House of Splinters

by Laura Purcell · 2025

When widowed patriarch of the remote estate known as The Bridge dies, merchant’s daughter Belinda Bainbridge finally steps into the role of lady of the manor. Eager to forge a happy home for her husband Wilfred and their children, she soon discovers that the crumbling house is anything but welcoming. The overgrown gardens, mounting debts, and rumors of a servant’s mysterious death cast a pall over the family, while young Freddie becomes obsessed with the eerie wooden “silent companions” that once belonged to his ancestors. The arrival of Wilfred’s charismatic brother Nathan, returning from abroad with a starkly different version of the family’s history, forces Belinda to question the secrets her husband has kept. As the past claws its way into the present, she must decide whether the house can ever become a home—or if the shadows lurking within will claim her children.