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The Companion

I’m a huge fan of Gothic and of creepy shit in general, so I was super excited to read The Companion. While this book has Gothic elements, it doesn’t follow the Gothic convention of having the heroine vindicated, and frankly it turned out to be a depressing read in general.

Part of the book takes place in 1855 as Lucy Blunt awaits the verdict of her murder trial. While she is imprisoned, Lucy reflects back on the events that brought her to this place. On the run from her own past, Lucy took a job as a downstairs maid for a wealthy New Hampshire family. As winter settles in and isolates them, Lucy finds herself drawn into a triangle of sex and manipulation between her employer, Mrs. Burton, and Mrs. Burton’s maid, Rebecca.

The slow unfolding of the mystery of how Lucy winds up in prison is well done, and the isolation of a New England winter created a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. Lucy is an unreliable narrator (another Gothic convention) and as the novel progresses Lucy’s complicated past prior to coming to the Burton household is revealed, another divergence from the Gothic tradition of the virginal and naive heroine.

The other ways in which this novel defied Gothic convention and my expectations are difficult to explain without spoiling too much, but what turned me off is

Click for spoilers

…that all of the women in this book begin and end as victims. Most of them are mistreated by men–Lucy’s father and Mr. Burton to name a few, and they are unable to escape the circumstances that trap them in unhappy roles.

As a result I found the book to be incredibly depressing. Typically Gothics offset the gaslighting and trauma the heroine experiences by offering her vindication in the end. In this case, Lucy never gets that vindication, which meant the novel is essentially just a series of events in which she is mistreated. Without justice for her, I walked away from the book feeling depressed. All of the Gothic conventions in the novel led me to expect an ending in line with that genre, and when it failed to appear, I felt let down.

– Elyse

They say she’s a murderess. She claims she’s innocent. But Lucy has been known to tell lies…

1855, New Hampshire. Lucy Blunt is set to hang for a double murder. Murderess or victim? Only Lucy knows the truth.

In the shadow of the gallows, Lucy reflects on the events that led to her bitter downfall—from the moment she arrived at the rambling Burton mansion looking for work and a better life to the grisly murders themselves.

In a mysterious household of locked doors and forbidden affections, Lucy slips comfortably into the shadows, where she believes the indiscretions of her past will remain hidden. But when Lucy’s rising status becomes a threat to the mistress’s current companion, the delicate balance of power and loyalty begins to shift, setting into motion a brewing storm of betrayal, suspicion, and rage.

Now, with her execution looming closer, Lucy’s allies fight to have her sentence overturned as the tale she’s spinning nears its conclusion. But how much of her story can we trust? After all, Lucy’s been known to bend the truth…