Whispers

by Belva Plain

It can happen in the best of families--even the Fergusons. When Lynn and Robert first meet, she's bright, fresh-faced twenty-year old; he's handsome, a bit older, a charming young executive on the fast track. From the start they fall deeply in love, thrilled by the discovery of their mutual desire. But as early as their honeymoon the gold begins to tarnish, when Robert's anger erupts into a physical assault, one for which Lynn blames herself. To all appearances Lynn and Robert are living the ultimate American dream-a lovely home in an exclusive Connecticut suburb, a picture-perfect marriage, two beautiful children, a country club membership, and wonderful friends. But not even with their closest friends can Lynn reveal what is truly happening to her family. Their secret life is betrayed only is whispers of what goes on behind closed doors.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Family, Drama, Family Drama, Novels

331 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1993

About the author

Belva Plain was a best-selling American author of mainstream women's fiction. Her first novel, Evergreen (1978) topped the New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and was made into a TV miniseries. At her death, there were over 30 million copies of her twenty-plus novels in print in 22 languages.

Reviews

[MARGO]

Let me be very very clear about this. I HATED this stupid book. It is about a stupid woman named Lynn who is so spineless it is a wonder she can move at all. She is married to a monster named Robert who needs a big kick in the teeth and the idiot has two daughters that she exposes to this horrible life which she is in denial about. Robert is a pompous ass who physically and emotionally abuses Lynn quite frequently. This stupid Lynn then lets him emotionally abuse her youngest daughter which is what really boils my blood. Belva Plain has created characters with little redeeming qualities and seems to protray this Lynn as a woman from olden times not modern day. In today's world there is help for women who are in abusive relationships they do not have to suffer. If they have any brains at all they will reach out for help. While reading you keep hoping that Lynn will somehow develop a backbone at least to protect her daughter Annie but she never does. Do not waste your time or money on this garbage book. I give it ZERO stars that is how bad it is.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert and Lynn Ferguson are the quintessentially picture-perfect couple with two beautiful daughters and a lovely home in an exclusive Connecticut community. Robert is on the fast track of a major corporation. Lynn is devoted to her family and doing good works. But the Fergusons' ultimate American dream hides a dark painful secret - one that Lynn vows to keep hidden from the world - and her children - at any cost.

When Lynn and Robert first meet, she's a bright, fresh-faced twenty-year-old; he's handsome, slightly older, a charming young business executive; ambitious and determined. From the start they fall deeply in love, thrilled by the discovery of their mutual desire. But as early as their honeymoon the gold begins to tarnish, when Robert's anger erupts into a physical assault, one for which Lynn blames herself.

To all appearances, the Fergusons have kept the facade of an idyllically happy family firmly intact. Not even their closest friends, Josie and Bruce Lehman know the entirety of Lynn's shame. Social worker Josie has seen her bruises, distrusts the overly-ambitious, too-perfect Robert, and suspects the real cause of the children's increasingly disturbed behavior. But not even Josie can pierce Lynn's icy wall of silence, a wall that will not crumble until Lynn is forced to face herself - and the truth - at last.

I thought this book was absolutely excellent. The plot was very believable; I can imagine that such a scenario could, and perhaps does, happen to so many people - domestic abuse is probably much more prevalent than we expect. I give this book a definite A+!

[Angelina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I waited for this book to get better. It never did, right until the very end. So mad I wasted my time on this book. Only read it because a friend recommended it, otherwise I would have put it down a long time ago!

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert & Lynn Ferguson are a perfect couple with 2 beautiful daugheres & a lovely home in an exclusive Conn. Community. Robert is on the fast track of a major corporation. Lynn is devoted to her family & good works. But the Ferguson's closed doors hide a painful secret Lynn must keep from the world and her children...at any cost. Nor even the Ferguson's best friends, Josie and Bruce Lehman know of Lynn's shame. Social worker Josie sees her bruises & distrusts the too ambitious, too perfect Robert & suspects the real cause of the children's increasingly disturded behavior. But, not even Josie can pierce Lynn's wall of silence, a wall that will not crumble until Lynn is forced to face herself-and the truth at last. She finally divorces Robert and winds up with Bruce after Josie died.

