What do you think?
Rate this book
The Loudness of Unsaid Things
An unforgettable story of loneliness, isolation and finding your way. Heart-wrenching, wise and wryly funny, this novel will make you kinder to those who are lost.
Miss Kaye works at The Institute. A place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite rights. Everyone has different strategies to deal with the residents. Some bark orders. Some negotiate tirelessly. Miss Kaye found that simply being herself was mostly the right thing to do.
Susie was seven when she realised she'd had her fill of character building. She'd lie between her Holly Hobbie sheets thinking how slowly birthdays come around, but how quickly change happened. One minute her Dad was saying that the family needed to move back to the city and then, SHAZAM, they were there. Her mum didn't move to the new house with them. And Susie hated going to see her mum at the mind hospital. She never knew who her mum would be. Or who would be there. As the years passed, there were so many things Susie wanted to say but never could.
Miss Kaye will teach Susie that the loudness of unsaid things can be music - and together they will learn that living can be more than surviving.
Miss Kaye works at The Institute. A place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite rights. Everyone has different strategies to deal with the residents. Some bark orders. Some negotiate tirelessly. Miss Kaye found that simply being herself was mostly the right thing to do.
Susie was seven when she realised she'd had her fill of character building. She'd lie between her Holly Hobbie sheets thinking how slowly birthdays come around, but how quickly change happened. One minute her Dad was saying that the family needed to move back to the city and then, SHAZAM, they were there. Her mum didn't move to the new house with them. And Susie hated going to see her mum at the mind hospital. She never knew who her mum would be. Or who would be there. As the years passed, there were so many things Susie wanted to say but never could.
Miss Kaye will teach Susie that the loudness of unsaid things can be music - and together they will learn that living can be more than surviving.
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2020
77 people are currently reading
4536 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 - 30 of 208 reviews
June 27, 2020
*www.onewomansbbr.wordpress.com
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr
The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton. (2020).
Miss Kaye works at The Institute. A place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite rights. Everyone has different strategies to deal with the residents. Miss Kaye found that simply being herself was mostly the right thing to do. Susie was 7 when she realised she'd had her fill of character building and how quickly things change, like how they needed to move back to the city. Her mum didn't move to the new house with them and Susie hated going to see her at the mind hospital. As the years passed, there were so many things Susie wanted to say but never could. Miss Kaye will teach Susie that the loudness of unsaid things can be music - and together they will learn that living can be more than surviving.
So I couldn't quite work out initially what the time period was but I think Susie's time began in mid 1970s and Miss Kaye was at least mid 2000s but later on I thought maybe it was more like 2020; I could very well not have gotten this right though haha. The narrative alternates between Susie and Miss Kaye with their relationship connection becoming clear in the last quarter of the book. I felt for Susie, it was obvious that her mother's mental illness had led to a traumatic childhood for Susie with long lasting effects. I also felt like Miss Kaye was a very empathetic worker at the Institute who saw the residents as humans dealing with issues that we would all struggle with. I did feel like the end of the book was quite abrupt and we missed a lot of Susie's story; I would have liked to have known more about Susie beyond where we left her.
It is interesting that so far on Goodreads people are either loving this book or really disliking it. I am planting myself firmly in the middle: I didn't love it but I did like and appreciate it.
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr
The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton. (2020).
Miss Kaye works at The Institute. A place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite rights. Everyone has different strategies to deal with the residents. Miss Kaye found that simply being herself was mostly the right thing to do. Susie was 7 when she realised she'd had her fill of character building and how quickly things change, like how they needed to move back to the city. Her mum didn't move to the new house with them and Susie hated going to see her at the mind hospital. As the years passed, there were so many things Susie wanted to say but never could. Miss Kaye will teach Susie that the loudness of unsaid things can be music - and together they will learn that living can be more than surviving.
So I couldn't quite work out initially what the time period was but I think Susie's time began in mid 1970s and Miss Kaye was at least mid 2000s but later on I thought maybe it was more like 2020; I could very well not have gotten this right though haha. The narrative alternates between Susie and Miss Kaye with their relationship connection becoming clear in the last quarter of the book. I felt for Susie, it was obvious that her mother's mental illness had led to a traumatic childhood for Susie with long lasting effects. I also felt like Miss Kaye was a very empathetic worker at the Institute who saw the residents as humans dealing with issues that we would all struggle with. I did feel like the end of the book was quite abrupt and we missed a lot of Susie's story; I would have liked to have known more about Susie beyond where we left her.
It is interesting that so far on Goodreads people are either loving this book or really disliking it. I am planting myself firmly in the middle: I didn't love it but I did like and appreciate it.
