Obsession: the state and control of one's thoughts by a continuous, powerful idea or feeling, or the idea or feeling itself, in a way that is not normal. 'The Silence Factory’ encapsulates obsession in this eerie and engrossing tale. The sense of menace spins its web through the lives of the characters, obsessed with what the magical spider silk might bring. Love, greed, desperation, betrayal, ruination, despair, make for compulsive and haunting reading. The characters and Victorian atmosphere are eloquently depicted, factory life graphic, the settings – Greece, London, rural England – vital. Beautifully written by Bridget Collins, this unusual read lingers, especially the return to kindness and family.
Now to seek out 'The Binding and the Betrayals'.
I received and enjoyed an ARC courtesy of Harper Collins UK and Netgalley, without expectation of a review.

(Content Warnings listed at the end of this review for those who find them helpful)

A captivating and enthralling novel, with gothic undertones and a constant air of mystery erring on the side of the supernatural. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!!

I read another of Bridget Collins' books - The Binding - a few years ago and really enjoyed it, but this latest novel is even better. Darker, much more suspenseful, and with more complex flawed characters. Without giving spoilers, there were some characters so cruel it made me feel physically angry reading their sections, and others so heartbreakingly mistreated that it made me cry. Collins' way with words is also truly enchanting, and at times, gut-punching.

This is a phenomenal book, and it feels almost like a different book when you hit the third act, in a very satisfying way. I should also highlight that Collins portrays queer relationships/attraction very well and I was delighted to find that both in The Binding and in this novel.

I will be recommending this book to everyone - and many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for sending me an ARC (in exchange for an honest review).

I will now list some Content Warnings, so fair warning, minor spoilers ahead:

**Content Warnings**

- Ableism (including multiple incidents towards a deaf child);
- Cancer;
- Child abuse & child labour;
- Drowning;
- Emotional abuse & manipulation;
- Mental health mistreatment (espec acts in the context of 19th century UK treatment of women);
- Miscarriage;
- Spiders;
- Suicide attempt.

The beginning of this book is creepy. Sophie is feeding rats to spiders and is clearly not thinking clearly. These spiders spin silk that cuts out all noise on one side. On the other side, people hear echoes, lose their hearing and their minds. It is malevolent and ruinous, Into this situation comes Henry, a young man grieving the loss of his wife who ends up working for the current owner of the spiders and their silk, Sir Edmund. Henry is drawn into his world and becomes devoted to him, denying the truth of the silk until it is nearly too late. This book was clever and the language is beautiful but I did not enjoy it as much as The Betrayals as I felt less empathy for the main characters. 3.5 stars which I have decided to round up, Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC..

I am a Bridget Collins devoteé and any book she publishes is an immediate must-buy for me. The Silence Factory follows in the footsteps of The Binding and The Betrayals by creating a gothic, eery world which feels at times historically familiar and at others utterly unfathomable. I particularly enjoyed Sophia's story and the Greek-island world which Collins carefully crafts.

As is to be expected from the author this book is cleverly written and extremely compelling. The protagonist Henry is developed cleverly with excellent character progression and depth. The weaving together of different lives and overlapping themes allows interesting foreshadowing and sliding-doors moments. What would have happened to Henry if he'd been granted the life he thought he desired? Would it have echoed Sophia's? These questions kept the pace of the book high without it feeling rushed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

This book is written very vividly, there is a lot going on and there is a real sense of menace and underlying currents of evil. Some of it is very tense indeed. The characters are good and easily distinguished and the time period seems to have been well enough researched. So, it is well written and will be very much enjoyed I think by many people.

I did not enjoy it very much as a read although, as I say, I can see its strengths. I thought it was a bit slow to start with and kept putting it down but as you go on and things become clearer it gets quite engrossing and is all very primal. Some of it is horrifying and really quite upsetting., such as what happens to Lady Celia , the worker children and the animal abuse of the "harvesting" of the silk which made me feel ill. The main problem I had was that i had disturbing dreams about the factory and the singing webs and the spiders and even about these Greek island villages. This is the second book I have read lately about small Greek island villages and their connections to an old, old religion, the navel of the earth, red soil, herbs, caves, blood and all that sort of thing.

