A gripping and unique tale, and an excellent use of dual timelines. This kept me throughly engaged and would recommend if you’re into historical fiction.

GENRE: Historical Fiction/Magical Realism

MY RATING: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Storyline: 4/5
Writing style/structure: 4/5
Overall enjoyment: 4/5

MY THOUGHTS
Bridget Collins is an auto-buy author for me. All three of her books are so unique, complex, with such lyrical prose that it is impossible not to be captivated. One of the things that she does well in her stories is the representation of queer characters and this book is no different. The concept of this book was absolutely brilliant, as it explores the impact that noise has on someone’s mind, body and soul. It is written with her usual dark, gothic undertones and I was hooked from chapter one.

The story is told in dual timelines. The main story is written in third person in the ‘current day’ (Henry) and the subplot is first person narrative, set in the past, as our main character (Sophia) is recounting her experiences in a diary. I can’t say that I liked Henry. But I think that was kind of the point. He was self-absorbed, naïve and the fact that he was willing to give everything up *couch* revealed in the second last chapter *cough*, to put his happiness above everything else, made me dislike him all the more. I wanted more of Sophia’s storyline, but I can see why we were only given snippets; for the suspense.

Although it is not a 5-star read, it has certainly left an impression on me. This book comes out on 09 May 2024. I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Miscarriage, Death during labour, Emotional manipulation, Torture, Child labour, Mental instability, Spiders (for those with arachnophobia).

I loved The Binding so was very excited to receive this ARC.
This is a unique story, with a similar feel to the Binding in that it tells of an inanimate object that can hold / reflect human feelings. In this case, it's the story of spider silk that can provide complete silence on one side, but can be used to manipulate feelings and people's actions on the other. I enjoyed the story but didn't engage with the characters hugely and found some sections dragging.
TheSilenceFactory #NetGalley

"Silence is not only silence, sir, it is attention – it is sanity. It is sleep for infants, medicine for invalids, rest for the working man – it is money for the man who must think or starve. We build walls to shelter our bodies from the world, but we leave our minds open to assault on every side."

Henry Latimer is summoned to Cathermute House to help Philomel the young daughter of Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy to hear again. When he cannot complete his task Sir Edward offers him a position in his secluded factory but Henry soon falls to the power of the silk and its origins.


A book filled with hope, desire and lost love. This was an enthralling gothic read.

When I requested this on Netgalley I'd never read any books by Bridget Collins but I had The Binding on my bookshelf so decided to read that first and I really enjoyed it and her writing style. I loved The Binding and I loved The Silence Factory just as much.

Told from two perspectives one being Henry Latimers and the other Sophia Ashmore's. This was definitely needed to understand the whole reason of the silk and the factory.

Bridget Collins will be an auto-buy author for me after reading these two books.

Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers @harperfiction for the digital copy.

I really enjoyed a dual timeline story and this one didn't let me know. Fantastic historical fiction that is really well written. Starts off with a slow pace, but that isn't to the determ of the story. Good strong characters. Very pleased 😀

Having been entranced by the world Bridget Collins created in The Betrayals (sort of familiar, but sort of not), I was excited to read The Silence Factory and I was not disappointed.

The story revolves around Henry Latimer becoming involved with Sir Edward Ashborne-Percy and the opportunity to work with him on bringing products manufactured at The Silence Factory to the public. Yet it is not only the products that Henry becomes obsessed with falling under the charismatic spell of Sir Edward and wanting to become more than an employee.

The story unravels in a duel timeline. One the life of Henry and the strange and unsettling work at The Silence Factory and the second in relation to the discovery of the spiders in Greece and how they found their way back to the UK to be bred and used to spin the unique silk that creates a fabric which is able to quieten and calm a noisy world. Both are heartbreaking tales in different ways.

Henry buys into how useful this new product could be to the world dismissing the tales he is hearing but ultimately as the book draws to its conclusion, we discover what's really planned.

This is a dark, eerie tale, placing us once again in a world we know but don't know. The writing is beautiful and the factory is so realistic you feel like you are walking through it. Some of the spider scenes made me shudder. I'm not a big fan but using them as a vehicle for the plot gave it a sinister undertone.

Overall, it was an intriguing read.

"Poor Echo. I wonder sometimes what it would feel like, to be condemned to say what you never wanted to say, while the most important thing of all is beyond your reach." There was a pause that felt as though something unspoken was hanging in the air like invisible fruit, left unplucked. [loc. 1665]
Bridget Collins' third novel for adults, following The Binding (which I loved) and The Betrayals (which I liked), is The Silence Factory, which I'm still considering. It's a novel about the luxury of silence, about power and powerlessness: it features queer romance, dual narratives, abusive relationships, social class and ... spiders, again. (Perhaps the most fantastical aspect of the plot is that nobody in Collins' version of 19th-century England seems to suffer from arachnophobia.)