April 12, 2020
Reading a book by someone you admire is always a bit fraught with danger. What if you don't like it? What if it's terrible?
While I don't know Hilde Hinton, I have read Love Your Sister by her brother and sister, Samuel and Connie Johnson, which gives you a bit of an insight into Hilde's upbringing and the family history of mental illness.
Like many Australian's, I followed Connie's journey through the Love Your Sister charity set up by her and Sam to raise funds for cancer. Connie and Sam were always at the front, but you knew Hilde was in the background being the loving, supporting big sister.
So this gave me a feeling of connection to Hilde Hinton and a desperate want to like this book. And I did.
I will say though, I wasn't sure to start with. Hinton's style of writing is a bit like painting with broad brushstrokes. She doesn't give you every little detail, instead she gives you enough to know what is going up, but doesn't tell you how she expects you to feel or think about what is happening - that is completely up to you. Each chapter is almost like a little vignette of Susie's life. Moments that build together to create this fully formed character who frustrates and astounds you at every turn. I felt for Susie and her struggle to be herself, yet be socially acceptable. I felt her desperate need to be loved and nurtured by her parents who were both battling their own demons. I felt her strength yet loneliness at creating a world for herself she could exist in, but could not let other's share.
If you've read Love Your Sister you know there are parts of this book that are autobiographical. I love the interweaving of the fiction and non fiction. I think it takes a very talented author to include aspects of their life without exposing completely what happened and what didn't.
Hilde Hinton, in her acknowledgement said that when she sent the first few chapters to a publisher, the publisher responded she wanted to publish the book and she would be happy to publish anything else Hilde wrote as well. I'd be happy to read anything she wrote. I hope this is the start of many wonderful books by this author.
While I don't know Hilde Hinton, I have read Love Your Sister by her brother and sister, Samuel and Connie Johnson, which gives you a bit of an insight into Hilde's upbringing and the family history of mental illness.
Like many Australian's, I followed Connie's journey through the Love Your Sister charity set up by her and Sam to raise funds for cancer. Connie and Sam were always at the front, but you knew Hilde was in the background being the loving, supporting big sister.
So this gave me a feeling of connection to Hilde Hinton and a desperate want to like this book. And I did.
I will say though, I wasn't sure to start with. Hinton's style of writing is a bit like painting with broad brushstrokes. She doesn't give you every little detail, instead she gives you enough to know what is going up, but doesn't tell you how she expects you to feel or think about what is happening - that is completely up to you. Each chapter is almost like a little vignette of Susie's life. Moments that build together to create this fully formed character who frustrates and astounds you at every turn. I felt for Susie and her struggle to be herself, yet be socially acceptable. I felt her desperate need to be loved and nurtured by her parents who were both battling their own demons. I felt her strength yet loneliness at creating a world for herself she could exist in, but could not let other's share.
If you've read Love Your Sister you know there are parts of this book that are autobiographical. I love the interweaving of the fiction and non fiction. I think it takes a very talented author to include aspects of their life without exposing completely what happened and what didn't.
Hilde Hinton, in her acknowledgement said that when she sent the first few chapters to a publisher, the publisher responded she wanted to publish the book and she would be happy to publish anything else Hilde wrote as well. I'd be happy to read anything she wrote. I hope this is the start of many wonderful books by this author.
March 28, 2021
Meh.
That really is the summary of my impression and experience of this very well written first novel that everyone except me seemed to adore. It is very well written, full of anecdotes and descriptions that are often vivid, evocative and convincing. The part I found less convincing or engaging was the main character.
My very first impressions -which I jotted down about 20 pages in - were that I liked the vividness with which things were described and the flow of the writing was good. The things I did NOT like -and there were a lot more of them, even then - were the third person style, the complete emotive detachment of the narrative from the main character and the attempt to be coy about who/where we are reading about.
Seriously, what was with that? The first two chapters were about 'the girl' no name. Then we started the next chapter with 'Susie' who one assumes might be 'the girl' but we are jumping around from place to time to whatever and there is a 'Miss Kaye' later on as well and not only was I a bit lost by it all, I rapidly ceased to care where/who we were at and just wanted to get on with things.
That lack of clarity resolves, but the detachment from the main character does not. Susie is a girl with separated parents, a mother in and out of mental hospitals and a host of interesting anecdotes but no real emotive connection is offered the reader to involve her in Susie's inner world. Then we skip to 'Miss Kaye' segments, but we never are given any insight as to what made Susie grow up to be a woman working in a mental hospital. Or any reason why those chapters are there, these fragments are just thrown in randomly, for no apparent reason, with no plot involvement and little enough character/reader involvement. Later we are given an 'old Susie' who has retired and sounds more than a little crazy herself, but never are we given any reason for the narrative. There appears to be no plot, no story arc no rationale for the novel. It just is. And while it is long stream of well written anecdotes, the ultimately meaningless chain of events with no plot arc had a habit of putting me to sleep.
