Laura Purcell

Laura Purcell is a British author of Gothic historical fiction whose atmospheric novels explore the darker corners of the Victorian and Georgian periods. She lives in Colchester, Essex, and previously worked in a bookshop before becoming a full-time writer. She is a fan of the Gothic literary tradition and brings a modern sensibility to classic Gothic themes. Purcell's novels include The Silent Companions (a Radio 2 Book Club pick and Sunday Times bestseller), The Corset, Bone China, The Shape of Darkness, and The Whispering Muse. Her fiction is characterised by unreliable narrators, creeping dread, and historical settings rendered in meticulous detail — country houses, remote estates, and Victorian institutions where terrible secrets fester. Bone China is set aboard a ship bound for the Arctic, where isolation and strange occurrences blur the line between madness and the supernatural. Purcell has established herself as one of the leading voices in contemporary Gothic fiction. Her audiobooks and books offer listeners and readers atmospheric, spine-tingling historical horror that honours the great Gothic tradition while bringing fresh psychological depth to its terrors.