So, a 3 from me for actual enjoyment but for its vividness and effect, a 4.

Oppressive, overwhelming and weirdly alluring 4.5/5

I’ve never read this author before, and will be exploring her earlier books. This is assured writing, both horrible and tender, in equal measure.

Set in a dual timeline, something ubiquitous now, and managed well here, this I suppose falls into the categories of both historical fiction, fantasy/speculative, and Victorian (or pre-Victorian Gothic.

The major themes are the position and powerlessness of women to have many choices outside marriage and motherhood in earlier societies, the danger and perils of marriage to unsuitable men, - or indeed, the dangers and perils of obsession with any unscrupulous man. Another theme is the perfidy of individual and collective greed and its legacy in terms of ignoring the rights of others, whether this is capital against labour, British expansionism versus more rustic communities in other cultures or indeed mankind’s belief that it has a right to use the earth itself as something to be exploited for personal profit. There’s also a nod to the end result of greedy individualism leading to totalitarianism. In that, this book seems scarily not quite fantasy

Weighty themes in this book, but the reality of her layered, complex characters, and the intricacies of a carefully woven plot web, are more than able to carry that weight.

One story, or thread, is set in the 1820’s. A thoughtful and likeable young woman keeps a journal about the visit she makes with her fame seeking naturalist husband to a remote Greek island, with a sacred, matriarchal history. The island is also home to a rather extraordinary species of spider.

The second story is a couple of generations later, towards the end of the century, where the kind of excesses and dark shadows of Victorian society which Dickens so often wrote about, are in full flower.

A magnetic and charismatic, and fundamentally hiss-the-villain capitalist, is doing everything to become rich beyond measure. The way this will happen is through exploiting the labour of that rather extraordinary spider species – the spinnings of its webs, yielding something quite remarkable.

The story itself is fabulous, the sense of time and place beautifully evoked, so that the meshing of the real world of Victorian values – both expressed and the shadow side – and the horror Gothic fantasy side, work perfectly together.

The only reason I couldn’t quite rise to unalloyed 5 star was some sense that the major where-everything-unravels-cataclysmic-disaster section felt a little overdone, overblown.

I’m delighted to have been allowed to read this as an ARC, and have immediately bought her first novel. Wonderful writer.

In 1870s London, widower Henry Latimer is working in his father-in-law's shop selling hearing aids. A mysterious customer, who owns a silk factory in the Devon town of Telverton, asks Henry to help his young daughter who has been deaf since birth. Intrigued, Henry takes up his invitation. He travels to the man's big house in Telverton and ends up getting caught in a web of deceit, greed and enchantment.
Henry's story is interspersed with the first person journal of a previous lady of the house, whose sojourn on a Greek island results in the discovery of spiders which spin the most incredible silk. When worked into fabric, the spider silk has a unique property that can bring calming silence or excruciating madness to those exposed to it.
I was spellbound by this novel - more so because I wasn't expecting to like it. I had read one of Collins' previous novels, The Binding, which I was enjoying before it started to get weird. The Silence Factory, however, is streets ahead in its storytelling, quality of writing and characterisation. If you like gothic novels, you will love this. Prepare yourself for an immersive ride. It's definitely got big screen potential written all over it, either as a film or television series. Highly recommended.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this novel.

A very different and unusual premise for a story. A discovery that could silence the world and its people into submission. This is the tale of a man seduced by the promise of wealth and fortune by an unscrupulous entrepreneur. This is a novel of magic, myth and science.

Not my cup of tea at all.

Found the main character of the modern timeline insipid and annoying and whilst the two separate timelines were necessary for this story, the character development of some of the characters in the early time were under developed.

