Historical suspense at its best. Wonderfully written characters.

Lucy Blunt steps right off the page as we try to discern her innocence or guilt.

Nicely done. I strongly recommend for those who love historical novels with a large dose of suspense.

*Many thanks to Kim Taylor Blakemore, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest opinion.*
This is an interesting offering by Ms Blakemore that held my attention throughout. It is 1855 and we re told a story of a young woman, Lucy Blunt, who is about to be hanged for a double murder. Just days before the execution, Lucy recalls her life, and we are given some snippets of information which allow us to get deeper into Lucy's mysterious background and her life, however, she is an unreliable narrator and there is a lot of doubt on the side of the reader.
I am all for unreliable narrators, and I think Lucy is definitely one of the best I have met recently. We learn only what Lucy wants us to learn, which I find interesting as it leaves a lot to my interpretation of the character. I certainly felt sorry for her but could not bring myself too like her. She is definitely a survivor and I liked this stamina of hers.
The complicated relationships Lucy gets into are intensified by the nearly gothic-like of the premise, a house in New Hampshire, and the winter time in which the main thread of the story takes place.
The idea for the novel is not unique, still I think Ms Blakemore managed to write an interesting and atmospheric novel which I recommend.

The Companion is a dark, atmospheric novel set in the mid-1800's. It tells the story of Lucy Blunt, imprisoned for murder and sentenced to die by hanging. Lucy is the narrator and alternates between her time in prison awaiting death, and the events leading up to her conviction.

Set it Harrowboro, NH, Lucy arrives at the home of Josiah Burton and his wife Eugenie, to replace the recently deceased Mary Dawson as a servant. Though the house is huge, there is a small staff to tend to all the chores; cook, Mr. Beede, John Friday who cares for the stalls, Rebecca (cousin of Josiah and companion to Mrs. Burton), and now Lucy.

Days are long and filled with work. Rebecca is very protective of her enhanced status among the servants as companion to Eugenie and she is very watchful of Lucy lest Mrs. Burton take note of her. Her jealousy makes her one not to be trusted. But Lucy admits she, herself, is not to be trusted either. She is used to doing whatever it takes to survive and get ahead. Manipulations abound in the household, and relationships are not always as they seem.

Due to her character, Lucy is an unreliable narrator. The reader must discern what is true and what is not. The author is prosaic in her writing style, and good on creating the dark, boding atmosphere.
Steadily paced, this is an enjoyable read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read a copy of The Companion in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Companion was pleasantly not what I had expected. I was quite unsure how the MC would be reflected. The story line left me consistently wanting more to answer my numerous "why" questions. A pleasant average read. Well written.
I had hoped for more character development regarding descriptions and even more to their back stories. The flashbacks were a bit harder to keep up with, so consistent and with the various incidents and lacking of more back story to support said incidents. Overall, it was a decent starter mystery, but not necessarily one that I would be jumping to buy.

A compelling, dramatic, crime and passion type novel. But not what you might expect. Lucy Blunt describes her journey, as a woman on her own, from a comfortable childhood to the gallows. The author reaches right into the character to bring to life the historical details, the personal detail and the injustice of female lives. Well written intertwined narratives, explore the domestic interactions of survival and loyalty.

Lucy Blunt is traveling to a brand new place of employment. Hoping to start over her life she has a new identity and a pocket full of false references. However, the new household is a strange one. Doors are locked, people dodge around subjects, and the mistress of the house is seen roaming around unannounced. Consequently, as Lucy gets more acquainted at her new job, other employees begin to feel their position threatened. As time goes on, Lucy finds herself in a position she didn't believe she could ever be in, and now she's faced with two accounts of murder.

I was rather excited to read this book when I read the description. It had several hit points for me, murder, 19th century drama, etc, however, this novel didn't do it for me. I had a hard time getting into the story line, and I found it hard to pay attention. The fact that this book parallels with the ending also leads out a lot of the plot and therefore, the suspense. I felt like it was pointless to keep reading because I already know how the book ends. The characters have very little development too throughout the novel. None of them seemed to grow with the plot, you knew who they were right away and that never changed. I might just not be in the right head space for this novel at the time, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!

Rate: 2/5

Fiction

Pages: 290

Author: Kim Taylor Blakemore

This one is a hard one to review because as I was reading, I kept thinking I had read a very similar book lately and this was true. A book released earlier this year is very much along the same storyline, but I did feel this one was a better read.
The description gives most of the details so I’ll give the pros and cons.
Pros: The descriptions of the people, the dress, and the buildings were spot on, I could feel the wintry cold, picture the little stairways they climbed and the doors being locked. The storyline was good, we had suspense, intrigue, mystery, and the way it was written you wanted to keep reading to find out what really happened.
Cons: The book has chapters, but inside these chapters, you switch between Lucy speaking in prison or speaking as a maid, several times I would have to backtrack and figure out which timeline I was reading. I found this very confusing, even if it would have had a separator of some sort or if it listed the place and date, that would have been helpful.
But all and all I enjoyed the book and if you haven’t read the other one that is just like this one, you may enjoy it more.
I was given an advanced copy from Lake Union Publishing through Net Galley for my honest review, this one gets 4 stars.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

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

I never settled into the story and just barely grasped the edges of it. The ending was less than an ending.

2.75 stars

I had a hard time getting into this storyline, but I pushed through and thought the story was good. It was an Incredible plot line with interesting characters. I would have preferred the timeline to be less jumpy but overall I very much enjoyed it. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #thecompanion

This book is very much worth reading. I enjoyed the two stories/timelines running alongside. I think the author did a good job to keep the tension up throughout the book, keeping me invested in the story and the characters.
Well written. I've given it three stars but would have liked to give it 3.5.

Hmmmmm.......

The Companion, initially, had me sitting in surround sound with the beautiful prose and descriptors depicting an extremely harsh winter in New Hampshire in 1855. I revisited sentence after sentence to savor the lush use of words and selected phrases to describe the rawness of the setting. Kim Taylor Blakemore sees to it that you've become immersed in this story.

Lucy Blunt knocks heavily on the door of the Burton home. It's opened by Cook who begrudgingly leaves her hot stove to allow Lucy to enter. She's to take the place of Mary, the previous maid. Mary met with a horrendous fate. She was found a short distance from the house drowned in the creek........a frozen creek I might add.

Lucy carries letters of recommendation with her tucked deeply into her bag if needed. But she soon is taken into the inner chambers of Eugenie Burton, the blind lady of the house. When Rebecca, the original companion of Eugenie takes ill, Lucy is slipped into her companion position. And here is where things become tangled and complicated.

Blakemore doles out snips and pieces of Lucy's previous life. She's an intricate little thing with quite the backstory. Then Blakemore catapults us into the following months where Lucy sits in the squalor of the New Hampshire State Prison about to be hanged for murder......murder she insists that she didn't commit. The avenues are a bit muddled as we readers try to unpack what may be true from what definitely is not true. And there's quite a lot to sort through here which bogs down the original opening version of the story. It soon becomes overkill. (Did I actually say that?)

Kim Taylor Blakemore is a gifted writer. I would welcome her next book with open arms. This one suffered from too much unnecessary detail and multiple rabbit holes. The clean lines of this story were enough. Sometimes heavy lifting becomes just that.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to Kim Taylor Blakemore for the opportunity.

I received a copy of The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore courtesy of Netgalley. I rated it four stars because Goodreads does not allow half stars. Otherwise, I would have rated it 3 1/2 stars.. It is a very well written historical fiction novel. The novel is set in the mid-19th century. The main character, who is charged in a double murder, is Lucy Blunt. Lucy tells her story and it is left to the reader to decide her guilt or innocence. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction, unreliable narrators, and mystery will enjoy The Companion.

I’m not entirely certain that I would classify this novel as Historical Fiction. It’s set in 1850s MA, but it wasn’t as though there was any time spent on that era, other than describing the weather. I’m in 2019 MA, and I can tell you, the weather hasn’t changed.

At any rate, this is the story of murderess (perhaps)/maid, Lucy Blunt. From the beginning, it’s a dual narrative between her time in prison and the events that led her there. The story dragged for about 80% of it. The writing and pacing seemed to finally come together near the end, when the author rapidly switched between the narratives. Lackluster ending, not a recommendation from me.

This was a DNF for me about 45% through. The genre wasn’t for me; I thought it would be, but it wasn’t a good fit. I was irritated from the line in chapter two “The front legs dangled stiffly”. Can something dangle stiffly? The book clearly set a tone of cold and dreary weather, but I wasn’t able to relate to the character or see any hope in her future. I would rate this book a one; however, since most my issue was it not being a genre match I’ll try to be more fair and give it a three.

