Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Silence

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

“Emotionally spry, smartly suspenseful...vibrates with Hitchcockian atmosphere." — Booklist (starred review)

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.  30 years ago, in the suffocating heat of summer 1967, the Greens’ next-door neighbour 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 which goes deeper into Australia’s colonial past, which 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2020

      DEBUT London 1997: Isla Green hasn't been home to Australia in ten years, but a phone call from her father, Joe, makes her return inevitable. The police are searching for a missing woman, a former neighbor of Isla's parents. Joe is supposedly the last person to have seen her alive and is now a suspect in her murder. Sydney 1967: Mandy says she will give up smoking. She also says she loves her husband, Steve, and wants a baby. But Mandy is a liar. Her unhappiness is accentuated by living next door to Louisa Green, who seems to have everything. Mandy is undeniably drawn to the Greens but soon discovers that her place in their lives is more dangerous than she could've imagined. This tumultuous story of two couples contains subplots of alcoholism, domestic violence, and the Stolen Generation of Aboriginal children. VERDICT Newcomer Allott does a solid job of establishing a vivid sense of place. The mystery behind Mandy's disappearance is appealing at first, but the unveiling of the puzzle doesn't allow the plot to quite reach its potential. A supplemental book for mystery collections. [See Prepub Alert, 11/25/19.]--Carmen Clark, Elkhart P.L., IN

      Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from May 15, 2020
      Sydney, Australia, 1967. Joe and Louisa and their young daughter, Isla, recent �migr�s from Britain, are living next door to Steve and Mandy. Neither Louisa nor Amanda is happy in her marriage. Joe's alcoholism provokes blackouts and acts of physical violence. Steve's reluctant involvement in the government-mandated removal of Aboriginal children from their homes plunges him into a dark depression. Over the course of that hot summer, the tension within and between each couple spirals to murderous levels. Louisa absconds with Isla to London, and Mandy, well, who knows what happens to Amanda? One day, she's simply gone. Sydney, Australia, 1997. Mandy's unexplained 30-year absence triggers a murder investigation that exposes lies and innuendo, crime and betrayal, treachery and despair within the context of one of Australia's most ignoble historic episodes. Joe stands accused, but Isla's faith in her father brings her home from London to stand by his side; her loyalty, however, is tested in deeply personal ways. Emotionally spry, smartly suspenseful, Allott's arresting debut novel vibrates with Hitchcockian atmosphere as she dexterously deflects suspicion through multiple narratives that expose individual and societal vulnerabilities. Readers who enjoy subdued yet intense stories will cheer Allott's whipsaw parries as she sows doubt across the decades.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 22, 2020
      British author Allot’s solid if gloomy debut touches on domestic violence and a shameful piece of Australian history. In 1997 London, Isla Green receives a phone call from Australia from her alcoholic father, Joe, who tells her he’s the prime suspect in the possible murder of Mandy Mallory, who vanished from their Sydney neighborhood 30 years earlier. Isla believes her father when he says he’s innocent, and decides to visit Sydney to uncover the truth. Flashbacks to 1967 reveal that Mandy is unhappily married to Steve, a disturbed cop who must forcibly remove Aboriginal children from their families. Meanwhile, Joe’s wife, Louisa, distressed by his drinking, leaves him and returns home to England with Isla, then a small child. Joe and Mandy’s marital woes bring them together, and they begin an affair. Back in 1997, Isla pieces together cloudy childhood memories with shocking secrets from her parents in her effort to clear Joe’s name. Allot does a good job building tension, but what happened to Mandy will surprise few readers. This one’s for mystery fans who prefer in-depth character studies to action-driven plots. Agent: Nicola Barr, Bent Agency (U.K.).

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading