The Silence

A Novel

De: Susan Allott

Narrado por: Melle Stewart

Combining the emotional power and dual narrative style of Before We Were Yours with the nuanced, layered, and atmospheric mystery of The Dry, a powerful debut novel revolving around a shocking disappearance, two neighbor families, and shameful secrets from the past that refuse to stay buried.

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 Greens’ next-door neighbor Mandy disappeared. At the time, it was thought she had 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 this 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 that goes deeper into Australia’s colonial past, that has held them in a conspiracy of silence?

Deftly exploring the deterioration of relationships and the devastating truths we keep from those we love, The Silence is a stunning debut from a promising literary star.

©2020 Susan Allott (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Amazing plot, very mid delivery.

I loved the storyline but the narrator was tough to listen to. She paused for too long in between each character and it threw me off.

Fantastically done!

I am so thankful to have found this book. It’s very difficult to find something different these days. The narration and narrative were one of the good ones. I hope her other novels are similar. I have looked at the author and only see 2 other books on here. Let’s hope they are as good.

Fabulous Story

I loved this book so much, I think I'll turn around and start it again. Magnificent narrator.

Gripping.

This is a very good listen. The story is one that will keep you racing through to the end. Well written characters and the narration is superb.

Read this!

This is a twisted story but I enjoyed it. Complicated characters and a solid plot. It is a great read. Excellent narrator.

The storyline

Reading The Silence by Susan Allot was an immersive experience. Though I paused occasionally, the story's depth and emotion kept me invested.

depressing, but interesting.

Historically an interesting accounting of a tragically rascist practice in Australia against the Aboriginal people and how the practice broke even those who were required to enforce it.

However, we are in a world-widepandemic, and I personally cannot afford (emotionally) to plunge into even DEEPER despair.

Interesting story.

I liked that it kept you guessing and even turned out different than I expected. The ending wasn’t too bad.

ok

ok story but it was about nothing. Great characters but again the story was just not there. Perfect narration.

Dysfunctional family

Kept me interested. Couldn’t wait to listen to next chapters.Didn’t want to take a break from story.