A great tale for the wintertime. Our story follows Lucy, a one-time maid and thought to be a murderess. The tale unwinds and all of the beautiful descriptions of the 19th century Eastern seaboard makes it almost possible to smell the snow and wood burning. I kept having to remind myself this wasn't based on a true story as I would try to research more about the characters. I was peculiarly drawn to the story of the mistress and found myself thinking about the story outside of my reading hours. A treat for the mind!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a haunting, dark read. Lucy Blunt in the beginning is set to hang for two murders. It takes you back and forth between when she's in prison to when she's working for the Burton's as their maid. I found the characters all likeable but Aurora and the mysterious Dr. Finch.
The story is fascinating and hard to put down until the end. Yes it was another very late in the morning read. I had to see what happened!
You won't be sorry picking this book up to read.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

The Companion gives us a mystery wrapped in a historical setting with an unreliable narrator. Lucy Blunt has been sentenced to death for the murder of two individuals. We hear from Lucy, both in the “present”, 1855 New Hampshire, as she sits in jail awaiting her execution, and the past, as she tells us the story of how it all came to be. We have no clue as to whether she’s guilty. We don’t even know initially who the victims are.

Blakemore does a good job of keeping the reader off balance, as well as setting the scene. It’s a dark, haunting story. Who to believe?

The pace is languid, at times I felt it dragged. While I wanted to know if Lucy was truly guilty, I can’t say I was fully invested in this book. The book features an ambiguous ending, so if that sort of thing bothers you, steer clear. I enjoyed that Blakemore left it to the reader to determine what truly transpired. Readers who enjoyed FIngersmith will probably enjoy this one.

My thanks to netgalley and Lake Union for an advance copy of this book.

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about The Companion. There are a lot of things I really enjoyed about it, but just something that didn't quite click for me personally when, by rights, I should have adored it.

The Companion is a really good piece of historical fiction and Blakemore clearly knows her stuff.

The period details were incredibly rich and believable. Combined with the writing -- which was immersive and beautifully atmospheric -- the author has created an oppressive, claustrophobic feeling that runs throughout the novel, whether during Lucy's confinement in her prison cell or when wandering through the halls of Eugenie's home. What really happened is kept as a mystery throughout, and because Lucy is quite an unreliable narrator, I was was on the edge of my seat right up to the end, desperate to know exactly what had happened in the house between the three women.

I particularly liked Lucy as a character. I'm not sure she's going to be for everyone. I love the unreliable narration -- which I thought was pulled off very well -- and I'm always a sucker for a complicated or seemingly unlikeable protagonist.

I can't quite put my finger on why I can't rate The Companion higher. Although I really wanted to know Lucy's secrets and the truth, I found the last couple of dozen pages a bit of a chore. I'm not sure if the book just needed to be cut down a tad or whether it was just the mood I was in.

I wouldn't want to put people off reading The Companion. I think if you like historical fiction or literary mysteries then this will be a great fit for you. I think it would be particularly suited to fans of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace or Laura Purcell's The Corset.

3.5-4 Stars

I don’t often read historical fiction, but the synopsis for this book instantly drew me in. I really liked the author’s style of writing and the story had a bit of an “Alias Grace” vibe which I enjoyed.

While I felt invested in the storyline overall, I thought the end was a bit rushed. There was so much buildup to the truth being revealed, and once it finally was and Lucy’s fate was determined, it left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is a fan of historical fiction. The writing is engaging and kept my attention throughout, I just wish there had been a bit more at the end to bring it all together.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3054294804

Right from the start there is an atmospheric air of mystery and bleakness in The Companion. We are introduced to Lucy, who is set to hang for a double murder of her employer and maid. Told in two time lines and narrated by Lucy, we are given glimpses into her life and the events leading up to her arrest. With small clues dropped along the way by an unreliable character, we try to determine if she is guilty or wrongly accused.

Overall a well written book with an interesting story but, I was left me with some questions at the end as well as divided feelings of dislike and sympathy for the characters. I’m honestly a bit torn on this one. I feel like this could have been more and some of the content just didn’t fully convince me. 3.5 ⭐️