Another small irritation is that we start when Susie is... what... six or so? Then we follow her as a rather wild, single parent child up until she moves to Sydney with a friend. At this point she is seventeen, I think. The 'voice' for child Susie and teenage Susie are identical. I can't emphasise how distorting that was for me because my experience felt like this: her dad is letting what sounds like a primary school aged child move to a different city on her own as a border and then run all over the place - oh wait, seventeen? Really?
And it felt like child Susie (up to teenage Susie) was a completely different person to 'Miss Kaye' and 'Old Susie' so with still no story arc to connect them it was hard for me to feel like this was a novel. Never was any noticeable reason that I could see for skipping between the times lines. They did not tie together, form a narrative, have a reveal or really have any reason at all for sharing space between the book covers. I just had no understanding of why this is a published book.
Because of the lovely anecdotes and nice writing I still did not hate this book, but it was such a drag to read much of it at a time I started another novel to read alongside, for when I wanted to read about actual events, with a real story.
The only real narrative explanation comes from the acknowledgments at the end where one gets a glimmer of a hint that just maybe this has a family history element to it? Or it was being written to the authors parents? Or siblings or something like that? I don't know. Apparently the publishers accepted it sight unseen (I feel like they should not have) so maybe there is more to the author and HER story than I know about but if that is so then maybe she should have written HER story instead of this indefinite meh novel.
PS
That really is the summary of my impression and experience of this very well written first novel that everyone except me seemed to adore. It is very well written, full of anecdotes and descriptions that are often vivid, evocative and convincing. The part I found less convincing or engaging was the main character.
My very first impressions -which I jotted down about 20 pages in - were that I liked the vividness with which things were described and the flow of the writing was good. The things I did NOT like -and there were a lot more of them, even then - were the third person style, the complete emotive detachment of the narrative from the main character and the attempt to be coy about who/where we are reading about.
Seriously, what was with that? The first two chapters were about 'the girl' no name. Then we started the next chapter with 'Susie' who one assumes might be 'the girl' but we are jumping around from place to time to whatever and there is a 'Miss Kaye' later on as well and not only was I a bit lost by it all, I rapidly ceased to care where/who we were at and just wanted to get on with things.
That lack of clarity resolves, but the detachment from the main character does not. Susie is a girl with separated parents, a mother in and out of mental hospitals and a host of interesting anecdotes but no real emotive connection is offered the reader to involve her in Susie's inner world. Then we skip to 'Miss Kaye' segments, but we never are given any insight as to what made Susie grow up to be a woman working in a mental hospital. Or any reason why those chapters are there, these fragments are just thrown in randomly, for no apparent reason, with no plot involvement and little enough character/reader involvement. Later we are given an 'old Susie' who has retired and sounds more than a little crazy herself, but never are we given any reason for the narrative. There appears to be no plot, no story arc no rationale for the novel. It just is. And while it is long stream of well written anecdotes, the ultimately meaningless chain of events with no plot arc had a habit of putting me to sleep.
Another small irritation is that we start when Susie is... what... six or so? Then we follow her as a rather wild, single parent child up until she moves to Sydney with a friend. At this point she is seventeen, I think. The 'voice' for child Susie and teenage Susie are identical. I can't emphasise how distorting that was for me because my experience felt like this: her dad is letting what sounds like a primary school aged child move to a different city on her own as a border and then run all over the place - oh wait, seventeen? Really?
And it felt like child Susie (up to teenage Susie) was a completely different person to 'Miss Kaye' and 'Old Susie' so with still no story arc to connect them it was hard for me to feel like this was a novel. Never was any noticeable reason that I could see for skipping between the times lines. They did not tie together, form a narrative, have a reveal or really have any reason at all for sharing space between the book covers. I just had no understanding of why this is a published book.
Because of the lovely anecdotes and nice writing I still did not hate this book, but it was such a drag to read much of it at a time I started another novel to read alongside, for when I wanted to read about actual events, with a real story.
The only real narrative explanation comes from the acknowledgments at the end where one gets a glimmer of a hint that just maybe this has a family history element to it? Or it was being written to the authors parents? Or siblings or something like that? I don't know. Apparently the publishers accepted it sight unseen (I feel like they should not have) so maybe there is more to the author and HER story than I know about but if that is so then maybe she should have written HER story instead of this indefinite meh novel.
PS
May 22, 2020
I am going against the grain here, but boy did I dislike this book.
I also dislike long reviews, so I am going to keep this short.
START RANT (minus spoilers)
I really wanted to relate to the characters, but I couldn't. The old mother was particularly horrid. Coming from someone that has experienced way more trauma than the main character, I am disgusted.
I adore flawed characters, but hated this.
Perhaps it was the writing style. Leaving everything DRY and vague.
I felt like the author was trying too hard to impress the reader the ENTIRE book. It didn't flow but kept tripping over itself.
The language Suzie uses is so inconsistent with her age (don't get me started).
And why the hell would someone who is supposed to truly care for the mentally handicapped refer to them in her mind as "Mrs Shrek" or "Newtons Third Law" or "Lego head"...????
This book was boring, rang false and screamed "Try Hard" from the top of its lungs. It wasn't even artsy.
END RANT.
I also dislike long reviews, so I am going to keep this short.
START RANT (minus spoilers)
I really wanted to relate to the characters, but I couldn't. The old mother was particularly horrid. Coming from someone that has experienced way more trauma than the main character, I am disgusted.
I adore flawed characters, but hated this.
Perhaps it was the writing style. Leaving everything DRY and vague.
I felt like the author was trying too hard to impress the reader the ENTIRE book. It didn't flow but kept tripping over itself.
The language Suzie uses is so inconsistent with her age (don't get me started).
And why the hell would someone who is supposed to truly care for the mentally handicapped refer to them in her mind as "Mrs Shrek" or "Newtons Third Law" or "Lego head"...????
This book was boring, rang false and screamed "Try Hard" from the top of its lungs. It wasn't even artsy.
END RANT.
April 12, 2020
I finished reading this and was left very perplexed. I wanted to love it. But I just felt there was a... gap. There’s so much between the key event and the ending that I wanted to know more about. While one part of the story was ended, there were so many other things I wanted to know and it frustrates me that I don’t!
The writing itself was lovely, the character development was excellent, and it wasn’t a challenging read. Good for an afternoon in an armchair with a pot of tea.
The writing itself was lovely, the character development was excellent, and it wasn’t a challenging read. Good for an afternoon in an armchair with a pot of tea.
March 28, 2020
In The Loudness of Unsaid Things (Hachette 2020), Hilde Hinton has created two unforgettable female characters with distinctive voices who will each clutch at your heart. In this meandering tale of loneliness, isolation and connection, Hinton’s prose is simple, evocative of the time, and impossibly sad. But just when the heartbreak becomes almost unbearable, small slivers of light shine rays of hopefulness and optimism.
Miss Kaye works at the Institute, a ‘place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite-rights’. Miss Kay is the secondary voice in the novel – she appears in shorter chapters interspersed with Susie’s story. Her voice and character are distinct and unusual. Her work at the Institute – which we realise is some type of psychiatric institution for disturbed women – is conducted with clinical detachment and some obsessive behaviours, and yet her tender relationships for those vulnerable women in her care are beautifully observed. The language of these sections is sparse and a little vague and disjointed. As much is said by what isn’t said as by what is spoken. Miss Kay is only one cog in the huge wheel of the Institute, and her manner of dealing with the women and relating to them creates such an interesting dynamic; we are never sure of her exact circumstances, but her voice is entirely individual and we can picture her clearly.
The main character is Susie, who at age seven has already ‘had her fill of character building’. This main narrative in the book is narrated through Susie’s young eyes. She lives with her dad while her mum stays at the mind hospital. Visits to her mum, when she is well enough to live independently, are fraught and worrisome. She never quite knows who to expect when she sees her mum, or which mum she will find. It is unsettling for a young girl, and this insecurity changes the way she grows into adolescence and ultimately navigates her own adult life. These sections, from Susie’s perspective, are full of childlike wonder, guilt, imagination, terrors, fears, hopes and sadness. Susie’s world is limited to what she knows. She has difficulty imagining anything different, anything more.
Together, Miss Kaye teaches Susie about the loudness of unsaid things, and that living can be so much more satisfying than merely surviving.
This novel is tender, wise, wry and funny. It is a story about kindness and compassion, especially to those in less fortunate circumstances, or those who have less stability or opportunities.
I absolutely loved the carefully constructed creation of Susie, and her early life, which demonstrates how a young person can so easily become lost, or fall between the cracks, or make poor decisions which subtly change the direction of their life and result in massive consequences. I felt that the second half of the novel evolved a bit too quickly for my liking; I would have liked to have either stayed with the younger Susie, or otherwise had more detail about her life as she becomes older. The shift occurs quickly and left me wanting much more of Susie’s young adult life. But despite this criticism (which is really a reflection of me wanting more of the book, rather than less), it remains an outstanding depiction of the development of a life, the derailing that can occur, and the life-saving changes – and people – that can make all the difference. And it shows how a traumatic event can change the course of a life in unexpected ways.
