Title: THE SILENCE
Expected publication: 1 May 2020
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!
“I realised my life was going to be shaped by my husband.
His choices, his decisions. Anything was possible, but only for him.”
Book Description:
It is 1997, and in a basement flat in Hackney, Isla Green is
awakened by a call in the middle of the night: her father phoning from Sydney.
Thirty years ago, in the suffocating heat of summer 1967, the Green's next-door
neighbor Mandy disappeared. At the time, it was thought she fled a broken
marriage and gone to start a new life; but now Mandy's family is trying to
reconnect, and there is no trace of her. Isla's father Joe was allegedly the
last person to see her alive, and now he's under suspicion of murder.
Isla unwillingly plans to go back to Australia for the first time in a decade to support her father. The return to Sydney will plunge Isla deep into the past, to a quiet street by the sea where two couples live side by side. Isla's parents, Louisa and Joe, have recently emigrated from England - a move that has left Louisa miserably homesick while Joe embraces his new life. Next door, Steve and Mandy are equally troubled. Mandy doesn't want a baby, even though Steve - a cop trying to hold it together under the pressures of the job - is desperate to become a father.
The more Isla asks about the past, the more she learns: about both young couples and the secrets each marriage bore. Could her father be capable of doing something terrible? How much does her mother know? What will happen to their family if Isla's worst fears are realized? And is there another secret in this community, one which goes deeper into Australia's colonial past, which has held them in a conspiracy of silence?
Isla unwillingly plans to go back to Australia for the first time in a decade to support her father. The return to Sydney will plunge Isla deep into the past, to a quiet street by the sea where two couples live side by side. Isla's parents, Louisa and Joe, have recently emigrated from England - a move that has left Louisa miserably homesick while Joe embraces his new life. Next door, Steve and Mandy are equally troubled. Mandy doesn't want a baby, even though Steve - a cop trying to hold it together under the pressures of the job - is desperate to become a father.
The more Isla asks about the past, the more she learns: about both young couples and the secrets each marriage bore. Could her father be capable of doing something terrible? How much does her mother know? What will happen to their family if Isla's worst fears are realized? And is there another secret in this community, one which goes deeper into Australia's colonial past, which has held them in a conspiracy of silence?
What attracted me to this book:
Family loyalties.
The legacy of secrets.
The legacy of shame.
It was the cover of THE SILENCE which first attracted my
attention, but Erin Kelly’s description was the thing that sealed the deal for
me: a book that “excavates dark, decades-old secrets buried in human hearts, in
families and in nations.” I can never resist a book about dark family secrets,
and was looking forward to some virtual time travel to the 1960’s, one of the
timelines in this story.
My musings:
What can I say? THE SILENCE was five stars all the way for
me! I filled four pages of my reading journal with quotes, and devoured the
book over the course of a day because I just couldn’t tear myself away.
Straight from the start, we get to know the three compelling, flawed female characters
that are driving the story. Mandy and Louisa, who are two unhappy Australian women
trapped in their boring housewife lives in suburbia during the 1960’s. And
Isla, Louisa’s adult daughter, who will discover some dark family secrets when
the police opens the case of Mandy’s mysterious disappearance.
Set against the backdrop of the terrible events that marked
the era of the “Stolen Generation”, THE SILENCE gives a chilling account of a
woman’s life in Australia in the 1960’s. Both Mandy and Louisa, bright and
vivacious young women, are soon stifled by marriage. They are dependent on
their husbands for everything, and have none of the liberties we now take for
granted, for example being able to have our own bank account, or being allowed
to work, drive a car, travel without the husband’s permission. Steve, Mandy’s
husband, may be loving and kind most of the time, but suffers from bouts of
depression and guilt from his role in removing indigenous children from their
families. Joe, Louisa’s husband, has a dark violent side his daughter still does
not want to acknowledge, but which prompted his young wife to flee back home to
England with her small child during the summer Mandy went missing.
“There were happy times, weren’t
there? Louisa says.
You’re never happy, Isla thinks
[...] “Of course there were”, she says. “But the bad times were really bad.”
THE SILENCE was raw and gut-wrenching and got under my skin
as only few books can. Each character appeared vividly in my mind, their
thoughts, actions and emotions leaving their scars on my psyche. Overall, it
was a sad, tragic story, but so well written and so observant that I was
utterly captivated all the way. Allott’s insights into the dynamics of an
unhappy marriage and the effects on the whole family left a lasting impression,
as was her presentation of a woman’s life in Australia during the 1960’s. It’s
the era my mother would have experienced as a young wife, and I could see an
echo of her among the pages – a bright, independent woman stifled by the
restrictions of her time, and by the person who she loved, her husband. It was
sobering and yet very compelling. I couldn’t put the book down!
And if the personal portrayal of womanhood and marriage
isn’t enough to lure you in, then be assured that there is also a very decent
mystery buried in these pages. The historical background, especially the events
related to Steve, also delivered a sobering message and one that may present a
trigger for readers with indigenous backgrounds, where many generations have
been affected by the events portrayed.
Summary:
In summary, THE SILENCE was a brilliant book, the type that
comes around rarely, containing all the elements of a dark family drama cum
mystery that make for an unputdownable read. I recommend it highly to anyone who
enjoys a multi-layered mystery with compelling characters and a historical
context that stays with you long after you have turned the last page. I can’t
wait to read more from this author in future!
Thank
you to Netgalley and Harper Collins Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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