Part of the book is formed by the 1820s diaries of Sophia, wife to scientifically-minded and ambitious James Ashmore. James has brought her to the Greek island of Kratos, following the trace of a dead scholar's letters about marvellous spiders, the pseudonephila. While her husband becomes increasingly focussed on his work, Sophia befriends a local woman named Hira, and is drawn into the island's secrets.

The larger part of the narrative is the story of Henry Latimer, recently widowed (his wife died in childbirth) and working for his father-in-law, an audiologist. When Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy (great-nephew of James Ashmore) visits the shop in search of a device that will restore the hearing of his deaf daughter Philomel, Henry is struck by the man's charisma: he soon finds himself on a train to Telverton, with a suitcase of auricles and audinets, where he will test Philomel's hearing himself. Telverton is dominated by the silk factory, and Henry has already discovered that Telverton silk has miraculous properties. One side of the fabric confers blessed, luxurious silence. The other side of the silk gives off 'some sort of unpredictable vibration', which has rendered many of the factory workers partially deaf -- or worse. Henry quickly becomes Sir Edward's assistant and confidant, refusing to listen to the warnings of Philomel's governess. All factories have accidents, don't they?

There are no happy endings here, though the conclusion of Henry's story is undeservedly hopeful. I found it hard to like him, though his situation was pitiable: he's spineless, indecisive and blinkered. Sophia and her story were much more engaging, but she too was under the influence of a selfish, privileged man. James was monstrous in his disregard for his wife: Sir Edward's motivation, in his dealings with Henry, was opaque to me. Collins' writing is luscious and Gothic, and she writes powerfully about the gift of silence, and the ways in which women can be silenced, as well as the horrors of industry and the evils to which knowledge can be bent. I think this is a well-written, fascinating and complex book. I am not at all sure that I liked it.

Warnings for ableism, miscarriage, drowning, cruelty to animals, poverty, torture, emotional abuse, capitalism, spiders.

Obsession: the state and control of one's thoughts by a continuous, powerful idea or feeling, or the idea or feeling itself, in a way that is not normal. 'The Silence Factory’ encapsulates obsession in this eerie and engrossing tale. The sense of menace spins its web through the lives of the characters, obsessed with what the magical spider silk might bring. Love, greed, desperation, betrayal, ruination, despair, make for compulsive and haunting reading. The characters and Victorian atmosphere are eloquently depicted, factory life graphic, the settings – Greece, London, rural England – vital. Beautifully written by Bridget Collins, this unusual read lingers, especially the return to kindness and family.
Now to seek out 'The Binding and the Betrayals'.
I received and enjoyed an ARC courtesy of Harper Collins UK and Netgalley, without expectation of a review.

(Content Warnings listed at the end of this review for those who find them helpful)

A captivating and enthralling novel, with gothic undertones and a constant air of mystery erring on the side of the supernatural. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!!

I read another of Bridget Collins' books - The Binding - a few years ago and really enjoyed it, but this latest novel is even better. Darker, much more suspenseful, and with more complex flawed characters. Without giving spoilers, there were some characters so cruel it made me feel physically angry reading their sections, and others so heartbreakingly mistreated that it made me cry. Collins' way with words is also truly enchanting, and at times, gut-punching.

This is a phenomenal book, and it feels almost like a different book when you hit the third act, in a very satisfying way. I should also highlight that Collins portrays queer relationships/attraction very well and I was delighted to find that both in The Binding and in this novel.

I will be recommending this book to everyone - and many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for sending me an ARC (in exchange for an honest review).

I will now list some Content Warnings, so fair warning, minor spoilers ahead:

**Content Warnings**

- Ableism (including multiple incidents towards a deaf child);
- Cancer;
- Child abuse & child labour;
- Drowning;
- Emotional abuse & manipulation;
- Mental health mistreatment (espec acts in the context of 19th century UK treatment of women);
- Miscarriage;
- Spiders;
- Suicide attempt.