Hilde Hinton is the big sister to both Samuel and Connie Johnson, of Love Your Sister cancer fundraising and cycling fame. She was only 12 when she discovered her mother’s body after she had committed suicide, and this event obviously affected her deeply. She subsequently adopted the role of a mother-figure for her younger siblings. While this is not in any way an autobiography, or a biography, Hinton has obviously been informed by her early life experiences about death, grief, guilt, loss, mental illness, family, responsibility and survival. She belongs to a family marked by trauma of varying degrees…but also a family that has clung together and supported each other through some terrible times. Her life experiences of being an ‘older’ writer (publishing her debut novel in her 50’s), are keenly obvious. Her meditations on the importance of small things and big feelings, and of interconnected relationships, friendship and love, are all evident. And her depiction of Miss Kaye – an older woman with some eccentricities – is generous, compassionate and enlightening.
This book will tug at your heart, make you laugh, cry and sing. It will, as it suggests, ‘make you kinder to those who are lost’, by allowing you to recognise the lost amongst us, and engender empathy for their circumstances.
Miss Kaye works at the Institute, a ‘place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite-rights’. Miss Kay is the secondary voice in the novel – she appears in shorter chapters interspersed with Susie’s story. Her voice and character are distinct and unusual. Her work at the Institute – which we realise is some type of psychiatric institution for disturbed women – is conducted with clinical detachment and some obsessive behaviours, and yet her tender relationships for those vulnerable women in her care are beautifully observed. The language of these sections is sparse and a little vague and disjointed. As much is said by what isn’t said as by what is spoken. Miss Kay is only one cog in the huge wheel of the Institute, and her manner of dealing with the women and relating to them creates such an interesting dynamic; we are never sure of her exact circumstances, but her voice is entirely individual and we can picture her clearly.
The main character is Susie, who at age seven has already ‘had her fill of character building’. This main narrative in the book is narrated through Susie’s young eyes. She lives with her dad while her mum stays at the mind hospital. Visits to her mum, when she is well enough to live independently, are fraught and worrisome. She never quite knows who to expect when she sees her mum, or which mum she will find. It is unsettling for a young girl, and this insecurity changes the way she grows into adolescence and ultimately navigates her own adult life. These sections, from Susie’s perspective, are full of childlike wonder, guilt, imagination, terrors, fears, hopes and sadness. Susie’s world is limited to what she knows. She has difficulty imagining anything different, anything more.
Together, Miss Kaye teaches Susie about the loudness of unsaid things, and that living can be so much more satisfying than merely surviving.
This novel is tender, wise, wry and funny. It is a story about kindness and compassion, especially to those in less fortunate circumstances, or those who have less stability or opportunities.
I absolutely loved the carefully constructed creation of Susie, and her early life, which demonstrates how a young person can so easily become lost, or fall between the cracks, or make poor decisions which subtly change the direction of their life and result in massive consequences. I felt that the second half of the novel evolved a bit too quickly for my liking; I would have liked to have either stayed with the younger Susie, or otherwise had more detail about her life as she becomes older. The shift occurs quickly and left me wanting much more of Susie’s young adult life. But despite this criticism (which is really a reflection of me wanting more of the book, rather than less), it remains an outstanding depiction of the development of a life, the derailing that can occur, and the life-saving changes – and people – that can make all the difference. And it shows how a traumatic event can change the course of a life in unexpected ways.
Hilde Hinton is the big sister to both Samuel and Connie Johnson, of Love Your Sister cancer fundraising and cycling fame. She was only 12 when she discovered her mother’s body after she had committed suicide, and this event obviously affected her deeply. She subsequently adopted the role of a mother-figure for her younger siblings. While this is not in any way an autobiography, or a biography, Hinton has obviously been informed by her early life experiences about death, grief, guilt, loss, mental illness, family, responsibility and survival. She belongs to a family marked by trauma of varying degrees…but also a family that has clung together and supported each other through some terrible times. Her life experiences of being an ‘older’ writer (publishing her debut novel in her 50’s), are keenly obvious. Her meditations on the importance of small things and big feelings, and of interconnected relationships, friendship and love, are all evident. And her depiction of Miss Kaye – an older woman with some eccentricities – is generous, compassionate and enlightening.
This book will tug at your heart, make you laugh, cry and sing. It will, as it suggests, ‘make you kinder to those who are lost’, by allowing you to recognise the lost amongst us, and engender empathy for their circumstances.
