Easy Silence

by Angela Huth

The Handles have one of those quiet, suburban marriages that has ticked along for decades without anything very momentous happening. William, a distinguished violinist and leader of the Elmtree Quartet, and Grace, a modest watercolorist, enjoy a serence, domestic routine where easy silence, an acceptance of each other's ways, is the norm. The two spend each day in their respective corners of the house--William upstairs practicing, and Grace downstairs working on her latest wildflower illustration--and they even take careful steps to prevent a chance encounter. For what do people who've been married that long say when they meet on the stairs? But just as quickly as their routine emerges, it is yanked away by the winds of change.

When the long-serving viola player resigns from William's quartet, the Elmtree hires Bonnie, a brilliant young player with perfect dimples and an ample bosom. In no time, William is smitten. Meanwhile, Grace's days have become enlivened by visits from Lucien, a troubled young man who lives down the street with the mothers he loathes. Though his presence unnerves Grace, he provides her days with a bittersweet frisson, and before long, she is captivated. As William and Grace secretly find their hearts tugged in opposite directions, the once-cozy couple moves closer to confrontation. But with the introduction of sudden menace, the story takes a darker turn--until real-life horror explodes and a murderous twist sends their world spinning.

From the acclaimed author of Land Girls and Wives of the Fishermen comes an elegant, if shocking, dissection of a middle-class marriage. In Easy Silence , Huth combines remarkable insight with biting wit to create a delicious black comedy.

Genres: Fiction

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2000

About the author

Daughter of actor Harold Huth, english novelist Angela Huth married journalist and travel writer Quentin Crewe in the 1960s and with him had a daughter. She presented programmes on the BBC, including How It Is and Why and Man Alive.

She also writes plays for radio, television and stage, and is a well-known freelance journalist, critic and broadcaster. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

She has been married to a don, James Howard-Johnston, since 1978. They live in Warwickshire and have one daughter, Eugenie Teasley.

Reviews

[Fanja Evers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ça a failli atteindre 5 en cours de lecture. Là je reste sur un 4-4,5 pour la fin un peu trop lisse et tranquillounette. Mais bien quand même. :-D

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Angela Huth is a talented writer; I'm not disputing that. But so many of her books are so... exasperating. This one, especially. It started out typically enough: an old married couple named William and Grace who still love each other in that comfortable old way that's like putting on your favourite worn slippers that most of the fuzz has rubbed off but they're still the coziest blah blah blah. Then! The introduction of a young female character (Bonnie) who William finds himself falling for... Sound familiar?

Well, then it took a turn for the nasty. William decides the only way he can be with Bonnie (who may or may not reciprocate his feelings, mind!) is to kill his wife. Um. How did you arrive at the conclusion that this would solve all your problems, William?
He even has a conversation or two with himself where he decides this is a stupid idea. Yet he abandons that rationality soon thereafter. It hardly dominates the story, but he makes three attempts to murder Grace and after each time he thinks, "Oh dash it! I almost just killed my wife; that would've been dreadful! I love my wife! Hmm, but let's see... now I need a new plan to murder her since that one didn't work."

........Wat. I don't care how normally he behaved the rest of the time, he should have been carted away in the end with Lucien to the lunatic asylum.

Oh, speaking of Lucien... *sigh* Never mind. I just don't even want to go into that storyline.

I am relieved to be done with this book. Even though it was strangely enjoyable to read while at the same time extremely unpleasant. Like I said, Angela Huth knows her art!

[Brown Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it a little difficult to get into the story (but am very tired so could be related to that rather than the author), and then suddenly couldn't stop reading.
Well written, I found William Handle very touching. Good story.

[Cholera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like not knowing where it goes... Well-written,very much like a painting.
I don't know if I'd rec it though: nothing ever happens...

Un livre où il ne se passe rien n'est pas forcément quelque chose que l'on recommande !
Je l'ai aimé, pourtant : j'aime ne pas savoir où un livre veut en venir et là, du début à la fin
je me demandais ce qui allais se passer ! J'aime aussi l'écriture faites de petites touches, comme une peinture impressionniste...

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hoot! So many things I identified with … Grace scraping her toast back and forth, spreading the butter till it was almost a calorie-free veil. And doing the same with marmalade. William letting new clothes “mature” in the closet for a while before wearing them. I’ve done all these! And the ritual before getting in bed — how many blankets tonight? Tucking his wife in bed, smoothing the bed. No, I don’t do that. Very good.

[Janey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of an effort to read

[Aurelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[David Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark comedy, mixed with relationships within a string quartet. Enjoyed it.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

C'est une auteure qui construit très bien ses personnages, mais on ne peut pas en dire autant de ses intrigues. C'est un mélange de Woody Allen, David Lodge et Jane Austen, mais avec moins de mordant (mais c'est peut-être à cause de la traduction, qui était moyenne). C'est pas fabuleux, mais c'est pas ennuyeux.

[Yolande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly a very different book in the way it turns from sweet tale of contented retirement to a tense story of menace and danger. I was a bit incredulous at first in what I was asked to believe about William, but it made me think about how people can 'take leave of their senses' temporarily and how we deceive ourselves. I liked Grace.

[Annest Namata]

It's one of those books that you will either love or hate.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely musical dark comedy.

[JenniferB]

Good Authress but story very dark

[scherzo♫ · Rating 2 out of 5]

so-so until his absurd decision about how to get what he wants

[Diana Garbera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark comedy. Laugh out loud funny, yet slightly twisted. Good ending.