Laura Purcell
Photo credit: Jasmine-Leanne Gaterell
Laura Purcell is represented by Juliet Mushens
Laura Purcell is a former bookseller living in Colchester, Essex with her husband and pet guinea pigs.
She began her career with two historical novels about the Hanoverian monarchs, Queen of Bedlam and Mistress of the Court.
Her first Gothic novel for Raven Books, The Silent Companions, was a Radio 2 Book Club pick, was selected for the Zoe Ball ITV Book Club and was the winner of the Thumping Good Read Award. Her other Gothic titles include The Corset, Bone China, The Shape of Darkness, and The Whispering Muse. The Shape of Darkness won the Fingerprint Award for Historical Crime and was shortlisted for an Edgar Award.
In the USA, Laura is published by Penguin Books, where The Corset is titled The Poison Thread and Bone China is called The House of Whispers. She has also written a podcast, Roanoke Falls, which was created for Realm and executive produced by John Carpenter.
Additionally, Laura's short stories have been published in a number of collections. These include Cameo, featured in Phantoms,Vanitas in the Audible Original Homeless Bodies and Other Stories and Creeping Ivy, published October 2020 in After Sundown. She contributed to the Sunday Times bestselling collection The Haunting Season. In 2023, she contributed to The Winter Spirits.
Laura’s newest novel and her YA debut, Moonstone, was published in May 2024 by HarperCollin’s Magpie imprint.
Praise for The Silent Companions:
‘[An] extraordinary, memorable and truly haunting book’ — Jojo Moyes
‘[It] shone, for originality for the sheer quality of the writing, the characters and some masterly chills’ — Peter James
‘Layering on the dark and creepy, this intriguingly plotted novel is the full-blown Gothic, maintaining throughout an unsettling claustrophobic atmosphere mixed with some unusual historical detail’ — Daily Mail
‘Laura Purcell has nailed it with a story that conjures up Susan Hill's The Woman In Black, Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw and a little bit of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier’ — Emerald Street
‘A sinister slice of Victorian gothic... creepy and page-turning’ — The Times
‘Really tense and unnerving, it still won't let me go’ — Woman & Home
‘A true page-turner...neatly crafted and compelling...with a spine-tingling revelation every few pages’ — Times Literary Supplement
‘Irresistibly creepy, this romps along, Purcell turning her screws with skill. It's what crumpets and dismal afternoons were made for’ — Glamour
Praise for The Corset:
‘A compelling slice of early Victorian gothic . Vivid and well researched, this book is an evocative portrait of a society that punishes women who dare to contravene social norms . as well as a splendid mystery with suitably melodramatic flourishes’ — Guardian
‘The Silent Companions was a chillingly note-perfect take on Victorian gothic and [Purcell] makes a brilliant return to the genre with this much-anticipated tale ... Heart-pounding . A classic Victorian tale of murder most foul, twisted with a curious supernatural thread’ — Stylist
Praise for Bone China:
‘Deliciously spooky’ — Observer
‘Anyone familiar with Purcell's previous novels will know she's an expert at bone-rattling tension and Bone China is just as eerie. Written with an atmosphere of real foreboding, this is a sensational late autumn read as the evenings close in’ — Stylist
‘Du Maurier-tastic. Purcell has a sure storytelling touch, a command of atmosphere and a keen eye for the telling details of social history. Oh, and she stores up some satisfying and suitably macabre final revelations’ — Paraic O’Donnell, Guardian
Rights sold:
The Silent Companions: Bloomsbury (UK), Penguin (US), Darkside Books (Brazil), Znanje (Croatia), Moravská Bastei (Czech), Festa (Germany), DeA Planeta (Italy), 2020 (Portugal), AST (Russia), and Libros del Nuevo Extremo (Spain), and Ithaki (Turkey).
The Corset: Bloomsbury (UK), Penguin Books (US), DarkSide (Brazil), Znanje (Croatia), Festa (Germany), Mondadori (Italy), Arkadia (Russia), Spring (Taiwan), and Uncork’d Entertainment (TV).
Bone China: Bloomsbury (UK), Penguin (US), and Festa (Germany)
The Shape of Darkness: Raven/Bloomsbury (UK), Penguin (US), Festa (Germany), and Hayakawa (Japan)
The Whispering Muse: Bloomsbury (UK), Hermes (Bulgaria), Festa (Germany), Hayakawa (Japan), Arkadia (Russia), and Urano (Spain).
Moonstone: Magpie (UK), Festa (Germany) and Urano (Spain).
House of Splinters: Bloomsbury (UK).