June 3, 2020
I had high hopes for this book but in the end it didn’t land for me. I absolutely despised the main character - both the young & old version - she seemed very narcissistic & my dislike came very early on. The story overall lacked depth & consistency. There were sections that waded in unnecessary detail & then huge gaps in timeline & story that felt important to the reader understanding. As a book that is essentially about childhood trauma, mental illness & their ongoing impact, I felt it trivialised them & was poorly researched. Not a great read at all.
November 11, 2020
This is essentially a "coming of age" story of Susie who loses her mum at a young age and lives with her father in suburban Melbourne.
Interwoven with the story is that of "Miss Kaye" who works at "The Institute" overseeing those with mental illnes and dependency issues.
I thought this book was well written and quite readable. There were a few plot points that didn't quite work - where the characters actions didn't match with their prior behaviours. And the ending was rather rushed as we seemed to zoom forward decades in time with quite a few questions left unanswered.
Overall a good debut which I would recommend to those who like character driven fiction.
Interwoven with the story is that of "Miss Kaye" who works at "The Institute" overseeing those with mental illnes and dependency issues.
I thought this book was well written and quite readable. There were a few plot points that didn't quite work - where the characters actions didn't match with their prior behaviours. And the ending was rather rushed as we seemed to zoom forward decades in time with quite a few questions left unanswered.
Overall a good debut which I would recommend to those who like character driven fiction.
September 8, 2020
I loved many things about this book (not just the beautiful cover!)
I really felt for Susie from the beginning and the writing style is unique (a little quirky even!), which really makes you see the world through her eyes. I loved the descriptions of a 70s and 80s Australian childhood, the local references (as it is set in Daylesford, Melbourne and Sydney) and the way her coming of age as well as themes around mental illness, isolation and grief are handled so delicately through the characters. It made me smile at times and my heart break at others. A worthwhile new Australian read.
I really felt for Susie from the beginning and the writing style is unique (a little quirky even!), which really makes you see the world through her eyes. I loved the descriptions of a 70s and 80s Australian childhood, the local references (as it is set in Daylesford, Melbourne and Sydney) and the way her coming of age as well as themes around mental illness, isolation and grief are handled so delicately through the characters. It made me smile at times and my heart break at others. A worthwhile new Australian read.
June 15, 2020
I really found this an unpleasant read - an awful young girl turns into an awful mother. Along the way she uses people and neglects friends who are good to her. The huge time gap between her teenage years and retirement age is just lazy writing. Not recommended
March 21, 2020
Such a beautiful story, you felt so deeply for Susie and Miss Kaye! A must read.
If you can be anything be kind.
If you can be anything be kind.
June 1, 2020
This story had the potential to be a 5 star but lost its way at times. Definitely worth reading but may not be as good as you’d hoped.
January 4, 2025
i was so hooked that i read this book in a day but i am completely unsatisfied and disappointed by the second half of this story. it starts out so strong and promising with such interesting characters and completely looses its movement. i spent the first half crying in every chapter and then the second half was just a bunch of shit. so so confused about why this author didn’t finish the story and just let the character continue to be so shit
June 23, 2020
A quiet exploration of loneliness, trauma, self loathing and grief. What does happen to us as humans if we never say how we truly feel or say what we want or need?
Susie is wise beyond her years, patient and loving; if only she could see herself that way.
I wanted a little more from this novel.
The author skimmed important details (and missed a huge time chunk) intentionally but for me it was a little bare bones. I needed a bit more info/fleshing out, so I could connect with Kaye. I couldn’t help but feel like she was just a bit of a selfish, old grump.
I did like it but maybe 3.5 stars is more honest.
Susie is wise beyond her years, patient and loving; if only she could see herself that way.
I wanted a little more from this novel.
The author skimmed important details (and missed a huge time chunk) intentionally but for me it was a little bare bones. I needed a bit more info/fleshing out, so I could connect with Kaye. I couldn’t help but feel like she was just a bit of a selfish, old grump.
I did like it but maybe 3.5 stars is more honest.
December 19, 2021
The first few chapters were honestly fascinating, offering a child’s perspective on stigmatised mental illness… and then it went nowhere. This book follows Susie’s life, but Susie isn’t even a likeable person, especially towards the end of her life. The “twist” was very obvious and offered no catharsis, curiosity or suspense - it was blatantly obvious. I was counting down the pages for this book to finish. So disappointing, I think the beginning of this book & its premise offered SO much room to explore Susie’s childhood and relationship with her mother but it was dry and laborious to keep reading.