Whilst the story overall was well written, I had to persevere to reach the conclusion rather than really look forward to finding out more.

CW/TW: This book contains themes related to mental health misogyny, child labour and complicity which may be distressing or triggering for some readers.

My Bookish Thoughts 💬
As a fan of historical novels set in Victorian England, I was immediately intrigued by the blend of historical fiction and magical realism in this book. While I found it captivating in many parts and appreciated its relatively fast pace, I couldn't help but feel that some sections could have been more tightly condensed. Nevertheless, I was engrossed by the gradual revelation of the precious silk and its profound impact on the lives of the characters some I fell in love with others I despised as I feel the author intended. The narrative unfolds through a dual timeline: diary entries from a Greek island where the mystical silk originates, and a third-person perspective set in Victorian England. Through these intertwined stories, the novel explores the enduring effects of the magical silk on its various protagonists, while also delving into the complexities of relationships and hidden desires of the era.

💭 Based on the description, what aspect of this upcoming novel intrigues you the most?

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the gifted copy. The Silence Factory will be published on 9th May 2024.

The Silence Factory is a haunting gothic suspense novel revolving around the nature of silence and sound and the impact of greed.

Set in Victorian Britain, we follow Henry Latimer - a widower aurist hired by Sir Edward Ashborne-Percy to restore his daughters hearing. Sir Edward runs a silk factory that weaves the most unusual of silks. After recieving a sample of this silk, Henry begins an obsession both with the silk and it's charming manufacturer. But not all is as it seems and it is up to Henry to unravel the truth.

Like most gothic novels, the plot gets off to a slow start - whispering hints and clues as to the reality the characters are in. However, once it gets going, the payoff is huge. I absoluetly loved the subtle nods to classical gothic literature - the mad woman in the attic, the frankenstienien monsters that were the spiders and their silks to name a few. The dual perspective approach works incredibly well here as we flit between Henry's retelling and the diary entries of Sophia Ashborne-Percy.

A fantastic read for lovers of gothic horror stories!

I can't say this is one of those books where you're hooked from the start.  I felt it was difficult to get into and I found myself re reading the same line over again, and my mind was wondering to anything other than the book.  The blurb intruiged me though and I wanted to read on.
The chapters were quite long, and alternated between Henrys POV, and then Sophias POV in the form of her diary entries.  To start with I preferred Henrys POV but as we went on I started to quite enjoy both parts, but it wasnt long before my mind started to wonder again, and I debated carrying on.
There was nothing wrong with the writing, it was very descriptive and I could easily imagine the places described, but ultimately I found it very slow going and quite boring.  I got to almost 50% and put it on pause for my buddy read and have absolutely no inclinination to pick it back up.  Nothing has really happened yet and I feel like nothing will probably happen until about 90% - I might google the ending just to see what it was all about.  
I cant say I'd recommend this one, especially if you dont like spiders.
Shame because I wanted to like it
DNF

What an astonishing read! Quite unlike anything I’ve read recently and a mesmersing tale which was like stepping back in time. There’s a dual narrative which works really well, but the greatest delight is the writing style which manages to capture all the idiosyncrasies of the Victorian era. The language is very measured and although there are attitudes depicted which would be considered insensitive at best, they really add to the period detail. Bridget Collins has created memorable characters in a very unusual plot line which is mysterious and very creepy in parts. It’s not quite Gothic horror, but there’s often an almost palpable sense of unease and I was spellbound, swept into a different world. Very powerful writing and this story is so clever. Kept me guessing and it’s stayed with me. Loved it.

’”Silence is not only silence, sir, it is attention – it is sanity. It is sleep for infants, medicine for invalids, rest for the working man – it is money for the man who must think or stave.”’

