The Silence

by Susan Allott

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.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Australia, Crime, Historical Fiction, Audiobook

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2020

About the author

Susan Allott is a critically acclaimed British writer whose debut The Silence was published internationally by Harper Collins in 2020 and was longlisted for the John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award.

Her second novel, The House on Rye Lane, publishes 18 January 2024 (UK) and 30 April 2024 (US). Susan lives in south London with her husband and children.

‘Sublime, elegant and exciting. The House on Rye Lane is beautifully written and entirely gripping. I’m a big fan of Susan Allott’ CHRIS WHITAKER

‘The lovechild of Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests and Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs… confirms Susan Allott as a huge talent’ ERIN KELLY

Sign up for Susan's author newsletter via her website www.susanallott.com

Follow Susan on Twitter @susanallott and Instagram @susanallottauthor and Facebook @facebook.com/sallottauthor


Specialises in: Contemporary, literary (including book club fiction), crime/thrillers/mysteries.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is powerful, stunning, heart wrenching debut enlightens a shameful area of Australian history: separation of children from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. This sensitive subject reminds you of another emotional historical novel: ”Before we were yours” and the book’s mysterious, intense, layered and high tension atmosphere reminds you of Jane Harper’s novels.
It’s told in two different time frames: we’re moving back and forth between 1967 and 1997 to solve the pieces of the puzzle: a murder mystery layered with more secrets, lies, dysfunctional family issues, unhealthy marriage relations.

On 1997, Isla lives in a basement flat in Hackney, wakes up with a call in the middle of the night coming from his father from Sydney. His father tells him to come back to his childhood home because he’s accused of the murder: a 30 years old case: their neighbor Mandy. She had been presumed missing at 3 decades ago but now she is presumed death and Isla’s father Joe is the last person who had seen her alive!

Isla already deals with her own problems, suffering from alcoholism, loneliness, forces herself to fly back to her home to bring out the family secrets but you know the most important thing at those thriller stories: sometimes it’s better not to dig out the past because you are not ready to face what will come around and hit you against your face. Sometimes it’s better not to know. But eventually

Isla needs to know if her father is capable to do something lethal and dangerous.
At the flashback parts of the novel, we learn more about both neighbors and their family dynamics.
Isla’s mother Louisa and father Joe are immigrants from England and Louisa is already homesick as soon as they move their new place. But Joe seems he’s fine to adapt into his new life style.

And when we’re introduced with the neighbors: Mandy and Steve has unhealthy relationship and rocky, problematic marriage. Steve is a cop and his job is more demanding and compelling but he’s doing his best to take things in control and Mandy doesn’t want to have baby. Then we learn Steve’s involvement about separation of Aborigine babies and as secrets start coming out more wrecking and tragic events start to occur as well.

Overall: This is promising, thrilling, dark, heartfelt, poignant, remarkably emotional, impressive debut that I highly recommend. It gave me another reason to add more Aussie authors to my MOUNT TBR I’m using to rent for the vacationers on weekends.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for sharing this thrilling ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

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[Lindsay L · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for this quiet but powerful novel!

Beautifully written. Thought-provoking. Heavy-hitting.

A thirty year old investigation into the disappearance of a local woman is reopened. This outstanding novel follows two timelines, 1966/67 and 1997. I found both storylines to be equally intriguing and loved how the mystery intertwined throughout.

This book was a lot heavier than I expected and I loved that about it. I had an immediate intense connection to the characters and storyline. I was fully invested from the first chapter. It was a compelling and unforgettable domestic drama mystery, one where I was hanging on every word.

Several of the topics explored within this story gave me much to think about — alcoholism, racism, depression, domestic abuse, Indigenous rights, childhood trauma, atonement, a mother’s longing for “more” out of life. Sounds like a lot packed into one story, but it was done extremely well.

This is a slow burn but I never wanted it to speed up. The way the story was presented was perfect. The author gradually reveals more to this delicate and heart wrenching mystery as the chapters unfold. I highly recommend!

Audiobook rating: 5+ stars! The audio narrator was brilliant! The narrative pauses were done in the perfect moments and added to the drama of the storyline. Expressions were so well done.

Thank you to William Morrow Books for my review copy!

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCERPT: This is the thing she couldn't put her finger on, that she should have known was wrong from the start. Her dad hasn't called her in the decade she has lived in London. It's her mum who makes the phone calls, leaves messages on the answerphone. Her dad writes letters. He hates the phone.

