The Company
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The Company
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Narrated by:
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Beth Eyre
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By:
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J.M. Varese
About this listen
'[A] stunning Gothic chiller' Irish Times
'Diabolically good . . . J.M. Varese's gothic tale is sinuously elegant and claustrophobic as deadly Victorian wallpaper' Kate Griffin, author of Fyneshade
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.
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.
'A chilling gothic thriller . . . entrancing, entwining, and entrapping' Hollis Seamon, author of Corporeality
'Varese brings to life the true grittiness of 19th-century London' Amanda Foreman, author of The Duchess
'Every page of The Company is full of atmosphere . . . While it is hard to say whether a book will become a classic, I believe this one is destined for it' The Gothic Wanderer blog
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What listeners say about The Company
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Francine
- 08-09-24
Bit dull 😞
The biggest issue for me, is that you can hear the narrator swallowing constantly. I have listened to another book with the same narrator and she did it on that book too 🙄. It is possible I was too focused on this to enjoy the book 🤦🏻♀️
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr. R. E. Towers
- 26-12-23
Intriguing Victorian gothic horror
This is an intriguing 19th century gothic horror following a family-owned luxury wallpaper company and its dirty dealings. The story's narrator in Lucy Braithwhite, the clever daughter of the family who is slowly unravelling the company's sordid history and its impact on the family.
We join the story following the death of Mr Luckhurst the company's manager and family father figure. He held things together since the death of Lucy's father in strange circumstances.
We discover that Braithwhite & Company have secret formulas which give the wallpaper its brilliant colours enabling it to outshine all the competition. But the paper contains arsenic which is slowly poisoning its customers. The family derives the ingredients from Devon mines where children toil until the mine collapses killing many of them.
As a child Lucy was repulsed by the sinister wallpaper with its exotic and hideous bird design and insisted that it be removed from her bedroom. But her younger brother died and her older brother has a mystery illness making him incapable of taking over the family business. Obviously, Lucy can't run the business as a mere woman and her brother is labelled an invalid.
To the rescue comes Mr Julian Rivers, a handsome and charismatic young man who has been with the company a number of years under the tutelage of the late Mr Luckhurst. But there is something not quite right about Mr Rivers, he insists that he is a humble servant of the family and the company, stepping in at the time of crisis, keeping arsenic stories out of the newspapers and expanding sales into the lucrative American market.
Only Lucy has sussed Mr Rivers as being an insincere and unprincipled character while her brother John and her permanently exhausted and useless mother believe Mr Rivers to be their saviour.
Both Lucy and her brother John are plagued by terrible visions of suffering children and Lucy is the only one who can piece together what has been going on and stop the dark forces.
This is a wonderfully dark Victorian gothic horror, with child exploitation, poisoning, class division and corruption. It is creepy, haunting and claustrophobic. It is based on a real-life arsenic wallpaper scandal.
Beth Eyre is excellent in the reading.
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