Wonderfully captivating and beautifully creative!

This story is set over two timelines which transitioned seamlessly. I’m always wary of huge time hops but this was exceptionally well written.

I thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions and the use of languages to create interesting and unique images in one’s mind.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Bridget Collins does have a knack for coming up with truly original plot lines by reversing an accepted way of the world. In The Binding, the idea of memory being desirable was turned on its head. In The Silence Factory, it is the turn of the noise and bustle of the world. Where most people would consider that their environment is what grounds them and connects them to other people and their surroundings, the premise of this novel is that it can be unbearable to be rooted in the physical world, and anything that can shut it out is welcome.
Henry works in his father in law's business making and selling hearing aids for the hard-of-hearing or deaf, in late Victorian London. He has just lost his beloved young wife in childbirth, and would give anything to be able to forget the sounds and sights of that horror and to shut out the noise of an indifferent world going about its business. When a wealthy client approaches them to assess his deaf daughter, Henry is intrigued by the man's business proposition - a special silk made from spiders' webs, that can shut out sound but which also offers intriguing hints of the voices of the dead, and has a calming influence. He jumps at the chance to travel to Sir Edward's estate to assess the man's daughter, and whilst there he accepts an offer of a job helping to market the new, and very expensive, silk which Sir Edward has set up a factory to produce.

Henry's tale is juxtaposed with the story of the discovery of the silk, nearly a century earlier - a tale of exploitation, oppression and betrayal that bodes no good for the seemingly miraculous technology in the story's present. And the full cost of the silk's production is indeed a tale of evil and greed, culminating in a natural disaster of near-Biblical proportions.

The layers of both strands are skilfully managed, tantalisingly revealing snippets of detail that build up to a finale of gothic horror. There are parallels to be drawn with every historic story of exploitation, from slavery to colonialism, but this works as a story in its own right, which is always the most important thing. It could perhaps have been a bit more tightly edited, a smidge more concise, but Bridget Collins has a startlingly original imagination. Her writing style still feels a bit like the young adult author she started out as, but she is always worth reading. Recommended.

A unique and intriguing storyline....spiders that create webs that block out noise but also create madness. I really enjoyed this one, much less slow burn than The Binding, i think the dual timelines help keep the pace moving and keep it interesting. A story of betrayal and greed.

This story combines elements of mythology and gothic mystery but doesn’t fully engage the reader. The idea of a spider silk with the power to muffle and amplify sound and control emotions is intriguing but the storytelling is let down by an uninspiring plot and characters with ambiguous motivations.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

I’m an arachnophobe. I run from rooms when there’s a particularly large spider around - and I still loved this book. I have to admit, I did have to visualise them as chunkier and furrier with fewer legs. Web-weaving Jack Russells, if you will 🤦🏼‍♀️ But that’s the joy of reading!

A factory in Telverton seems to have acquired a particular breed of spider whose web, when spun into a silken fabric, can bring silence to the person/ people sitting inside. However, if the fabric is the other way round, it produces sounds that can make people go mad (they don’t make too much of that fact). So, no the best factory to work in, then!

I enjoyed the two timelines: the discovery of the spiders in 1820, told through the journals of Sophia Ashmore-Percy; and the manufacture of the silk in a factory town decades later along with an audiologist who goes to work for Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy. He has the task of helping Sir Ashmore-Percy’s deaf daughter to hear.

I love how Bridget Collins mixes historical fiction and fantasy, and makes it all seem perfectly reasonable. There’s a lot to be said in this story about taking advantage of people for profit (in the factory in particular) and how nature can be used for man’s own ends, regardless of the consequences. Humans aren’t painted in the best of light, and I actually felt sorry for the spiders 🕷️🕷️🕷️

Still don’t like spiders though.

This novel didn’t grip me like the previous Collins novels and was more of a slow, sinister burn. Once again there’s a fantastical twist set in a kind of gothic historical world. In one timeline we follow Sophia, a woman whose husband is intent on discovering the truth behind the myth of miraculous spiders on a Greek Island. In a second time strand we follow Henry Latimer, a grieving widow enticed to visit a mysterious silk-making factory where spiders weave silence. Initially Henry is completely enamoured but as things take a turn he realises that he alone can abort a horrifying dystopian vision of obedience. I don’t think I truly enjoyed the world of this novel or the characters - I found the plot interesting but I never really felt in love with it.

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, The Borough Press, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book and was hooked from the first few chapters. I think the only thing I would have liked is a bit more connection between the two timelines.

I am a big fan of Bridget Collins books but I did not enjoy this at all .
It was all a bit contrived for me -the spiders and the silence inducing cloth were a step too far I'm afraid .

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

First, thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Silence Factory. Definite touches of gothic horror in this book - and not for anyone who's scared of spiders. I can't say that I liked any of the characters in the book very much and it wasn't a book that I particularly enjoyed reading. I thought that the idea was a good one, but just not for me. 3.5* rounded up to 4*

Henry Latimer is an audiologist whose chance meeting with Sir Edward changes his life. Sir Edward's family fortune is based around a silk that can create silence. As Henry gets drawn deeper into the family's history and the secrets which surround the silk factory he questions everything he hears and feels - just how powerful is the silk?

Bridget Collins excels at strange gothic historical novels and this is really atmospheric. The novel combines the story of Henry's business ambitions and the diary of Sophia who discovered the silk spiders. For me both of the stories had too many missing elements there were secondary characters I wanted to know more about, actions that were never fully explained.

Thank you for this ARC!

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this story. The writing was beautiful but I was struggling to picture anything as the descriptions are so detailed and metaphorical. It was very slow starting it and I did take a while to get through it.

A gothic mystery that leans into folklore to build it's plot and characters that was truly an edge of your seat read.

A gothic mystery dips the edge of its handkerchief into the sphere of folklore and magical spiders. Sounds bizarre but it works thanks to the narrative weaving skills of the author.

Henry, a hearing aid specialist, becomes embroiled in the world of silk making quite serendipitously when called upon to examine the apparent deafness of the daughter of a mill owner. The silk fabric has the magical property of creating a curtain of silence wherever it is placed and is created by a cluster of spiders who were snatched from their natural habitat, sailed to England and used to create a fortune for the mill owner. Sadly, there are nefarious plans afoot that don’t bode well for anyone

I’m sure it’ll be a bestseller, however after enjoying Collins’ previous novels, I was left a little disappointed with this one as I couldn’t warm to hardly any of the characters; I also felt desperately sorry for the spiders...

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

The Silence Factory is a double-narrative story. It starts with Sophia Ashmore’s narration, written in the format of her diary.
Sophia has followed her husband James to the Greek Island of Kratos to find a man who, it turns out, has died before their arrival.
She tells of her friendship with a local healing woman, Hira. And the discovery of a species of Spider ‘the seirine’ which spins a silk with seemingly magical properties.

The second narrative is from the viewpoint of Henry Latimer, a couple of decades later.
Henry Latimer is a hearing trumpet practitioner, still mourning the death of his wife and still-born child less than a year previously. He’s a delicate character. A poet and rather naive and lost.
He has a chance meeting with the enigmatic Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy. Owner of the Telverton Silk Factory, which weaves the silk from the spiders bought back from Greece by his descendant, James Ashmore.

Henry is infatuated with the silk and also with the eccentric and megalomaniac Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy.
It’s clear that Sir Edward is a Narcissist. His initial charm and exuberance holds people’s interest but he is also a laughing-stock amongst them.

Edward travels to Sir Edward’s Estate -Cathermute house to try and fit his profoundly deaf daughter Philomel with an auricle. Philomel is a joyous little girl, despite her deafness but she is forbidden to use ‘Finger Speak’, the sign language that her nursery teacher, Miss Fielding has taught her.