[Dalila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a teenager and I've never forget it. This unadorned story sums up perfectly the daily life of a woman married to an abusive man. It narrates with simplicity the domestic violence that the protagonist endures during, if I remember well 1 or 2 decades. I remember crying reading the final lines of her best friend dying from cancer who supported her during Lynn's hardest times.
I think it is a must-read because it breaks the myth that domestic violence only occurs in underprivileged families and poor upbringings. It breaks the myth that a woman is a beaten woman only if it happens regularly.

This story is forever carved into me.

[RainLady777 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this author, but this book was awful. It was 500 pages of nothing. A woman marries a man whose abusive and takes 20 years to finally leave them. Okay… So what? Sorry Ms. Plain. You are a gifted writer, and I hate to sound so insulting, but did you actually write this?

[Judie Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a woman who had everything. A nice home, beautiful children-good friends and a hard working husband. But she had one secret that c.lose friends began to suspect......

[Nattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real tearjerker, which I hated and loved at the same time. The story was fantastic, but I hated the ugliness, but loved the beauty that was born out of the ugly towards the end.

Robert made me so sick that I wasn't very sure that I could finish the novel, and in her own way, Lynn made me just as sick. Surely I hated Robert the most, because of how he was, but the anger I felt in my heart towards Lynn was painful.

How could she let Robert treat Annie the way she did? How could she just stand there while he called the child disgusting and a pig and a failure?

It is one thing to allow yourself to be disrespected, but when the children are being attacked, it is another.

Some of the worst parts were when someone would speak the plain truth about Robert, and Lynn would defend him. Lynn would even defend his violence to herself. She would actually seem ready to fight for Robert's honor, even when she knew what he was. She knew it. She expressed it, but still she defended

Ugh! He didn't mean it. He works so hard. He really does love us. He's a good man. He tries so hard. It wasn't really his fault. It was an accident. He wasn't trying to hurt me. I slipped. I shouldn't have tried to run. I shouldn't have talked back when I saw he was angry. Ugh!

[Lori]

It's awful. Serious subjects like domestic violence needed to be handled gently, realistically, and even though it's common for women who are abused by their husbands to be blamed for it, there should still be some amount of sympathy for the main character, of which, by virtue of the bad writing, I had none. I can't even finish it because a part of me is thinking if Robert ends up killing her I don't care because nothing about her was developed enough for me to have the slightest amount of sympathy for her.

Partly, it was poor writing, bad dialogue, and having people talk in ways that no one talks. Partly, it was having Lynn being described in the beginning as someone who was almost pretty and then somehow after years of abuse she is beautiful and highly desired by any man who meets her?

Also in cases of abuse, usually at least one child acknowledges and tries to stand up to the abuser. I literally felt like I was reading about cut outs of models from the JC Penney catalogue who are supposed to have these beautiful wonderful lives but you can feel nothing for any of them except how stupid, boring, and hollow they are. Even the secondary characters don't feel real.

[Skyqueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's none so blind as those who would not see. People like Lynn irritate the life out of me. Even I want to say "Stupid b*tch!" Robert is a sociopath. And Lynn is a self-imposed, blind ingenue. The children are more mature than either of the parents. And what they are doing to them is actually child abuse. Of course, it will all end badly. How could it not? Just waiting to see exactly. Until then, take lessons people.
Weak Weak Weak!! Lies Lies Lies!! The biggest lies are the ones we tell ourselves. And evidently Lynn believes everyone of them and is self-righteously indigent when someone points out the truth to her. Oh Pleeze!! She's not a romantic~~she'a a DENIER! And what she "can't" seem to see, is that she's brought it all on herself. What a pity.
Well it didn't end as badly as I expected or what you see on true crime shows. Still enough damage was needlessly done. And why? Mostly for people's pride.

[Catriina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Domestic abuse happens more often than we want to admit. It’s hard to see someone you love in this situation and even harder when that person does not want to accept that they are being abused. As a friend or family member you can provide all the support and advice in the world but unless the person being abused decides to do something about it nothing will change. I like the way the story was carried out, it was easy to read and follow. By expressing the point of view of all of the characters you can get a very realistic picture of how domestic abuse affects everyone or relate to the story from a personal experience. The main character was able to get herself and children out of a very damaging marriage, become independent, successful and find love in someone who truly valued her as a person.

[Kimberlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set over decades, this tells the tale of domestic violence in one upper middle class American family. Lynn is desperately in love with Robert when the story starts, the secretary in love with and flattered by attention from the boss, and so their story begins. The back story of Robert unfolds in pieces, and Lynn grows in confidence with the help of her friends. It is well written. I was surprised by the writing as the cover misled me to think the book would be more of a light romance. I have not read anything else by Belva Plain, and this book was recommended to me by my mother. At times the reader is frustrated by Lynn's denial and inability to accept help, but isn't this true of victims of domestic violence?

[Britt Holewinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I read this book back when I was in high school, and it haunted me. The idea of domestic violence was so foreign to me, coming from a supportive, loving family that when I read this, however, I definitely felt that I was looking into a social problem that I'd never imagined existed (I guess I was pretty sheltered!)

Belva Plain does a wonderful job of portraying a family in crisis and how slow but relentless acts of emotional and physical abuse can reach a point of no return.

A really terrific book...it's a bit outdated, I'm sure, but still well-worth the read.

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like a 3.5. I have had this book in my TBR basket for over a year and kept bypassing it because I thought it was going to be scary, but not so. What I found was a story that swept me along because I had to make sure it ended like I felt it should. Not all was predictable. At one time, I sat the book down and was saying, "I didn't expect that.". Reminds me of Nora Roberts' books, but with a little more credit to the intelligence of the reader. Nice summertime pool book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There has been a lot of criticism about the main character of this book, many wonder why she just didn't leave when her husband became abusive. I think that it is very easy to judge someone when you are not in their situation. I found that the story line explained how easy it was for her to accept the blame. It does have a happy ending but in many abusive relationships women do not have outside support and therefore suffer in silence.

[Judy Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book about domestic abuse is sobering and frustrating. This story is told with clarity, reminding us of all the reasons why we should pay special attention to one another, and pursue our intuitions if we suspect abuse. I'm of the mind that everyone knows a battered wife. You just don't know that you know.

[Mollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book terribly distressing. I hate to think that a woman would think so little of herself as to allow herself to be abused by a male, husband or not. But I know there are women who feel as though they do not know how to survive in the 'real' world. The book was well written but not a subject I care to dwell upon.

[bonnie foxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whispers by Belva Plain

I have read several books by B.Plain.They all have been terrific. She tells a story and her characters come to life in everyone. This book is informative and teaches some great lessons. I love everything Belva writes. I have re-read several over the years. She never disappoints. This book is amazing. Enjoy!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would call this type of story a “soap opera”. But it kept me engaged. I confess I reached a point where I had to know & skipped to the end & read the last couple pages. Satisfied, I then went back to continuing reading where I had been, to see how that ending was brought about. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that before, but I don’t think it spoiled the story for me at all.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story...held my interest...fast read. Just wish the chapters weren't so long. My first book by Belva Plain...will read more by her. Did anyone else notice that Bruce's hair color was described as brown at the end, and not blonde?

[ChrisGA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another upper middle class spousal abuse story.....storyline seemed to drag compared to others I've read by this author. Examines effect of abuse on bystanders....the child, friends, work colleagues.

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautifully crafted story that gave perspective from both the abused and the abuser. I also love how the story kept you guessing as to how things would turn out because Ms. Plain included human emotion in the decisions made by the characters.

[Susan Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to rate this a 3 1/2. It was well written with characters coming to life. I wish I had looked up theme of book before I started reading it. I found it sad that people are stuck in domestic violence without finding a way to escape.

[Michelle Chenard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a contrived book about spousal abuse.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I expected!

[Melita Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must be really hard writing about abuse in the home. The dad may be hitting the wife, but the whole family suffers.
It was quite a good story. A bit dated but interesting to read.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. A predictably good read from an author I enjoy. Enjoyed picking it up and getting into it. But other than that I didn’t think much about it either while I was reading or since I finished it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written fiction story of domestic abuse in its many forms. Very readable, relatable.

[Carolyn Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the book in a day and a half. Wife abuse that was hidden. Didn’t happen that often but when it did it was brutal.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but wrapped up a bit too neatly