'What is it?'

'I didn't want you to hear it from your mother. She hasn't taken it well. I wanted to tell you myself.'

She drops her head between her knees. She thinks, if he's going to die, I'll need a drink. Cold, practical thoughts: she will finish this call and she will put her clothes on. There's an all night take away at Clapton Pond where they sell six-packs of beer under the counter.

'The police came to see me,' he says.

'The police?'

'They're looking for a woman I used to know.'

Isla lifts her head. She's sweating. She runs her hand through her damp hair. 'What woman?'

'She was a neighbour of ours, back when we first moved to Sydney. You wouldn't remember.' He coughs. 'It looks like she's been missing a long time. Nobody's seen her in thirty years.'

'What's this got to do with you?'

'The police think her disappearance is suspicious,' he says. 'They think I was the last person to see her, before she went missing.'

And were you?' She tries to sound calm. 'Were you the last person to see her?'

'I can't have been. She moved away with her husband. 'I told them there must be some mistake.'

He lights a cigarette. Exhales. She thinks of Dom, smiling behind a flame.

'Is she dead?'

ABOUT 'THE SILENCE': 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. Thirty years ago, in the suffocating heat of summer 1967, the Green's next-door neighbor Mandy disappeared. At the time, it was thought she 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 his 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?

MY THOUGHTS: 'Is she dead?' This is the crux of The Silence by Susan Allott. 'She' is Mandy, the neighbour who looks after Isla while her mother Louisa works. Mandy is the woman who Isla admits, as a child, she loves more than her real mother.

The story is told in two time frames, 1967 when Isla is a child, and 1997. The Silence is an amazing debut novel, cleverly weaving the story of Australia's stolen children in with a missing person mystery and the emotional perils of relocating 'down under'.

The mystery is intense, and layered like an onion. Almost every character is hiding a secret, and telling lies in order to conceal it. But after thirty years, it seems that the truth about these dysfunctional families must out. Isla is about to shatter her rose tinted spectacles and her memories of her idyllic childhood.

The Silence is a compelling, complex, and thrilling read. I can't wait to see what is next from this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#TheSilence @DiversitySusan @boroughpress @susanallottauthor
#australiancrimefiction #historicalfiction #domesticdrama #mystery #suspense

THE AUTHOR: Susan Allott is from the UK but spent part of her twenties in Australia, desperately homesick but trying to make Sydney her home. She completed the Faber Academy course in 2017, during which she started writing this novel. She now lives in south London with her two children and her very Australian husband. (Amazon)

DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of The Silence, written by Susan Allott, narrated by Melle Stewart and published by Harper Audio via Overdrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 A mystery thirty years in the making. A young woman who has gone missing, a disappearance that is just now being investigated. Isla, returns home as her father requests as he has been drawn into the investigation. So what happened all those years ago?

Father daughter relationships and a mystery. Atmospheric but slowly paced. What I liked best about this book is that it confronts head on the taking of the children of the aborigines. A few emotional rendering scenes and a man who confronts his own conscience. A good read that kept my interest.

ARC from Edelweiss.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic surprise this was. An absolute must read. Highly recommend.

Imagine it's the middle of the night, your phone is ringing and it's your Dad calling. You answer and your beloved father tells you he might be in some trouble. It seems he may have been the last person to see a neighbor alive...thirty years ago.

This is how our story begins.

If you love Jane Harper or Tana French, I strongly urge you to read this book. The writing captures the slow dissolution of hope in almost every character. The neighborhood where this book takes place is beautiful on the outside. Newer houses, (some with the ocean in the backyard), young and happy families, but as soon as you look closer...you see the cracks. Things are not as bright and shiny as they appear. What Ms. Allott does with each chapter is reveal slowly and expertly, the steady unraveling of each character. Bored housewives who have dreams of their own and their troubled husbands who seek solace in the wrong places. The mistakes and secrets these adults make bleed into the next generation and it is the fateful year of 1967 that we look back to in order to find out what happened to Mandy.