The beginning of this book is creepy. Sophie is feeding rats to spiders and is clearly not thinking clearly. These spiders spin silk that cuts out all noise on one side. On the other side, people hear echoes, lose their hearing and their minds. It is malevolent and ruinous, Into this situation comes Henry, a young man grieving the loss of his wife who ends up working for the current owner of the spiders and their silk, Sir Edmund. Henry is drawn into his world and becomes devoted to him, denying the truth of the silk until it is nearly too late. This book was clever and the language is beautiful but I did not enjoy it as much as The Betrayals as I felt less empathy for the main characters. 3.5 stars which I have decided to round up, Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC..

I am a Bridget Collins devoteé and any book she publishes is an immediate must-buy for me. The Silence Factory follows in the footsteps of The Binding and The Betrayals by creating a gothic, eery world which feels at times historically familiar and at others utterly unfathomable. I particularly enjoyed Sophia's story and the Greek-island world which Collins carefully crafts.

As is to be expected from the author this book is cleverly written and extremely compelling. The protagonist Henry is developed cleverly with excellent character progression and depth. The weaving together of different lives and overlapping themes allows interesting foreshadowing and sliding-doors moments. What would have happened to Henry if he'd been granted the life he thought he desired? Would it have echoed Sophia's? These questions kept the pace of the book high without it feeling rushed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

This book is written very vividly, there is a lot going on and there is a real sense of menace and underlying currents of evil. Some of it is very tense indeed. The characters are good and easily distinguished and the time period seems to have been well enough researched. So, it is well written and will be very much enjoyed I think by many people.

I did not enjoy it very much as a read although, as I say, I can see its strengths. I thought it was a bit slow to start with and kept putting it down but as you go on and things become clearer it gets quite engrossing and is all very primal. Some of it is horrifying and really quite upsetting., such as what happens to Lady Celia , the worker children and the animal abuse of the "harvesting" of the silk which made me feel ill. The main problem I had was that i had disturbing dreams about the factory and the singing webs and the spiders and even about these Greek island villages. This is the second book I have read lately about small Greek island villages and their connections to an old, old religion, the navel of the earth, red soil, herbs, caves, blood and all that sort of thing.

So, a 3 from me for actual enjoyment but for its vividness and effect, a 4.

Oppressive, overwhelming and weirdly alluring 4.5/5

I’ve never read this author before, and will be exploring her earlier books. This is assured writing, both horrible and tender, in equal measure.

Set in a dual timeline, something ubiquitous now, and managed well here, this I suppose falls into the categories of both historical fiction, fantasy/speculative, and Victorian (or pre-Victorian Gothic.

The major themes are the position and powerlessness of women to have many choices outside marriage and motherhood in earlier societies, the danger and perils of marriage to unsuitable men, - or indeed, the dangers and perils of obsession with any unscrupulous man. Another theme is the perfidy of individual and collective greed and its legacy in terms of ignoring the rights of others, whether this is capital against labour, British expansionism versus more rustic communities in other cultures or indeed mankind’s belief that it has a right to use the earth itself as something to be exploited for personal profit. There’s also a nod to the end result of greedy individualism leading to totalitarianism. In that, this book seems scarily not quite fantasy

Weighty themes in this book, but the reality of her layered, complex characters, and the intricacies of a carefully woven plot web, are more than able to carry that weight.

One story, or thread, is set in the 1820’s. A thoughtful and likeable young woman keeps a journal about the visit she makes with her fame seeking naturalist husband to a remote Greek island, with a sacred, matriarchal history. The island is also home to a rather extraordinary species of spider.

The second story is a couple of generations later, towards the end of the century, where the kind of excesses and dark shadows of Victorian society which Dickens so often wrote about, are in full flower.

A magnetic and charismatic, and fundamentally hiss-the-villain capitalist, is doing everything to become rich beyond measure. The way this will happen is through exploiting the labour of that rather extraordinary spider species – the spinnings of its webs, yielding something quite remarkable.

The story itself is fabulous, the sense of time and place beautifully evoked, so that the meshing of the real world of Victorian values – both expressed and the shadow side – and the horror Gothic fantasy side, work perfectly together.

The only reason I couldn’t quite rise to unalloyed 5 star was some sense that the major where-everything-unravels-cataclysmic-disaster section felt a little overdone, overblown.

I’m delighted to have been allowed to read this as an ARC, and have immediately bought her first novel. Wonderful writer.

