The Companion

By: Kim Taylor Blakemore

Narrated by: Ann Etter

Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

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....

©2020 Kim Taylor Blakemore (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Ann Etter presents Lucy's distressing story, speaking in a voice that is, by turns, strong, resigned, contemplative, and morose...well written and convincingly presented." (AudioFile)

“A captivating tale of psychological suspense.” (Publishers Weekly)

Didn't finish. The characters didn't move me

The characters didn't move me. The story was not interesting. The sadness of the period, the misery of women was unleavened.

Oooh, my! This was really good!

***An absolute must read!*** Listen, this novel had my undivided attention because I needed to know what happened next. There's so much I want to mention but I don't want give anything away unintentionally. I do however, have several questions about this book and I think this would be a perfect addition to a book club. So much is open to interpretation but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway and the way the novel read was very engaging. I enjoy immersion reading so, I read and listened along. The narrator's voice was perfect for the vibe the storyline gave off and pulled you that much deeper in. I will say this, Rebecca got on my very last nerve as she was like a petulant child. I didn't understand why Gene never referred to her husband by his name, she simply called him husband and Rebecca called him cousin. Lucy, was quite the questionable character and the ending was truly jaw dropping. I need to get some of my friends to read this novel so we can pull it apart in discussion and see how we each perceived the goings on.

So good!

I find myself rationing my listening time because I don’t want the story to end.

Not a fan

I think the performances destroyed what might have been a very good mystery novel. Could be that I just don’t like mysteries but Kim Blakemore made it seem disturbingly ominous. It was just a little too dramatic.

Amazing Book

If you in the fight set off mind this could be disturbing but rhythm of the book is mesmerizing. I should of gotten this in October. I just found it a month late. It has a great story.

Depressing and a little confusing

It was probably meant to have that overtone, but I had a difficult time liking any of the characters and the ending was somewhat anti-climatic and quite sudden. The story had me a little confused as I did not think the telling between flashbacks and the present (for the character narrating the story) was a little muddled and hard to follow. Perhaps that was due to listening to the audible version, there was no heading to indicate where you were in the storyline until after listening to a few sentences. Even the narrator sounded down and did not use much inflection while telling the story, other than inconsistent accents and tones for different characters. Bottom line, just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Good premise but not for me

I agree with what other reviewers have said. The audio book quality was good. But I couldn't get into the plot.