A superb gothic tale that had me reading into the night. About a family that owns a wallpaper company. Does not sound that intriguing but OMG it is. The colourful pigments they use to bring their beautiful designs to life are laced with arsenic and it is deadly. How much does the company really know. A captivating read with a very dark side, loved it!!!!!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

4.5*

This was a delightfully tense and claustrophobic read! I ended up reading it far too late knto the night and then imagining all kinds of things coming from the walls...

One of the best things here has to have been the ominous atmosphere throughout, that kepg me on edge while reading, constantly waiting for the increasing tension to take over, and putting together the various hints about the past.

I also especially appreciated the grayness of the morality here. Written in a first person narration, in the perspective of a character normally presented as sympathetic and who is in many ways Good in her behaviour to her brother, the book still allows the reader to see the negative sides and her many faults and blindness. Can the villain here be sympathised with too? I found the complexities and depth here very enjoyable to delve into.

A truly gripping and haunting tale.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC*

The Company is a darkly, gothic tale set against the emerging controversy of arsenic being used in wallpapers. Its key themes of power, duty and grief are presented via the voice of a young daughter, battling to care for her family after upheaval in their business. Lucy’s lived a sheltered, privileged life, yet possesses a quiet strength having faced numerous, unimaginable obstacles.
As yet another tragedy strikes, gentleman Julian Rivers appears in the guise of her family’s latest saviour. At first Lucy’s relieved, however, it doesn’t take long before she questions whether their motivations align. Both her naive mother and increasingly fragile brother are quickly beguiled, but are they as be-spelled as the hallucinogenic arsenic infused wallpapers they’ve built their legacy on? With skeletons of her own, can Lucy herself be trusted?

Aside from "The Yellow Wallpaper", I don't think I've read another book where wallpaper features so heavily. "The Company" by JM Varese manages to weave this potentially dry subject into a real Victorian gothic horror. Arsenic may have caused many delusions and deaths but the character of Mr Rivers was a suitable gothic baddy. So glad he got his just deserts at the end. Good stuff.

This is an unusual book, telling the story of a family wallpaper business when the colourful pigments were made with arsenic. There is a good brooding atmosphere throughout, which builds to a tense climax but I would have preferred the story to be less obtuse and more clear; many things are hinted at rather than directly said.

London, 1870.

Lucy Braithwhite lives a privileged existence as heir to the fortune of Braithwhite & Company - the most successful purveyor of English luxury wallpapers the world over. The company's formulas have been respected for nearly a century, but have always remained cloaked in mystery. No one has been able to explain the originality of design, or the brilliance of their colours, leaving many to wonder if the mysterious spell-like effect of their wallpapers is due simply to artistry, or something more sinister.

When Mr Luckhurst, the company's manager, and the man who has acted as surrogate father to Lucy and her invalid brother John since they were children, suddenly dies, Lucy is shocked to discover that there is no succession plan in place. Who will ensure that the company and her family continue to thrive?

The answer soon arrives in the form of the young and alluring Julian Rivers, who, unbeknownst to Lucy and John, has been essential to the company's operations for some time. At first, he seems like the answer to their prayers, but as Lucy begins piecing together Julian's true intentions, and John begins seeing spectral visions in the house's wallpaper, it becomes clear to Lucy that she must do everything within her power to oppose the diabolic forces that have risen up to destroy her family.

The Company
by J.M. Varese
Pub Date: 16 Mar 2023

Set against the backdrop of the real-life arsenic wallpaper controversy of the late 19th century, The Company is a dark and haunting slice of gothic Victoriana, following one woman's fight to preserve all that she holds dear.

PRAISE FOR THE COMPANY

'A chilling gothic thriller...The story creeps up on you much as the patterns in its poisonous wallpapers do: entrancing, entwining, and entrapping' Hollis Seamon, author of Corporeality

'Varese brings to life the true grittiness of 19th-century London with great enthusiasm, combining historical fiction with a feel for the gothic thriller' Amanda Foreman, author of The Duchess

'The Company creeps up on its readers before it so splendidly pounces. The new master of suspense has arrived' John Bowen, author of Other Dickens

This is my favourite book I've read so far this year!

I read a lot of gothic historical fiction and this is one of the best of the genre I've ever read, the writing is sublime, the characters are flawed and complicated, the tension is high and I loved absolutely everything about it!

This is based on the real life scandal surrounding arsenic in wallpaper in the late 19th century, Braithwaite & Company are a very successful manufacturer of luxury wallpapers, but within their dazzling designs lies a dark and dangerous secret, which some of the Braiwthwaite family have known about for some time.

The family are supported by Mr Luckhurst, the company's manager who gives his all to the family and the company but following his death, the charming Mr Rivers takes over, and the family can never imagine the danger this will bring to each of them.

This had me hooked from the very first pages and I've raced through to the dramatic conclusion. I very rarely re-read a book, but this is one I'll treat myself to picking up again in future!

I’ve been interested in the Victorian arsenic wallpaper craze for a long time, but haven’t read about it in fiction before.

