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House of Splinters
- Author
- Laura Purcell
- Narrator
- Juanita McMahon
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 10 February 2026
- Run Time
- 12 hours 45 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Named a Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year by The Sunday Times (UK)
House of Splinters is the long-awaited prequel to bestselling and multi-award-winning author Laura Purcell’s gothic horror classic, The Silent Companions.
Not every house is a home …
Belinda Bainbridge has spent her life in the shadow of her anxious mother, so when her father-in-law dies at The Bridge, his remote ancestral seat, she is secretly thrilled. His death means she, her husband, Wilfred, and their children can relocate and finally begin to create their own happy home together: born a merchant’s daughter, she will now be lady of the manor.
But their new home quickly proves far from ideal. The garden is a wilderness, the estate is struggling financially, there are whispers about the mysterious death of a servant many years before, while their young son, Freddy, seems unusually fixated on the strange wooden figures—so-called “silent companions”—that were once owned by his ancestors.
When Wilfred’s charismatic brother, Nathan, arrives unexpectedly from abroad, bringing a very different account of the family’s past, Belinda begins to question what her husband has told her. What really lies behind the sad history of the house?
And are Belinda’s children truly safe here?
Critics Review
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“House of Splinters is everything you would expect from Laura Purcell’s return to the world of The Silent Companions: spine-chilling and malevolent, with the eerie companions making up only a part of a mystery involving family grievances, inheritances, and resentful locals. A twisty, sinister read.”
Rosie Andrews, Sunday Times bestselling author
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“Laura’s books are always an enormous treat, and this one is no exception. It is so beautifully vivid, claustrophobic, and macabre—and it balances the picturesque and the horrifying perfectly…A real pleasure.”
Bridget Collins, Sunday Times bestselling author
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“Laura Purcell’s follow-up to The Silent Companions is everything I wanted it to be. Return to The Bridge, with its eerie wooden companions and sinister happenings around the old house. It’s exactly the right blend of dusty glamour and mystery, and cozy-shiver scary.”
Natasha Pulley, author of The Mars House
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“Perfect for readers who like their historical fiction with creaking floorboards, buried secrets, and a steady sense that the house itself is watching.”
Rome (GA) News-Tribune
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“As a horror fan, you’ve probably already heard of Laura Purcell’s 2017 novel The Silent Companions. Now, nearly a decade later, Purcell is returning with a prequel set one hundred years earlier.”
Book Riot
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“I just love her books!”
Best in Show Books
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Laura Purcell
- Narrator
- Juanita McMahon
- Duration
- 12 hours 45 minutes
- Release Date
- 10 February 2026
- ISBN
- 9798228646063
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Historical fiction, Fiction: general and literary, Horror and supernatural fiction, Horror and supernatural fiction
Synopsis
Named a Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year by The Sunday Times (UK)House of Splinters is the long-awaited prequel to bestselling and multi-award-winning author Laura Purcell’s gothic horror classic, The Silent Companions.Not every house is a home …Belinda Bainbridge has spent her life in the shadow of her anxious mother, so when her father-in-law dies at The Bridge, his remote ancestral seat, she is secretly thrilled. His death means she, her husband, Wilfred, and their children can relocate and finally begin to create their own happy home together: born a merchant’s daughter, she will now be lady of the manor.But their new home quickly proves far from ideal. The garden is a wilderness, the estate is struggling financially, there are whispers about the mysterious death of a servant many years before, while their young son, Freddy, seems unusually fixated on the strange wooden figures—so-called “silent companions”—that were once owned by his ancestors.When Wilfred’s charismatic brother, Nathan, arrives unexpectedly from abroad, bringing a very different account of the family’s past, Belinda begins to question what her husband has told her. What really lies behind the sad history of the house?And are Belinda’s children truly safe here?
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