Another fantastic outing for Laura Purcell in this gripping, theatrical drama - fabulous characters, twists and turns aplenty. Deliciously dark and very satisfying -- Rebecca Netley, author of THE WHISTLING

Orphaned and trapped in an abusive marriage, Henrietta Howard has little left to lose. She stakes everything on a new life in Hanover with its royal family, the heirs to the British throne. Henrietta s beauty and intelligence soon win her the friendship of clever Princess Caroline and her mercurial husband, Prince George. But, as time passes, it becomes clear that friendship is the last thing on the hot-blooded young prince s mind. Dare Henrietta give into his advances and anger her violent husband? Dare she refuse? I’d like to thank NetGalley and Bloomsbury for approving me for an ARC of this book. I first came across Laura Purcell when I listened to the audio, The Shape of Darkness, since then I have been collecting her books and couldn’t resist reading this one. I read this with my lovely friend Bex via Storygraph. The book is constructed around a series of plays, each one forming an "Act" of the novel. I'm sure there's some very in depth analysis that could be done around the choice of plays and how they drive the plot of the story, but for me they just felt like they fit it really well. The different tragedies staged in the Mercury showed us different aspects of our stars as things grew progressively more perilous and frightening. Winner of Historical Crime Book of the Year category at The Fingerprint Awards 2022. Shortlisted for an Edgar Award and a Dead Good Readers’ Award. Let Purcell enter us into the dark world of the theatre, where the price of success and fame may be too high to pay. Our main protagonist is Jenny Wilcox, who after being fired from her previous place of employment is hired by Mrs Dyer, wife to the owner of The Mercury theatre in London’s West End, to dress their leading lady Lilith, who’ll play Lady Macbeth in their first ever production of Macbeth. It seems like a dream job, one which will pay a life changing sum of money and finally lift Jenny and her siblings out of poverty. Though, as with anything which seems too good to be true, there is a catch. Mrs Dyer also hires Jenny to spy on Lilith as she suspects she holds some scandalous secrets involving her husband. It isn’t long before Jenny becomes embroiled in an escalating plot of revenge orchestrated by her employer and also must manage Lilith’s ravings of the deal she has made with Melpomene, the tragic Greek Muse. Jenny doesn’t believe in curses, ghosts nor Greek muses, but as dreadful events surrounding the theatre begin to unfold, her reasoning wavers. What once felt like a dream soon transforms into a nightmare.Obsession plays a large role in this book, and is shown through multiple lenses. We have Mrs Dyer, obsessed with bringing down Lilith and determined to do whatever it takes to ensure that happens, and Lilith herself who is so incredibly obsessed with not only performing, but ensuring that she goes out and gives the performance of a lifetime every time she steps on the stage, but both of these characters share one, large obsession, which brings them only darkness and danger and death. Purcell shows just how encompassing obsession can be and how, once we loose focus on it, our world can come crashing down around us, making us a mere shell of who we were before. Purcell blends the magical with the mundane brilliantly, ensuring were never quite sure who is behind the tragic goings on at the theatre, and leaving it open enough for our imaginations to run wild. The Whispering Muse isn’t necessarily creepy or scary like The Silent Companions, although there definitely are a few moments, but it’s dark, gothic and unashamedly unsettling. When Jenny is offered the job of dressing the heroine of Mercury theatre by Mrs Dyer, the wife of the owner, she has every reason to be grateful. Jenny's brother Greg had a bad parting with The Mercury and Jenny is struggling to make ends meet and care for her three younger siblings. This opportunity is a god's gift, and so what if Mrs Dyer wants Jenny to spy on the leading lady Lilith? But as the story progresses, Jenny realises that she has bitten more than she can chew and is soon hanging between the two women, in turn liking and hating both these complicated characters. And then there's the muse and her curse which Jenny feels is destroying Lilith as well as The Mercury. But what can a lowly dressmaker do but watch them all burn? The Whispering Muse is everything that Gothic horror should be. It’s haunting, eerie, and compulsive. A cautionary tale that you should never underestimate a woman’s ability to exact revenge. Set at the Mercury Theatre in Victorian London, Miss Jennifer Wilcox accepts a job offer from Mrs Dyer, the wife of the Mercury's owner. Fallen on hard times - the cause of which is revealed later - Jennifer must provide for her family and despite being brought low by her circumstances, eagerly accepts the position of dresser. Jennifer will need to make and mend all of the costumes, style hair and organise the accessories for the leading actress at the Mercury.

Kyriazis, Stefan (1 August 2014). "The dirty lives of Georgian women". Express.co.uk . Retrieved 11 May 2023. Melpomene. One of the many tragic muses etched into Greek mythology, one who feeds on misery, tragedy, misgivings, a being so heinous that anyone careless enough to draw inspiration from such a creature shall only end up driving themselves mad. Jenny Wilcox is a character you immediately feel sympathy towards, she is desperate, selfless and therefore easily manipulated. Her life has clearly not been easy, abandoned by her father and left in debt by her brother, Jenny must provide for her younger siblings, one of whom has a disability. With very little choices in life for an unmarried woman, she makes do with whatever coin she can earn. It’s easy to see why she agrees to Mrs Dyer's offer, even when her requests become increasingly immoral. Lilith, though more complexly flawed, brazen and more ambitious than Jenny, also comes across as desperate. The way Lilith clings to the idea of Melpomene and her promise of all her desires coming true, shows us that she is desperate too but not just for wealth. Lilith is lonely and is seeking love and adoration by any means necessary. Laura Purcell has done it again. An actress sells her soul for fame and success. Dripping in atmosphere, gloriously gothic' -- Erin Kelly, Sunday Times bestselling author of He Said/She Said Lilith, the lead actress is desperate to have a taste of the good life, to become an actress so ethereal, so beloved, that people will adore her for eternity. Enter Melpomene and with a pact firmly in place, Lilith soon becomes infamous yet she must remember the shadow that begins to turn her world darker will only make her more and more hungry for things beyond her reach, even when those around Lilith try to warn her about what lurks in the shadows.

In desperate need of employment, Jenny takes up a job as a dresser at the Mercury Theatre. However, the post comes with strings attached, in that she must spy on the lead actress, Lilith. The latter is a true artiste, with a demanding nature, and a secret that threatens Jenny's employer. As events unfold, this becomes a story of superstition and revenge, with a range of startling deaths to match. For those interested in retellings of Greek mythology, such episodes as this one, the rape of Caenis and the grubby denouement of the argonauts' enchanted sojourn on the all-female isle of Lemnos will make The Whispering Muse essential reading. Whether it truly gels as a novel, and whether it achieves the right balance between arch drollery and moral seriousness, I don't know. The main test of a book like this is not how incisively one can analyse it, but whether it lingers in the mind and takes root there. Give it a year, or 3,000, and let's see.