The Company hits a lot of the classic Gothic tropes really well: the big house, inexplicable illnesses, handsome mysterious strangers, a possible curse, madness, and an isolated young woman, which are always enjoyable.

However, something felt missing - the tension builds brilliantly at the end but the protagonist takes a lot of leaps of thought that the reader is excluded from, which feels strange when they are privy to the rest of her internal monologue.

When it comes to making the reader feel just a bit uneasy, slightly itchy and dreading things to come, Varese is a master of the art. Giving just enough away, hinting at things and giving disconcerting snippets of hindsight, it is enough to make you sit up and pay close attention to what is about to unfold.
The Braithwhite wallpaper company, a fine example of Victorian entrepreneurship, has just lost its formidable manager. To the family’s great relief, a protégé of said manager, seemingly well-versed in handling the company’s affairs, has just introduced himself. Huzzah….and yet there is something niggling about this “saviour” - a handsome, charming and not overtly creepy version of Uriah Heep.
A book needing a patient reader.

This was an interesting, offbeat gothic Victorian novel about the heiress to a wallpaper company. I had never heard of the arsenic wallpaper scandal and what a fascinating and perfect backdrop for a gothic novel. There was a sense of unease throughout the novel and I wasn't always sure what was going on and felt like things were just out of my grasp/understanding, which is a fitting feeling for a gothic novel.

This book was inspired by real case of arsenic wallpaper.
I have already heard about the topic and am interested in it, so I wanted to see how it can be made into a novel. I find the idea of a gothic novel and a journal/ memories very appealing. Unfortunately the way the author has written this book didn’t really work for me. It was not really suspenseful and I couldn’t identify with the characters, they seemed quite one dimensional for me. I liked the style though, it was really fitting the atmosphere and the time it takes place in.
For me it’s 3 and half stars.

"When the world saw Braithwhite and Company, it saw the picture of our family-generations of artisans and entrepreneurs who had changed the very conception of what a house's walls could be. It saw bright colors and daring strokes and jungles of exotic patterns, and the luxuries shared by royalty...there were papermakers...accountants...office clerks...the miners down in Devon who blasted precious copper from the ore in our mines and extracted all manner of things to be used in our pigments." "Wallpapers made our triumph and our downfall."

When the abandoned Braithwhite house in Devonshire reopened, an "abomination" was discovered. Lucy Braithwhite's journal, written around 1870, recounting the family history, were unearthed as well. Lucy described her two family homes; the fashionable London house and the Devonshire dwelling with its nearby moors where she would frolic with older brother, John and younger brother, Tom.

"As a child, I was the one afraid of the paper...a disgrace to father's memory. The daughter of a Braithwhite, in a room without wallpaper...my skin itched...my eyes burned...the sight of so many vines...the glare of all those little birds...I had irregular outbursts and my visions."

"We trusted Mr. Luckhurst above all others." Upon father's death, Mr. L took charge, seeing himself as guardian of the company. "He did not always want to see what was right there in front of him because he lived...strictly according to the rules...In the end, that did not serve any of us well." Ten years prior, eight year old Tom Braithwhite had died. Cause of death-unspecified. Ten years prior, a mining accident. A narrow shaft necessitated the use of children to enter the mine. A haunting memory of children killed.

Mr. L had assumed the role of running both houses for eighteen years. Upon his death, his "protege", Julian Rivers stepped into the role by displaying an air of trust and business acumen. Julian claimed that Mr. L was like a father to him. How had such as "asset" as himself gone undetected by the family? It was a shocking thing that a "man from nowhere"...could understand the company-and our family-so well." "...no one would ever be able to truly understand the things we experienced in our own house."

"The Company" by J.M. Varese is a gothic, historical thriller taking place in 19th century England. The medical profession was starting to write about the health hazards of wallpaper colored with formulas containing arsenic, green being the most potent color. "Our beautiful paper...I can see it now...how I loathe what I would need to become, but even then there was no stopping it."

Thank you John Murray Press/Baskerville and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was good!

Such a ripe gothic tale with traces of arsenic on wallpaper...

A real life scandal. I have googled it a bit since and what a story? Children licking wallpaper though -that was strange. People living in houses would get poisoned from the fumes or the traces of it when they touched the wallpaper apparently. People in the factories who made the dyes for the paper would suffer.

The book talks of this but there is a very strange man at the centre and when the big boss of the wallpaper company dies, he comes a callin...but is he who he says he is...

Dramatic and gothic. Loved it.

Creepy Victoriana seems to be one of my favourite genres these days, and this fantastic novel hit the spot. I found myself wrapped up entirely in this tale about, of all things, wallpaper! I knew only a little about the arsenic poisonings but The Company helped me learn so much more and kept me hugely entertained at the same time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of the book.

I finished this book feeling so confused. I honestly can't tell you what has happened in the 300 plus pages I've read.

At times, I felt I'd missed something in this book, and I was left a bit puzzled. Maybe it was too subtle for me?
There was a lot of good in it too... some slightly sinister parts.
I enjoyed the writing style, and there's some great descriptive passages.
It's an enjoyable read.

Compelling gothic narrative that reframes the tropes of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘Yellow Wallpaper’ to great effect.