September 12, 2020
Not sure how to rate. Maybe 2.5. This book had enormous potential and I enjoyed the first half, but got bored in the second half and the ending was wholly dissatisfying and disappointing. I didn’t feel that the Susie portrayed while growing up matched the professional Susie or the retired Susie. I didn’t like her at all by the end, and found the jump in time disorientating and odd.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2021
Child characters with troubled attachments? Sign me up.
The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton won me from the very beginning. We meet seven-year-old Susie, who lives with her dad in Melbourne. Her mum lives in the 'mind hospital', where Susie visits her on weekends.
The story follows Susie through childhood and her adolescence, when she eventually leaves home and moves to Sydney. Immersed in Sydney's counter-culture, Susie finds herself adrift and struggling to make her place in the world.
The story is spliced with scenes from 'The Institute', a place for the 'damaged, the dangerous, the not-quite-rights. The big mistake-makers, the ill at ease, the outliers', and these scenes are told from the perspective of the kind and patient Miss Kaye. The temptation is to seek Susie's mum in the Institute scenes, however, that's a little obvious. Instead, the Institute serves as a way of exploring the central themes of belonging, being an outsider (‘Two differents make a same; two outcasts makes no outcasts’) and highlighting that we never really know what is happening for someone.
What is most notable about this book, is how well Hinton depicts Susie's anxiety and fear. Children rarely talk directly or specifically about what frightens them. Instead, they talk around it, or in the context of someone else's experience. It's rare to come across an author who can hold this as carefully, as lightly, and as truthfully as Hinton (too often the child character, in describing their circumstances or trauma, is either overly naive or overly knowing). I knew I was in good hands when Susie began her story by describing her worry over two highly publicised, convicted kidnappers -
Of course, the real threat in Susie's life is much closer to home - her fractured family and the uncertainty around her mother's mental health.
Susie's fear is explored in many ways - again, realistically, as her anxiety ripples through every element of her life.
The first half of the book, focused on Susie's childhood, charmed me. Small details created a familiar sense of place and time (Melbourne in the eighties) - Holly Hobbie sheets! Fish and chips wrapped tightly in paper! The novelty of a Lazy Susan! - and Susie's relationships with her dad, her mum, and her friend Geoffrey were realistic for someone her age.
In the second half, when Susie moves to Sydney, the story loses a little of its momentum - the plot moves forward but Susie becomes closed-off to the reader, her motivations and thoughts less obvious. Perhaps this is a good reflection of teenage behaviour, but for me, I lost some of the original emotional connection.
4/5 Overall, a wonderful story.
The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton won me from the very beginning. We meet seven-year-old Susie, who lives with her dad in Melbourne. Her mum lives in the 'mind hospital', where Susie visits her on weekends.
All the times her father had picked her up and ... told him that she had a nice visit, even when it wasn't nice. Because it made it easier for her. It meant she didn't have to talk about how hard it could be in there. How character building.
The story follows Susie through childhood and her adolescence, when she eventually leaves home and moves to Sydney. Immersed in Sydney's counter-culture, Susie finds herself adrift and struggling to make her place in the world.
The story is spliced with scenes from 'The Institute', a place for the 'damaged, the dangerous, the not-quite-rights. The big mistake-makers, the ill at ease, the outliers', and these scenes are told from the perspective of the kind and patient Miss Kaye. The temptation is to seek Susie's mum in the Institute scenes, however, that's a little obvious. Instead, the Institute serves as a way of exploring the central themes of belonging, being an outsider (‘Two differents make a same; two outcasts makes no outcasts’) and highlighting that we never really know what is happening for someone.
What is most notable about this book, is how well Hinton depicts Susie's anxiety and fear. Children rarely talk directly or specifically about what frightens them. Instead, they talk around it, or in the context of someone else's experience. It's rare to come across an author who can hold this as carefully, as lightly, and as truthfully as Hinton (too often the child character, in describing their circumstances or trauma, is either overly naive or overly knowing). I knew I was in good hands when Susie began her story by describing her worry over two highly publicised, convicted kidnappers -
Ever since the kidnapping she had been waiting for Boland and Eastwood to escape from jail and kidnap her. Life had changed. When she was alone, the threat became so imminent and inevitable that she had taken to hiding... balled up so tight she could surely fit in a matchbox.
Of course, the real threat in Susie's life is much closer to home - her fractured family and the uncertainty around her mother's mental health.
Susie's fear is explored in many ways - again, realistically, as her anxiety ripples through every element of her life.
Sister Sylvester had lifted her skirt to hit her in front of the whole school. She was wearing her orange undies that day and everyone saw them. It made the ruler hurt less because the orangeness of her undies was so much more painful. Fat Donna put an orange on her desk for a week after that.
