The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell and Essex Spice Cakes
The recipe link.
While researching the setting for this book, I came across the coolest website – The Book Trail! This would be such a great idea, too, for literature teachers. Anyway, on this website, it said Fayford, the village in the book, was fictional. Therefore, I decided to take the author’s hometown to support my recipe. I expanded that search to Essex, where her hometown is located.
When you cook recipes from other countries, you tend to find the dilemma of making substitutions. I had to find substitutions for rosewater and castor sugar. At first, I thought my cookies (“cakes”) were rather flat; however, I think that is the gist of this recipe. Although they look terrible, they are super yummy!!!! This recipe is an old recipe from around the middle ages. You need to read about why the nuns gave these to the children!
The book…
I LOVE gothic literature. It is my absolute favorite genre. A friend gave me this book to read. I had never heard of this book nor the author. Here is a synopsis of the book:
Some doors are locked for a reason.
When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But pregnant and widowed just weeks after their wedding, with her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her late husband’s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure—a silent companion—that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of the estate are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition—that is, until she notices the figure’s eyes following her.
A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, The Silent Companions is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect—much like the companions themselves.
I really do not know what to say about the book (without revealing spoilers) except I loved it!!!! I literally kept going back and forth throughout the novel without any indication of what was true until the very end. If you are up for a great October read then read this book. It is a quick, fun, gothic read! Also, side note, apparently, “silent companions” were known as dummy boards. As much as I love antiques, this will be one antique I will not be buying! LOL