Mesmerising, enchanting, beguiling; ’The Silence Factory’ cast a spell over me and left me utterly entranced from its very first page. Reading this book was like being struck by Telverton silk itself, although it was the world that drifted away from me, rather than sound, as the pages of this book dragged me in and kept me lost within its mesmerising world. As a fan of the author’s debut perhaps that’s not entirely surprising but even so this book left me speechless.

Getting hooked upon this narrative is easy thanks to how beautifully it’s crafted and how vividly it depicts it setting. There’s something about Bridget Collins’ writing that lends itself perfectly to the gothic delights that she pens. And this one; this one was almost like a fever dream at times to read. It’s not surreal – don’t let that description put you off – but it’s simply the way that it gets under your skin and sinks its teeth into you. Reading this book the atmosphere overwhelms you, leaving you totally immersed within all that the characters feel. Which, given the effect of the silk, leads to that haunting experience.

The narrative is split between two perspectives. The main one, Henry’s, is told through his voice and lets you discover Telverton silk as he does. It’s a fascinating storyline to unravel and left me mesmerised throughout. Wrapped around this narrative are extracts from Sophia’s diary back when she and her husband first came across the spiders who create this bewitching silk. And those segments were equally impossible to tear my eyes away from. If the narrative had focused upon either I’d have been delighted but to have both felt like a perfectly precious gift.

The characters are wonderfully well depicted and brimming with life. Everybody felt fleshed out in a believable manner and there wasn’t anyone involved who didn’t leave me intrigued. The more villainous characters of this novel though; goodness they chilled me. There are scenes in both storylines that were uncomfortable to read and made my skin crawl with loathing. That’s how deplorable, yet realistically depicted, some of the darkest deeds are within this book.

Set within a factory in a historic setting this book naturally touches on some of the horrific conditions that people were forced to work in during this time and setting (and yes, it will make you despair and seethe). Similarly it shines a light on colonialism, class divides and sexism in a manner that fits perfectly within the story that is told. The topics are there, and depicted in a way that will inevitably move you, yet not pushed in a way that disrupts the story’s flow.

Finally I just want to say that the ending was beautifully captured. Honestly I long to go into details about exactly how it moved me but won’t due to the spoiler risk. But it fits the narrative perfectly and will certainly make you feel...something.

Altogether I think it goes without saying that I recommend ’The Silence Factory’. It’s a beautiful, beguiling wonder of a book that will swiftly cast its spell over you. The atmosphere is vivid enough to engulf you entirely and the plot will leave you mesmerised throughout. Needless to say I can’t wait to read more by the author.

’I do not know if this is the birthplace of silence, but I am sure that there is something strange here, something of which I should be afraid. But I am not.’

I don’t generally go into depth with triggers (I know that I’ll inevitably overlook one and worry that they can venture into spoiler territory at times) but I do feel compelled to warn readers that this book could be difficult at times for readers triggered by mentions of suicide and/or miscarriage.

I loved Bridget Collins’s first two adult novels The Binding and The Betrayals. They have in common a certain vagueness of place and/or time. The Silence Factory has our protagonist Henry firmly rooted in 1870s England, and his patron’s great aunt Sophia writing a generation before. Her treatment by husband James and attitude to that are very much of their time.
This arachnophobe could have done without silk-spinning spiders, crucial to the action, being introduced on the first page. But they’re not used to creepy effect; it’s their webs and items woven from their silk that are sinister or wondrous. The fabric can completely absorb sound or reflect it back, creating a cocoon of silence or an unbearable echo.
We travel with Henry from London to the West Country, as he becomes smitten with more than the powers of the silk. It suits him to shut out things he doesn’t want to see or to think about, for a time at least. As in her previous novels, Bridget Collins has created a world with a certain je ne sais quoi of atmosphere with an undercurrent of threat. There’s desire and drama and even force majeure, and a reveal near the end I didn’t see coming.

