Review: The Silk House

‘If only these walls could speak’ is often said about old buildings that have an ‘interesting’ history. The silk house is just such a home. Built in the 1760s for the apparently wealthy silk merchant Patrick Hollander and his wife Caroline, the book tells us of the Hollander household, and in particular, their maid Rowan Caswell. It also moves to the present day, where the building is now part of an exclusive boarding school. Thea Rust is starting her first term as a history teacher, and finds herself unsettled by the old building. On researching the house, she discovers that Rowan Caswell was accused of witchcraft, as so many women were if they knew how to use herbs to make medicine and help people. It was a dangerous time for ‘wise women’.

Nunn cleverly entwines these two narratives, and the reader sees echos of the house’s previous life impacting on the present. As Thea researches the history of Silk House, she begins to uncover a wrong that needs to be made right, so the ghosts of the past can be at peace.

The Silk House successfully combines history, mystery and ghost story to create a novel that is both unnerving and thoroughly entertaining.

• Review
• Kayte Nunn