What do you think?
Rate this book
MARIAN: All This Silence We Never Break
MARIAN follows the dual story lines of vibrant 66-year-old bed & breakfast owner Kathryn Wallace and her mother, Marian Hayward, a woman with a black spot of scandal and mystery staining her untimely death at age 27. In 2019, Kathryn doesn’t remember her mother, instead, she clings to the memory of her much beloved father, who held her as the favored child. But when her queer and anxious daughter, Ruby, takes an online DNA test to learn more about her heritage, Kathryn’s world begins to crack and crumble around her, releasing decades of secrets and lies.
Back in 1947, untamed and free-thinking Marian Hayward is seventeen, pregnant, and abandoned by her secret lover. Fearful of her strict mother’s rejection, Marian accepts an unorthodox proposal from a dear family friend, William Gellert. But with secrecy a matter of survival, their perfect arrangement soon fractures under the weight of deception, manipulation, and longing, particularly when Marian’s lover, poetic and war-ruined Benjamin Kaspar, returns to make right his terrible mistake.
More than seventy years later, Ruby battles her own parenthood demons and is determined to redeem Kathryn’s mother, heal wounds passed down the maternal line, and unravel a long-kept family secret…whether Kathryn is ready to face it or not.
Back in 1947, untamed and free-thinking Marian Hayward is seventeen, pregnant, and abandoned by her secret lover. Fearful of her strict mother’s rejection, Marian accepts an unorthodox proposal from a dear family friend, William Gellert. But with secrecy a matter of survival, their perfect arrangement soon fractures under the weight of deception, manipulation, and longing, particularly when Marian’s lover, poetic and war-ruined Benjamin Kaspar, returns to make right his terrible mistake.
More than seventy years later, Ruby battles her own parenthood demons and is determined to redeem Kathryn’s mother, heal wounds passed down the maternal line, and unravel a long-kept family secret…whether Kathryn is ready to face it or not.
275 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 13, 2025
2 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 26, 2025
You can’t help but voice your thoughts out loud while reading this novel. “How could he do that!?” “What was she thinking!?” “What a piece of ****!” I became so connected to these characters and breezed through the book. What a delight—a fantastic read for mothers and anyone who loves historical fiction with LGBT themes.
April 24, 2025
I was an early reader for Marian and I am so thankful I got the chance to be one of the first!
This story is equal parts heartbreaking as it is mysterious right down to the very end. This was one of my favorite reads in 2024. It is atmospheric and brings you right into the time jumps, especially the local bar. I felt like I was truly there. You care for each of the characters so much and are desperate to hear the outcome. I read this in just a few days and could not put it down.
I just ordered myself a hard copy trophy for my shelf and hear that the family recipes have made their way inside!!! I can’t wait to try the earl grey sugar cookies.
This story is equal parts heartbreaking as it is mysterious right down to the very end. This was one of my favorite reads in 2024. It is atmospheric and brings you right into the time jumps, especially the local bar. I felt like I was truly there. You care for each of the characters so much and are desperate to hear the outcome. I read this in just a few days and could not put it down.
I just ordered myself a hard copy trophy for my shelf and hear that the family recipes have made their way inside!!! I can’t wait to try the earl grey sugar cookies.
August 4, 2025
This book was recommended to me by a friend. My TBR pile rivals the Great Pyramids, but I was told I should move this book to the top. I am told that often when friends recommend books to me and I usually don't...at least not the very very tippy top. But this time I did, and I am so very glad I did.
Marian: Al This Silence We Never Break is one of those books where the author does such an amazing job of weaving you into the lives of her characters that you find yourself wondering how they are doing in the in between spaces where you put the book down to live life with all its responsibilities and distractions. I would be engaging in my day-to-day, trying to concentrate on whatever task was in front of me, when I would wonder how Marian, William, Kathryn, or Ruby were doing. Wondering how they were dealing with all the silences we never break and what those silences were doing to them as people. Going from thinking how much I just wanted to wrap my arms around these characters and comfort and support them as much as I could to wanting to grab them by the shoulders and shake some sense into them was never a determent to the story. I am very much a reader who wants character over plot. I want to care about the characters. I want to live in their shoes, laugh their laughter and cry their tears. This is the gift of good fiction, and Ricketts serves it up as masterfully as any five star chef in her restaurant.
The pacing of the book is pulled off well, moving the reader from the maelstrom of post war America in the 1950s to today's world of internet searches in a way that in neither distracting or confusing. It is very easy to follow. The story builds to a satisfying and emotionally accurate conclusion. Sometimes I feel stories like this fall into the ploy of awkwardly plucking at the heart strings to intentionally manufacture emotion. Ricketts side steps this trope well, the emotion her novel elicits was, for me, entirely genuine. The sense of anticipation I felt as Kathryn and Ruby sought out the answers to the questions of the past, and the time we spend in the 1950s observing those events happen in real time, created that sweet spot in fiction for me.
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a story about family and the hidden motives that shape our relationships, about secrets and their life long effects, about the corners society can so effectively push us into, about how a desire to care for and love someone enough to want to protect them can turn on a dime from a sincere desire to save from all harm can twist into something the exact opposite. If you are just looking for a story about life, with the good and the bad, the love and the loss, the wins and the losses...give this book a read.
Marian: Al This Silence We Never Break is one of those books where the author does such an amazing job of weaving you into the lives of her characters that you find yourself wondering how they are doing in the in between spaces where you put the book down to live life with all its responsibilities and distractions. I would be engaging in my day-to-day, trying to concentrate on whatever task was in front of me, when I would wonder how Marian, William, Kathryn, or Ruby were doing. Wondering how they were dealing with all the silences we never break and what those silences were doing to them as people. Going from thinking how much I just wanted to wrap my arms around these characters and comfort and support them as much as I could to wanting to grab them by the shoulders and shake some sense into them was never a determent to the story. I am very much a reader who wants character over plot. I want to care about the characters. I want to live in their shoes, laugh their laughter and cry their tears. This is the gift of good fiction, and Ricketts serves it up as masterfully as any five star chef in her restaurant.
The pacing of the book is pulled off well, moving the reader from the maelstrom of post war America in the 1950s to today's world of internet searches in a way that in neither distracting or confusing. It is very easy to follow. The story builds to a satisfying and emotionally accurate conclusion. Sometimes I feel stories like this fall into the ploy of awkwardly plucking at the heart strings to intentionally manufacture emotion. Ricketts side steps this trope well, the emotion her novel elicits was, for me, entirely genuine. The sense of anticipation I felt as Kathryn and Ruby sought out the answers to the questions of the past, and the time we spend in the 1950s observing those events happen in real time, created that sweet spot in fiction for me.
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a story about family and the hidden motives that shape our relationships, about secrets and their life long effects, about the corners society can so effectively push us into, about how a desire to care for and love someone enough to want to protect them can turn on a dime from a sincere desire to save from all harm can twist into something the exact opposite. If you are just looking for a story about life, with the good and the bad, the love and the loss, the wins and the losses...give this book a read.
June 23, 2025
The messaging is so powerful and shines light on so many inequalities women have suffered and the choices that are a result of that. This book is beautifully written and each character has their flaws but also you see why they do what they do whether it’s out of fear or anger or just a result of the time. I felt all the emotions while reading and love every minute!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews