This is the fourth book from Laura Purcell and it’s everything I wanted it to be. By that I mean it’s a Gothic delight with all Laura’s signature elements: a clever story that slowly unravels itself, a lead character you root for and a satisfying hit of the supernatural.

Set in Victorian Bath, the first thing that struck me was the intriguing and tantalising way the story unravels itself. We’re given nuggets of info about the past, slowly, slowly.

Agnes Darken is our lead character and has a rather fascinating job – she is a silhouette artist. Expertly cutting people’s profiles into card – a skill that was called on less and less due to the advent of photography. Agnes is, therefore, finding things financially a struggle. She is unmarried and has to look after her mother and nephew too.

She also has an intriguing relationship with Dr. Simon Carfax – the details of which pull the story together and give you lightbulb moments as they are revealed.

We follow Agnes as she starts to notice a disturbing pattern among the people she cuts portraits for… 'She is still faced with the question: why are her sitters dying?'

Is there a murderer on the loose in Bath? That is the question Agnes must find the answer to. And she decides to do so in an unorthodox method – through the help of Pearl, The White Sylph. She is an 11-year old spirit medium who speaks to the dead. Under the tutelage of her older half-sister, they make a living from this unique way of working.

Agnes and Pearl’s lives intertwine and they attempt to help each other while trying to track down just who exactly has been killing Agnes’ sitters…

I loved the blend of supernatural ideas with the heady atmosphere of Victorian Bath. Plus, the plot felt restrained and tense, which added to the Gothic tone.

While reading this, it brought Things in Jars by Jess Kidd to mind, which I mean as the highest compliment, Things in Jars being a real favourite of mine. While I’m recommending books – if The Shape of Darkness sounds up your street, then check out Laura Purcell’s previous three novels too as they are equally as fiendish and addictive.

The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell
Having read Laura Purcell’s previous three novels I was looking forward to this new book and it delivered everything I expected. It is the very best Victorian gothic; set in Bath in 1854 and drawing upon the Victorian obsession with spiritualism and supernatural events.
Bath itself, which at this time had lost some of its wealthier visitors, provides a wonderful backdrop for the events of the book and is very evocatively drawn. There are dark, creepy streets where malign spirits seem to lurk.
Agnes Darken, a spinster lives with her mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric. She makes her living by cutting people’s likenesses in silhouette form. A skill which is becoming increasingly out of fashion as photography becomes more widespread. She is struggling to make ends meet and then her job seems threatened by terrible events which befall those who have sat for a likeness.
She becomes convinced that someone is out to destroy her business and persuades herself that Pearl, a young girl who is a spirit medium, can help her to discover the identity of the murderer. The book gives a detailed insight into the terrible effects of working in the matchstick industry with white phosphorus and one of the characters is dying slowly from “phossy jaw” or phosphorus necrosis of the jaw.
The story has elements of the supernatural, it is unnerving, spine tingling and unsettling. Throughout the novel there are very powerful images which create the malevolent atmosphere which pervades the book. You can almost feel a fog enveloping you as you read.
An interesting and engaging read which I would recommend to those who like dark, ghostly historical novels. I would like to thank the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I have loved every book published by Laura Purcell and this one was no exception.

Purcell has such a talent for creating believable and atmospheric historical settings which she uses to brilliant effect when telling dark, haunting and mysterious stories.

The Shape of Darkness follows a woman named Agnes, a silhouette artist in Victorian Bath, who discovers that her clients are being murdered shortly after sitting for her. To unravel the mystery she enlists the help of a young girl named Pearl who is a child medium and can pass on messages from the dead.

This book has many plot twists and turns, some of which I didn't see coming at all. There are some brilliantly vivid and gripping scenes, particularly the séances with Pearl.

My only real criticism of the book is that the pacing was a bit off. There was quite a big lull in the middle of the book where not much happened and then the ending felt quite rushed so the final twist lacked impact.

Overall though I always enjoy Purcell's storytelling and will continue to read anything that she publishes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Raven Books for the ARC.

I loved this book! I felt transported to Bath in the Victorian era by the language used. It was spooky gothic spiritualism that kept me up late reading because I just had to find out what happened next!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. #TheShapeOfDarkness #LauraPurcell

Agnes is a silhouette artist living in the town of Bath with her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew when the police contact her about her latest client.  Following his appointment he is found dead. Of course Agnes is shocked to learn the news but when it happens to the next client, she becomes afraid.

Laura Purcell for me is someone l always keep my eyes peeled for, in the hope that I'll discover another book which makes me question whether historical fiction is for me but this one just didn't hit home.  I didn't love it but didn't hate it.  There are a lot more questions than answers at the end of the book for me but I'm wondering if this is a book I should return to at a later date to re-read. I do love a gothic ghost story but I feel it more when I'm connected to the character and Agnes just didn't click for me.  

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy to review.

I love Laura Purcell. The Silent Companions is one of my favourite books and the book I regularly recommend as one of the scariest ghost stories I’ve ever read.

The Shape of Darkness is the story of Agnes, whose sister is dead and who works making silhouettes in Victorian Bath. It tells the story of the mystery around people dying who have recently been customers of hers.

Alongside Agnes’ story is the story of Pearl, who works as a kind of spiritual medium with her older sister.

This is a great, spooky gothic story which I’ve come to expect from Laura Purcell with lots of twists and turns. I really enjoyed it, as I’ve enjoyed her other books, but it’s not quite as scary as The Silent Companions, but I’m not sure what is!

4 stars

First of all, thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for my ARC, much appreciated.

I am a huge fan of Laura Purcell. Her book Bone China sparked my interest in modern Gothic Horror, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of her other books.

Except for this one.

Every other Laura Purcell book has kept me awake at night, reading until three in the morning, staggering into work obsessed with finding out what happened next. In contrast it took me a week to read The Shape of Darkness because it just wasn't very interesting.

The Shape of Darkness is predictable, boring, and to be honest, lacking in stakes for the most of it. Most of the victims are characters we aren't even introduced to, so we don't even care about them. The main character's sister, whose shadow looms over a lot of the story, is sketched in such broad strokes that it's hard to care about her.

I dislike books where the main character has A SECRET and doesn't even think of it. I feel it's bad writing. We are allowed into the character's thoughts for every other thing they think, but then there's an incident that they can't tell us about for the sake of the plot, and that is a cop out, and it is heavily used here.

And the ending? A mess. Nothing is really explained. It was incredibly unsatisfying.

I will still follow this auther and look forward to her other work but this book was a let down. It is a good idea, poorly executed.

Wonderful! I really do love stories centring around Victorian spiritualism plus this author is very talented. I found the story completely engrossing and the ending left me in awe. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

I was excited to read that Laura Purcell had another book out and was keen to read "The Shape of Darkness". Having just read "Affinity" by Sarah Waters, I found similarities between the two books. Both deal with spiritualism in Victorian times and whether the mediums are fakes or genuine. I was transported into Laura Purcell's world as her language and description brings the story to life. It was interesting to read the two sides of the stories - that of the mesmerists and those of the silhouette artist, and how they are different yet similar and how their stories intermingle.

A must read for a dark winter's night!

I've loved Laura Purcell's previous books so I am very grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy - as always, opinions are entirely my own.

Gothic spookiness is really my thing, so I have absolutely lapped up Purcell's previous books - I particularly liked 'The Corset' and 'Bone China' where the creepiness focused on inanimate items that seem to have more power than they should. I was expecting something similar from 'The Shape of Darkness', but feel that this book delivers something different altogether.

In this novel, our main character, Agnes Darken, is a silhouette artist working in early-Victorian era Bath. She has struggling health and relies on her art to support the family she has been left with after the death of her sister, Constance, a number of years earlier. However, bad things start happening to those who sit for her silhouettes and - as mysterious deaths begin to stack up - she searches for answers from a medium who seems to be able to communicate with the dead. The dead speak through a strange child, Pearl, and Agnes gets caught up in the girl's own problems with devastating consequences.

One of the real strengths of this book is the way that Purcell ramps up the spookiness. This is a book absolutely packed with memories of the dead and their ghosts - the séance scenes are genuinely creepy and the tension is high for a lot of the novel. It certainly kept me reading as I wanted to understand the strange events and occurrences - as a life long cynic, I was desperately trying to find rational explanations for what was happening (often with no success!)

Another elements that I really enjoyed was the sense of mystery - as murder mysteries are my favourite genre, I was absolutely engrossed by trying to work out who was behind the deaths and even if there was a logical pattern or set of clues to latch on to. Every time I felt that I was getting close, Purcell whipped the rug out from under my feet and I would have to start again while balancing the supernatural possibilities. There were a lot of twists and revelations and my head was spinning a bit by the end!

The period details were also well integrated into the novel - it felt like a real historical world, although I don't know that it was specifically Bath as I don't know that city. The gloom of the houses, the dirt and danger of the streets, the domestic details - everything felt authentic. In fact, some of it was rather stomach-churning - Pearl's father's illness, for example, is described in rather gruesome detail.

I did struggle a little with the fact that Agnes was not a particularly strong character - I like my protagonists with a bit more sass, whereas Agnes was weakened by her recent illness, pining for a man and seemed to mostly accept her role as subservient female. I do understand that this was the societal norm, but I longed for her to stand up and do something at times.

Overall, this is a beautifully written, well-researched and engaging Gothic novel. It hits the spot for those who like a bit of supernatural terror while also being absolutely rooted in the grim everyday realities of those living in fairly poor conditions in the 1850s. It's cleverly plotted and will certainly keep you racing through the pages to the end.

I suppose not all melodramas work for me. I personally didn't love the tone, I thought it was disjointed, no matter how nice I thought the prose was.

Set in Victorian Bath, Agnes is a silhouette artist, collecting what money she can from an artform that is going out of fashion. She needs cash to look after her nephew Cedric and her ailing mother and while she has some help – in the form of her brother-in-law – things still aren’t quite adding up. Which is the same that could be said for Agnes’ life as her clients keep being murdered soon after they sit for their pictures. Wanting to know answers to questions she’s afraid to ask, she visits a child spirit medium, Pearl, whose sister keeps a tight rein over her prize charge (you’ll see why when you read the book). Agnes wants Pearl to make contact with the dead, but Pearl’s got something (or someone) she wants to see too. In a spooky, gothic style story, Agnes and Pearl’s stories become entwined leading to a discovery that will shock and impress. There’s so much good about this book that I can’t wait to recommend it. Scary, unsettling, worrying in places, it’s brilliant.

Oh this is one of those books that I felt I was wrapped up in from the start.

Great characters I cared about, dark gothic rooms, seances, one woman who worked as a silhouette artist, a child with a secret.....and that ending!

Wonderful and I would recommend this to historical fiction fans. I think this is her best one yet but to be fair she has written a few crackers!

Agnes is a silhouette artist, living in Victorian Bath with her elderly mother and orphaned nephew. Struggling along the poverty line with only Agnes's job to support them, things take a further turn for the worse when Agnes's clients keep getting murdered after sitting for their portraits. In her desperation to uphold her reputation, Agnes turns to child medium Pearl for answers - but in doing so she may get more than she bargained for.

As with other Purcell novels, this oozes atmosphere and gothic drama. She's able to describe gritty, dark winding Victorian streets in such minute detail the reader can almost imagine walking these spooky places looking for a murderer with Agnes. The séance scenes are particularly well done, harking back to classic ghost stories, otherworldly goings on and mediums in trances that were all the rage during this historical period. However, I will say that beyond a couple of brief paragraphs, you wouldn't know that it's set in Bath in particular. It could be any major Victorian city.

I also found the character of Agnes a little underwhelming. She's a lot like other characters Purcell has createdz in that she's seen as frail or ailing in some way, yet must persevere. I couldn't really warm to her or connect with her predicament. I also found her personality to be too similar to Pearl's, which grew irritating over time. There had to be more to women during this historical age other than simpering and fawning. There was nothing complex or interesting about them. The plot also gets more and more unbelievable and illogical as time goes on, and I couldn't get on board with the direction it ended up going in.

Interesting concept, and I really liked the atmosphere and information about silhouette artists, but I found the characters irritating and one dimensional and the plot outlandish. Sadly a miss for me.

Another Purcell gothic treat. Very atmospheric, dark, historical fiction that peels off slowly. Interesting characters and a gripping story to follow.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Lots of people are calling this her best book yet and comparing it to The Corset, and while I agree that while Bone China and The Silent Companions are very much alike in style the same way The Corset and The Shape of Darkness have more in common, I still think The Corset is her best - however, there is no denying that Laura is a fantastic writer and if you’ve enjoyed any of her other books you must get a copy of The Shape of Darkness on January 21st - it’s clever, unnerving and has an ending that I certainly did not see coming!