In 1870s London, widower Henry Latimer is working in his father-in-law's shop selling hearing aids. A mysterious customer, who owns a silk factory in the Devon town of Telverton, asks Henry to help his young daughter who has been deaf since birth. Intrigued, Henry takes up his invitation. He travels to the man's big house in Telverton and ends up getting caught in a web of deceit, greed and enchantment.
Henry's story is interspersed with the first person journal of a previous lady of the house, whose sojourn on a Greek island results in the discovery of spiders which spin the most incredible silk. When worked into fabric, the spider silk has a unique property that can bring calming silence or excruciating madness to those exposed to it.
I was spellbound by this novel - more so because I wasn't expecting to like it. I had read one of Collins' previous novels, The Binding, which I was enjoying before it started to get weird. The Silence Factory, however, is streets ahead in its storytelling, quality of writing and characterisation. If you like gothic novels, you will love this. Prepare yourself for an immersive ride. It's definitely got big screen potential written all over it, either as a film or television series. Highly recommended.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this novel.

A very different and unusual premise for a story. A discovery that could silence the world and its people into submission. This is the tale of a man seduced by the promise of wealth and fortune by an unscrupulous entrepreneur. This is a novel of magic, myth and science.

Not my cup of tea at all.

Found the main character of the modern timeline insipid and annoying and whilst the two separate timelines were necessary for this story, the character development of some of the characters in the early time were under developed.

Whilst the story overall was well written, I had to persevere to reach the conclusion rather than really look forward to finding out more.

CW/TW: This book contains themes related to mental health misogyny, child labour and complicity which may be distressing or triggering for some readers.

My Bookish Thoughts 💬
As a fan of historical novels set in Victorian England, I was immediately intrigued by the blend of historical fiction and magical realism in this book. While I found it captivating in many parts and appreciated its relatively fast pace, I couldn't help but feel that some sections could have been more tightly condensed. Nevertheless, I was engrossed by the gradual revelation of the precious silk and its profound impact on the lives of the characters some I fell in love with others I despised as I feel the author intended. The narrative unfolds through a dual timeline: diary entries from a Greek island where the mystical silk originates, and a third-person perspective set in Victorian England. Through these intertwined stories, the novel explores the enduring effects of the magical silk on its various protagonists, while also delving into the complexities of relationships and hidden desires of the era.

💭 Based on the description, what aspect of this upcoming novel intrigues you the most?

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the gifted copy. The Silence Factory will be published on 9th May 2024.

The Silence Factory is a haunting gothic suspense novel revolving around the nature of silence and sound and the impact of greed.

Set in Victorian Britain, we follow Henry Latimer - a widower aurist hired by Sir Edward Ashborne-Percy to restore his daughters hearing. Sir Edward runs a silk factory that weaves the most unusual of silks. After recieving a sample of this silk, Henry begins an obsession both with the silk and it's charming manufacturer. But not all is as it seems and it is up to Henry to unravel the truth.

Like most gothic novels, the plot gets off to a slow start - whispering hints and clues as to the reality the characters are in. However, once it gets going, the payoff is huge. I absoluetly loved the subtle nods to classical gothic literature - the mad woman in the attic, the frankenstienien monsters that were the spiders and their silks to name a few. The dual perspective approach works incredibly well here as we flit between Henry's retelling and the diary entries of Sophia Ashborne-Percy.

A fantastic read for lovers of gothic horror stories!

I can't say this is one of those books where you're hooked from the start.  I felt it was difficult to get into and I found myself re reading the same line over again, and my mind was wondering to anything other than the book.  The blurb intruiged me though and I wanted to read on.
The chapters were quite long, and alternated between Henrys POV, and then Sophias POV in the form of her diary entries.  To start with I preferred Henrys POV but as we went on I started to quite enjoy both parts, but it wasnt long before my mind started to wonder again, and I debated carrying on.
There was nothing wrong with the writing, it was very descriptive and I could easily imagine the places described, but ultimately I found it very slow going and quite boring.  I got to almost 50% and put it on pause for my buddy read and have absolutely no inclinination to pick it back up.  Nothing has really happened yet and I feel like nothing will probably happen until about 90% - I might google the ending just to see what it was all about.  
I cant say I'd recommend this one, especially if you dont like spiders.
Shame because I wanted to like it
DNF

What an astonishing read! Quite unlike anything I’ve read recently and a mesmersing tale which was like stepping back in time. There’s a dual narrative which works really well, but the greatest delight is the writing style which manages to capture all the idiosyncrasies of the Victorian era. The language is very measured and although there are attitudes depicted which would be considered insensitive at best, they really add to the period detail. Bridget Collins has created memorable characters in a very unusual plot line which is mysterious and very creepy in parts. It’s not quite Gothic horror, but there’s often an almost palpable sense of unease and I was spellbound, swept into a different world. Very powerful writing and this story is so clever. Kept me guessing and it’s stayed with me. Loved it.