The first half of the book, focused on Susie's childhood, charmed me. Small details created a familiar sense of place and time (Melbourne in the eighties) - Holly Hobbie sheets! Fish and chips wrapped tightly in paper! The novelty of a Lazy Susan! - and Susie's relationships with her dad, her mum, and her friend Geoffrey were realistic for someone her age.
In the second half, when Susie moves to Sydney, the story loses a little of its momentum - the plot moves forward but Susie becomes closed-off to the reader, her motivations and thoughts less obvious. Perhaps this is a good reflection of teenage behaviour, but for me, I lost some of the original emotional connection.
4/5 Overall, a wonderful story.
April 5, 2021
I loved this book! The main character - Susie - was, understandably, not a typical girl. She'd been through situations in her young life that would have thrown most people for a loop, but she developed some very unique methods for coping.
Several reviewers have expressed their dislike for Susie and, although I can understand that, I did not feel the same. In fact, I loved her - probably because she was a misfit which is something I understand. I know the author understood her, too, because Susie ended up exactly where I'd expect.
This was a excellent book, so full of understanding and empathy, that everyone—especially misfits—will love.
Several reviewers have expressed their dislike for Susie and, although I can understand that, I did not feel the same. In fact, I loved her - probably because she was a misfit which is something I understand. I know the author understood her, too, because Susie ended up exactly where I'd expect.
This was a excellent book, so full of understanding and empathy, that everyone—especially misfits—will love.
February 20, 2021
A disjointed read, I read about 100 pages, but then skimmed the rest. Agree with another reviewer that the child Suzie and her language and age don't align, and seem confused. The huge jump into her 'retirement' was....felt like an afterthought. I'm not sure why the character of Miss Kaye was interspersed in the narrative. I admired the theme, and what the author was tying to convey, but it just didn't engage me.
April 20, 2020
I enjoyed the Suzie growing up parts, they were sad, funny and showed a wonderful character. The Miss Kaye parts I didn’t really get until the end. This was a different writing style to my normal fare, so I had to come to terms with it. The Suzie story ended abruptly, but it did all make sense in the end. I loved the completeness of the person at the end.
April 27, 2020
Brilliant. I was fascinated by the two perspectives in this book; Susie's lens projected such innocence when paralleled with the no-nonsense outlook of Miss Kaye. Hinton was clever in her ability to weave these characters together and their ending was equal parts underwhelming yet appropriate. It was a perfect balance between light-hearted moments, those 'if you don't laugh, you'll cry' moments and the darkness that mental health issues can bring.
August 28, 2021
Like some other reviewers I essentially enjoyed the book - it is an easy read with some poignant moments. The author has portrayed Susie’s life with all of its complications and comes from a place of understanding how life experiences can affect your outlook on life and behaviours.
However, I felt that there was something missing, some sort of gap. Difficult to explain but, to me, there was a whole chunk of the story missing, although I know that that would have been deliberate.
However, I felt that there was something missing, some sort of gap. Difficult to explain but, to me, there was a whole chunk of the story missing, although I know that that would have been deliberate.
May 5, 2021
I enjoyed that this book was set on the east coast of Australia and particularly the parts in Sydney in Manly and the CBD in the 80s. There are some very uniquely Australian references. I found it hard to relate to Susie but I could definitely sympathise with some of her struggles like moving from sharehouse to sharehouse and her worldview is very quirky and interesting.
August 19, 2020
This book begins with two different stories. Miss Kaye working at The Institute and the story of Susie. The happiness that comes from imagination and can drown out loneliness, is a strong theme in this novel.
December 3, 2021
“The growing pile of unsaid things sat between them. Susie wondered if she kicked it, whether it would crumble and scatter like autumn leaves. But it would probably be made of concrete and she didn’t want to stub her soul.” 🥺❤️
February 23, 2025
"The growing pile of unsaid things sat between them. Susie wondered if she kicked it, whether it would crumble and scatter like autumn leaves. But it would probably be made of concrete and she didn't want to stub her soul."
September 24, 2020
This story really blew me away. It was poignant and sad, but also lively and evocative of Melbourne in the 1980s and later, Sydney. I wasn’t sure whether the structure was going to work, but it all became clear at the end.
March 12, 2022
Really enjoyed this book, but felt the ending was a little abrupt and did leave me disappointed.
October 9, 2022
I really loved this book! An amazing debut!
I was left with some questions at the end, which is why I haven’t given it 5 stars, but I will definitely read more of Hilde Hinton’s work!
I was left with some questions at the end, which is why I haven’t given it 5 stars, but I will definitely read more of Hilde Hinton’s work!
January 23, 2023
Was hoping to like it more but found the central character hard to connect to or care about. An easy and enjoyable enough read though
Displaying 1 - 30 of 208 reviews