Agnes is a struggling silhouette artist struggling to keep her business afloat to support her family after severe illness. Pearl is a child spirit medium living with her bossy half sister who keeps using her in seances and her dying father. When Agnes’ customers start turning up dead, she’s desperate to find out who the culprit is in order to save her business - even if it means turning to Pearl for help contacting the victims from beyond the grave. The truth is something you’d never expect, and something so much darker than you could possibly imagine. If anything, you’ve been lulled into a false sense of security.

While at first reading The Shape of Darkness Pearl’s story bored me a little and I kept racing through her chapters to get to more of Agnes, when everything came together in the end I never suspected at all I realised while Pearl was so important - I just wish she would have been more likeable because then I would not have been racing past important clues. Also, I loved the balance between reality and the fanciful in this book, and how even small, insignificant details ended up to be of the utmost importance. And, I don’t think I’m going to look at a small pair of silver scissors in the same way ever again!

The Shape of Darkness is another chilling gothic tale from Laura Purcell. I have read her previous books and this one seems to be more darker than her previous.
Set in the 1800’s in Bath, Agnes Darken is a Silhouette artist, cutting portraits out of paper. She lives with her mother and her nephew. But doing this has some disadvantages. Currently all the people she has made portraits for have ended up dead. She can’t understand why the killer is targeting her clients. The police do not suspect her. But she needs to find out why they are doing this. So, she goes and visits a medium to see if she can find answers from beyond the grave.
Laura Purcell is a master crafter of writing an atmospheric gothic tale set in Victorian times and The Shape of darkness is a good example of this. Especially when she visits Pearl the medium and has a seances. This is a chilling and creepy tale, with lots of secrets that will keep you gripped throughout.

I am a massive fan of all of Purcell's books. Out of all of them, I would say this is likely my third favourite. I found the second half of the novel a lot stronger than the first half, which has been very interesting. Normally this isn't the case. Just like I would expect from this author, the ending is filled with twists and turns. She does such an incredible job of keeping the reader guessing until the very end - I think it's absolutely remarkable!

The actual e-reader copy is a bit hard to read, as some of the capitalisations and formatting was a little off. I can't tell if this is due to the copy I have or my Kindle. However, when reading a different book (also via netgalley), I haven't had this issue. As such, I think it's due to the quality of the ebook.

What I love most of the spooky, unnatural world of Laura Purcell, is how she picks the strangest and quirkiest bits out of Victorian England, and merges them into one book. We've had this with gardening/herbalism and the themes around mental illness in the Silent Companions, with corsetry/sewing and phrenology in The Corset, with tuberculosis and china in Bone China, and now with silhouette artists and spirit mediums/mesmerism. Can't wait to see what Purcell comes up with next!

Finally, having just recently visited Bath myself, I very much appreciated the descriptions of the city. It's always fun to read about places you can recognise.

Laura Purcell is rapidly growing to be one of my go to authors for quirky, twisty Gothic historical fiction and The Shape of Darkness does not disappoint, it is up there with her other books, including the much praised The Silent Companions and my own firm favourite The Corset.

The main protagonist is Agnes, a middle aged spinster, struggling to make a living as a silhouette artist, living with her is her querulous Mother and her beloved nephew Cedric. Recovering from illness, when two of her recent clients meet sudden violent deaths she fears she is being targetted. Her business in tatters and her mind still grieving for her late domineering sister, she becomes involved with seances and trying to contact the dead through a child medium Pearl and 11 year old albino, who has her own tragic problems.

The whole book sucked me in like quicksand and the clever storyline, fabulous characters and sheer eeriness kept me spellbound throughout. A wonderful gothic tale.

This is a deliciously wicked gothic tale. Set in the late 1800s in Bath, this story follows Agnes Darken, a silhouette artist who finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery that scandalises the city. Everyone who seems to pose for one of Agnes’s pieces starts to meet their untimely demise. Fearful that the murderer is trying to communicate with her, Agnes finds herself seeking answers from her dead relatives and former clients through the help of a medium, a 11 year old albino girl called Pearl.

This book packs a punch. A perfect read to be snuggled up with on the long cold nights of winter. It’s atmospheric and ghostly and I love how the author plays around with big themes like loss and haunting’s and seance’s and the exploration of the afterlife in a gripping and propulsive way. It’s creepy. It’s gnarly. It’s wonderful.

I can always rely on Laura Purcell to give me dark, twisty compelling reads to help me get through the bleak winter nights. I would highly recommend for people who enjoy reading gothic fiction.

Thanks to the author, Bloomsbury UK and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.