A review by amalia1985
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 

‘’This is my destiny,’she declared. ‘Just you watch, Kitty. I’ll set that stage on fire.’’

We know that the world of Theatre is fascinating, mystical, terrifying. We know that actors are mercurial, chaotic, obsessed with their calling. Yes, Jenny knows but she has no choice. Her family needs her and, after all, costumes are HER obsession. Not to mention that her ‘protector’, Mrs Dye, is such a nice woman!

Oh, Jenny, Jenny…What have you got yourself into?

Prepare to have your mind, free time, and life taken over by a book. Laura Purcell’s ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE!

Yes, all capital letters because I CAN!

Where to begin? The setting, the imagery, the plot, the characters? We’re talking pure perfection here. A rainy summer welcomes you once you open this astonishing book and transports you to a vibrant, dirty, lusty London. Follow the lead of two brilliant women and become part of the haunting world of Theatre. Jenny and Lilith, named after the controversial figure of the Hebrew culture. The disobedient, the profane, the one driven by her own principles. Jenny is responsible for her costumes, creating a persona, forming a facade right from the start. Stereotypes are strong here, after all. Actresses are women of ‘loose morals’. Even marrying into the business will have you marred in the eyes of society. Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra, Margaret. Women who defied the rules and became symbols of ‘Evil’. Cautionary tales. 

But what salvation is there when you willingly make a pact with the Devil? When all you have left is quoting plays? That’s all your obsession drives you at and Hell is murky…

The writing is glorious, sumptuous, terrifying. From the very start, we are given shocking, dark moments and some are quite hard to stomach. BUT! Laura Purcell turns even the goriest of scenes into sheer, frightening poetry. I adored the way Mythology was inserted in the narrative. The Muses and the Sirens, Mercury, Eurydice, the connections with the Underworld. Mythology is a dark place and Theatre rises up to the challenge. The heart of the book lies in the story of Macbeth, the Cursed Play (which never fails to remind me of the hilarious circumstances taking place in an extraordinarily funny Blackadder episode…) 

‘’I must pay my pound of flesh…and there is no Portia to save me.’’

There is guilt, and death, and obsession. We can be Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff at the same time. We can sacrifice everything for one touch of glory, for a career. You become ‘unwomanly’, ‘unsexed’ and there is a heavy price to pay. Along with the extraordinary plot, Laura Purcell doesn’t refrain from touching difficult themes, from the ‘kept’ and ‘fallen’ woman to abortion. However, your heart will be captivated by the setting with a playhouse, an otherworldly land of darkness, superstitions, and raw emotions. Some believe that Theatre is all about lying and pretending. Far from it. Theatre changes you and lures you into revealing aspects of a self you didn’t know you were hiding inside. Theatre hovers between this tangible world and a land created by poets and Muses and spirit. I loved the reference to the tradition of the Ghost Light, the notion that a light must always remain within an otherwise dark theatre for the spirits of the actors who have passed away. My dad was an actor and can verify that this custom was more than alive even in our time. 

A plot, no matter how ingenious it may be, cannot work independently of its characters. And my God, what characters we have here! Lilith is FASCINATING! I loved her, I want an entire novel about her. Jenny was a refreshing character. Obnoxious and a bit irritating at first, she is no naive young girl (the kind we have often met in Gothic Fiction.) She knows what she wants, she sees right and wrong, and tells it like it is. Mrs Dyer starts as a character you wonder about and slowly becomes the utter fiend she is. Oscar is a charming young man without being superficial. The cast is beyond perfect, the dialogue is brilliant!

My review is all over the place but this novel absolutely floored me. I fell in love with it, I am its slave for eternity. Laura Purcell is one of my absolute favourite writers, I would read her shopping list and consider it poetry, I have read every single novel of hers and adored it but The Whispering Muse is a supernatural, otherworldly experience. 

As if that wasn’t enough, the Acknowledgments section had me wailing in tears. Laura Purcell, why are you so perfect?

‘’Do you think you could tell the difference between the Muse and the Siren Song? One a divine voice calling you to create and the other a lure, pulling you down to destruction? What if…what if they sound precisely the same?’’

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