To celebrate Halloween, we have written up some of our favourite reading group questions for Laura Purcell’s spooktacular The Silent Companions. Gather your friends and book club together for a discussion about this deliciously gothic ghost story…

• How does power shift throughout the novel? Who do you think is ultimately in control?

• Do you think that the revelation of secrets in the novel does more harm than good?

• Laura Purcell uses multiple narrative voices to tell the story and reveal the history of the Silent Companions. How does this illuminate or obscure your understanding of events? Are the narrators reliable?

• How do the concepts of family and scandal/reputation shape the novel and its characters? Do you notice any similarities or differences in these ideals between 1635 and 1835?

• How is pregnancy presented in the novel? Do you think that bodies are presented as important or disposable?

• What roles do evil and possession play in the novel?

• In what ways is death impermanent in The Silent Companions? 

• Throughout the novel, characters justify their questionable actions by claiming they were out of love and protection. Do you think that this is really the case? Is it difficult or easy to assign blame to the characters, for example Elsie and Jolyon?

• How are women treated in The Silent Companions? Do you notice any contrasts or parallels between 1635, 1835, and today?

• What role does class play in the novel? What do you think of Elsie’s treatment of the lower classes?