Sir Henry employs Edward to promote Telverton Silk and one of the things that Henry develops is a property called
Sub Rosa - a show-house of silence, showing off the many ways in which the silk can be used.
It certainly seems like a miraculous fabric. But one side offers up complete silence and the other, hallucinatory disturbances.
There are even medicinal tablets (Telverton Numms) try and ward off the strange sickness, auditory hallucinations and disorientation that workers at the factory and visitors to Telverton experience.

I think the secondary narration in the format of Sophia Ashmore’s diary from the Greek Island of Kratos, where the spiders came from and their theft for monetary gain wasn’t as gripping as the Henry/Sir Edward narrative.
And unfortunately, the Factory scene towards the end with Worsley was when I pretty much switched off entirely. It was chaotic and a bit frustrating to read.

The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins is stunning, stunning! A dark Victorian gothic and as such, pay close mind to the TW's

Dual timelines, dual pov, artfully woven with mystery, secrets and betrayals

Dark gaslamp, industrial revolution grittiness interspersed with the restrictions of the time in respect of Henry's affections. An era where Henry just wants respite from the noise that surrounds and engulfs him. Henry meets a trader who claims to have a silk that will keep all of the noise out, will he buy into it and where did it come from?

A gripping read that had me completely captivated. Perfect for fans who love to get their teeth into a Victorian Gothic tale

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press
and Bridget Collins for this ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Henry dreams of silence, and for his loneliness to be filled, when one day he meets the enigmatic Sir Edward offering him a new life. In spite of all the warnings he receives, Henry cannot help but be charmed by the magical silk that can drown out the noise of his emptiness.

Filled with tense, dark and sinister undertones, Bridget Collins yet again succeeds at building a plot woven in mystery and a cast of characters with hidden agendas and secrets.

Collins’ statement historical world with a hint of fantasy is created yet again with an original concept that takes time for the reader to understand, but it is time worth taking.

Collins’ asks you for patience, she doesn’t give things away quickly, she stretches the imagination and confuses before she reveals it is utter brilliance.

I feel Bridget Collins’ writing is the Black Mirror of Historical Fiction and I cannot wait for the next new concept.

I received an advanced kindle copy from Netgalley, thank you so much for this. I loved it so much I couldn’t resist buying this beautiful hardback to join my Bridget Collins collection.

What seemed like a very interesting concept turned out to be a huge disappointment.
The story had so much potential and unfortunately it was wasted.
Henry as a main character was incredibly hard to cope with because of how self-deprecating and truly annoying he was. He falls in love with Sir Edward (who himself doesn't feel very real either) for no real reason whatsoever because no interest was shown, and just appears to be blinded by that love throughout the whole book. His decisions and choices were honestly stupid and I found it really hard to even finish the book because I just couldn't take his whininess anymore. I ended up skimming the last 20ish % of the book just for the sake of finishing it so I could properly review it.
The only interesting parts were the diary entries from the past but sadly their potential wasn't truly explored either.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who has ever lived in a flat or a terraced house will understand just how wonderful it would be if there was a fabric that you could buy that would completely block out sound all the sound behind it. I found I could relate so hard to Henry's desire for silence and why he thought it could be such a life-changing thing for so many people. I enjoyed the unusual historical fantasy setting, and the author really brings to life the setting and the characters within it. There's a lot of strands to this story and a lot to unpack and think about, and I really enjoyed that. I thought it was brilliant.

I thoroughly enjoyed both storylines in The Silence Factory. As with Bridget Collins' other works, the world-building, plot, and prose in her latest book are impeccable! The descriptive narrative and well-paced plot make for an incredibly exciting read.

I highly recommend The Silence Factory to all fans of gothic and mystery novels!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Binding, though not so keen on The Betrayels, this Bridget Collins book again didn't really do it for me.
A very drawn out, long winded story with a dual narrative which didn't really work. The story seemed to drift off and although the style of writing is beautifully descriptive I felt let down by the ending.