This book was an automatic choice for me for two reasons. Firstly because of the author. Her other books are spellbinding. Secondly, the cover which is wonderful! It did not disappoint. The narrative is told from two time periods and from the points of view of two different characters, another plus from me. It has a gothic and magical atmosphere provided by spiders stolen from a remote Greek Island that spin magic silk able to give complete silence to users. All the ingredients for a cracking good read. Recommended.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This is tremendous - I loved it! Definitely her best yet. A book about silence overlaid with unsettling and eerie nuances. When Henry Latimer volunteers to attend to the young deaf daughter of a notable factory owner he enters a world far removed from his former life in London. A world where strange happenings affect the workers of a silk factory and where dreams and ambitions harbour greed and dangers. I really enjoyed the premise of the plot, the back story of James and Sophia gave a framework to everything that happened to Henry mirroring it in a clever way. Perhaps the ending was suffered from a neat resolution that seemed too tidy after the chaos in the last part of the book but this was a minor thought. A very good read indeed.

My thanks to Bloomsbury and Net galley for this ARC.

Thank you to publishers The Borough Press, NetGalley and the author Bridget Collins, for allowing me to read this fantastic new novel from the aforementioned Ms Collins. It is filled with lots of vibrant characters, some nice and some not so nice, that will live on in your head long after you have finished the book.
I loved the clever concept of a spider-spun silk that can block out all sound, rendering the world silent, and one man’s journey to bring it to the masses…. Albeit the rich masses. When Henry Latimer travels to Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy’s large mansion house, primarily to help Sir Edward’s deaf daughter, Philomel, little does he know what the future has in store for him. We follow every twist and turn of his extraordinary journey from his normal everyday life, to the brink of insanity.
I really liked reading this book. Even though historical-industrial-romance fiction, with a touch of sci-fi thrown in for good measure, was always way outside of my usual comfort zone, I devoured it in just a few sessions. I would recommend it to anyone, and look forward to seeing it on the shelves.

There is a sense of unreality and magic about this book that is compelling, even for a reader who is not usually attracted to such stories. There are two timelines here - the first imagines a lonely woman living on a Greek island in an earlier century with her thoughtless, pompous and very unpleasant husband who cares for nothing but his own standing in society. The second is about Henry, a rather pathetic chap who, having lost his wife and baby in childbirth is working for his father-in-law, supplying the wealthy with hearing implements. Henry is offered the chance to try to give some hearing back to the young daughter of Sir Edward and he travels to Telverton, where Sir Edward is supposedly making huge wealth by weaving magical cloth from spiders’ webs. The same spiders were brought to England by the aforementioned pompous husband of Sophia, which is what links the two storylines. The book is really about the perils of greed, and the rightness of leaving what is good in nature in its rightful place, no matter what opportunities may be offered. I found the book charming, troubling, thought provoking and absolutely entrancing too!

Henry Latimer is working in his father-in-law’s shop which sells a vast variety of auditory equipment when he meets Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy who has come for some help for his young daughter. Henry has recently lost his wife and infant daughter, his wife having died in childbirth.

When Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy asks for a consultation for his daughter, Henry agrees to travel to Devon to see if he has any equipment to help with Philomel’s hearing. After several days Henry has no success in helping Philomel. Ordinarily he would have left Cathermute House at this stage but instead he is plunged into a strange world helping Sir Ashmore-Percy to find investors for the spider silk made at his factory in Telverton. Sir Ashmore-Percy has been making the silk for ten years and is on the verge of losing all his inheritance.

The Silence Factory is a book that draws you in to a mysterious world and takes you back in time to the 1820’s when Edward’s grandfather travelled to Greece with his wife Sophia and discovered a spider whose web had special qualities as it masked all external sounds when made into silk.

Henry is attracted to his employer, Edward and will do anything to win his favour and promote the silk produced at the factory but all is not as it seems at the factory and there are many who are at breaking point because of methods used there. As Sir Edward’s world starts to unravel, Henry starts to realise that the lives of the people of Telverton are worth much more than his employee’s business.
I became so submerged in this book and the ending was really exciting and not at all what I expected.