review. Set in Victorian times the Corset tells the stories of Dorothea and Ruth.

Dorothea is the 25 year old daughter of an upper middle class gentleman whose wife died some years previous. Dorothea's father is anxious to marry her off, however, Dorothea is a feisty and independent young woman with a mind of her own, and pushes against the social confines of polite Victorian society. Before her death, Dorothea's mother converted to Catholicism and instilled in Dorothea a penchant for charitable good deeds. Dorothea, with a keen interest in phrenology and how the shape of people's skulls are in direct correlation to their personalities and actions, goes to the local women's prison for further research. There she encounters Ruth.

Ruth is a sixteen year old girl incarcerated for the murder of her mistress. Ruth's story is heartbreaking. The daughter of a seamstress and an alcoholic father, she learns to sew from her mother. Tragedy ensues and an angry and grief-stricken Ruth believes that she conveys all her feelings into her stitches which are then encountered by the ultimate wearer of the garment. She is apprenticed to the Metyards, a mother and daughter. Ruth is worked night and day and herself and the other girls are subjected to appalling acts of cruelty at the hands of the Metyards and the Captain, until one day they go too far...

As she tells Dorothea her life story from her cell, Ruth, feisty and spirited, recalls all that happened up to her incarceration. She firmly believes she can stitch her feelings, including hatred and bitterness, sadness and grief, into the commissioned garments and that, as a result, she is responsible for many deaths. Is it a supernatural possibility or does Ruth teeter on the edge of madness?
I thought this book was fantastic and even better than The Silent Companions. The different voices of Dorothea and Ruth, both of who are extremely likeable characters, are very different yet each voice resonates in their own story. The juxtaposition of life in the upper classes versus life at the very bottom is so well described so as to make you imagine you are actually there. A fantastic Dickensian style tale about poverty, child labour, abuse of power, betrayal, murder and revenge, all with a supernatural twist. A riveting unputdownable read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and Ms Purcell for the opportunity.

Unputdownable- when I woke up at 1am this morning I started reading from 30% of the way through the book and carried on till the end...at 04:30!
I loved Laura Purcell's previous novel, The Silent Companions, and The Corset shares many of the same hallmarks: an unreliable first-person narrator, a crime that may have been carried out by mundane or supernatural means. The Corset is a gaslit melodrama, stocked with dissolute artists, kindly orphans-made-good, toiling seamstresses, snipng society gossips, and overbearing aristocrats. Nevertheless Purcell tackles the grimy reality of life in Victorian England head-on. from socio-economics (inescapable debt, exploitative apprentice 'contracts' and the gruellingly low wages of 'women's work') to feminism (read: the utter lack of) to the vast array of common household poisons! I believe readers will benefit from going in with only a little prior knowledge of the plot, but if my readers enjoyed Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace (pseudo-science, prison setting, unreliable narration) and Sarah Waters' Fingersmith (employers with strange and dangerous habits....) then I would not hesitate to recommend The Corset.