Ahoy there mateys! The spiders, magical silk, and historical setting made me excited to read this novel.  Unfortunately, the annoying characters, bizarre plot, and real lack of use of both the magical spiders and silk led this book to walk the plank!  The premise was very interesting but the author failed to use the existing elements satisfactorily.  I expected a fantasy book and this barely fit the bill.

The book has two timelines.  The first is set in 1820 where a scientist and his wife are on a remote Greek island to look for rare spiders.  The second takes place several decades later.  A silk is made from the rare spiders and it has unusual properties.  An audiologist is introduced to the silk and gets involved with the factory owner to make the silk world renown.

The majority of the plot focuses on the second timeline.  Henry, the audiologist, is the the main point of view.  He was extremely frustrating.  A lot of his plot involved queer longing for his employer which got tedious.  He is incredibly self-absorbed and willfully ignorant.  He makes excuses for the factory owner's evilness over and over again.  The other viewpoint deals with the scientist's wife in the form of her diary.  She is a more sympathetic character but also excuses her abuser husband repeatedly.  There are annoying viewpoints on how the husband is always right, non-white people are superior, and self-absorption in her obsession for a child.  There is also an uncomfortable lesbian relationship due to its build up and resolution.

Besides the awful characters, there are too many unnecessary or odd plot elements.  ***Here be slight spoilers.***  Henry's audiologist background is used to get him to the factory town and never really touched on again.  The factory owner's deaf daughter and governess appear periodically but to no real purpose.  The town is also filled with deaf factory workers as a plot device for attempted murder.  There is a factory manager with a secret laboratory that is used as a side plot towards the end of the book with the real use of the silk i.e. total mind control and/or torture.  But how the mind control worked was nonsensical.  There is a flood subplot to remove the evil factory.  There is a dead character who turns up magically alive at the end. Ugh.

Then comes the spiders.  The silk mind control subplot was awful enough.  However the silk was supposed to cause psychosis or deafness or pain when facing one side and complete silence when facing the other.  It may also cause birth defects.  But the author failed to explore the uses of the silk on any practical level.  Basically the main use was curtains.  The bad effects never seemed consistent and seemed used only to shock the reader i.e. torture. Some people get headaches and can take a medicinal pill.  Some lose their minds.  The majority go deaf.  Henry never seems overly concerned with these elements of the silk.  Why was he so mesmerized by the silk other than as a plot device?  Also if the spiders were gods on the Greek island with seemingly magical properties, why did that disappear in England with them just regular spiders?  These spiders and their silk had such possibility and sat in the background.

Ultimately, I do not recommend this book for anyone.  The major ideas that could be explored i.e. capitalism, classism, industrial conditions, treatment of children, white-savior complex, use of sign language etc. are not discussed or used in any compelling or engaging way.  This walks the plank and good riddance.  Arrr!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for me honest musings.