There could not be a more apt title for this book. The 'silence' is represented by the secrets each character keeps and what is left unsaid. Further, the 'silence' represented by the horrible atrocity committed by the Australian government in forcibly taking children from Aboriginal families and relocating them into institutions. These scenes were very difficult to read, but necessary. Timing is everything and this book found me at the most impactful time it could. Yesterday was Juneteenth, which is a point in American History that I recently learned more about and I don't recall learning about it in school. Similarly, Ms. Allott features a time in Australian history that many are not taught in school, as a backdrop to the disappearance that the plot centers around. An old history professor once said that history is written by the victor. With this book, you see a peek into a history a government has silenced by simply pretending it didn't exist (until it had to) and leaving generations of its people in the dark and many, worse off in life.

While the pace of the novel is slower (which used to be a deterrent for me), it is skillfully timed. The characters are troubled, but relatable and fully developed. My heart broke several times throughout reading this and the ending did the preceding pages complete justice. I cannot believe this is a debut author or novel. Put Ms. Allot on your list to watch. She's a real talent.

Thank you so much to Christina Joell at William Morrow Group, Edelweiss and Susan Allott for the finished copy and the opportunity to read and provide an honest review.

Review Date: 06/20/20
Publication Date: 05/19/20

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Mandy, goes missing, its presumed that her neighbour, Joe killed her as he was the last person to see her. Joe and Louisa were still settling into their new lives after emigrating to Australia. Mandy's husband, Steve was part of a police team in the sixties that were removing Aboriginal children from their homes and placing them in care homes. Joe's daughter, Isla goes to Australia to support her father.

The story is set over two timelines 1960-1990. It's told from Mandy and Isla's perspectives. The story also covers domestic violence and alcoholism. This is another whodunnit. There seems to be a few of them out just now, but I'm quite liking them. I don't want to say much more as I don't want to spoil it for potential readers. I was caught up quickly in this book. I really enjoyed it.

In the authors note, she tells us how the Australian government have publicly apologised for what they did to the Aboriginal families the British government never has. Its also known as the Stolen Generations.

I would like to thank NetGalley HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and the author Susan Abbott for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Silence is not the most uplifting of novels, but that's because it was quite realistic in its portrayal of real suburban families and how much disfunction there can be behind perfectly maintained facades and lawns.

It's 1997, Isla Green is living in the UK, when she gets a call from her father telling her that the police think he's a suspect in the disappearance of a next-door neighbour, Mandy. Nobody has heard from her for thirty years and Isla Green's father, Joe, is, according to police, the last person to see her alive.
Written via dual timelines, 1967 and 1997, and through the eyes of multiple characters, this is a slow-burning mystery, with lots of layers and well-formed characters.

Tolstoy was so right when he said: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." We never truly know people, not even those closest to us.

Atmospheric and not too far fetched, The Silence is a fantastic debut novel that kept me interested for twelve hours. Melle Stewart's narration was top notch as well.

[Fictionophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always a treat when you read a debut novel that is written with the skill of a more seasoned novelist. "The Silence" is just such a book.

This is a book about dysfunction. In families and in social justice. Rife with family secrets, shame, moral quandaries, apologies, and betrayal, the novel depicts how secrecy, alcoholism, adultery, and spousal abuse all serve to play a part in the history of two neighbouring families.

Also, the book sheds light on a fact of Australian history that I was previously unaware of. "The Great Australian Silence" which saw children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples forcefully removed from their families and rehoused. These children are sometimes referred to as "Australia's Stolen Generation".

One wee quibble I had was the use of the word 'but' at the end of myriad sentences.  Then, I realized it might very well be an Australian colloquialism. It seemed to translate as the word though... (Eg. "Her roses were doing well, but." and "Bad posture, but."

Since this is a debut novel, I had absolutely no expectations going in. I discovered it to be a domestic thriller expertly blended with social history. A well researched, skillfully written novel that will likely make my 'Best of 2020' list. Highly recommended!

[DeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This one is now available!

4 Australian mystery stars

This is a clever debut novel set in Australia with a mystery involved. We have Isla Green as our main character. She currently lives in London but has spent most of her life in Sydney. She has been called back to Australia to help her family as her father is a suspect in a case dating back 30 years. She’s been sober for a few months, but definitely has a drinking problem like her father.

The story alternates between 1967 and 1997 with Isla’s family interacting with the neighbors in 1967 and then Isla trying to figure out what happened back then when she was a child. The neighbors are Mandy and Steve – Mandy has helped with caring for Isla and Steve has the tough job of taking Aboriginal children out of homes deemed “unsatisfactory” to family services. Steve is pressuring Mandy to start a family, but his job is really getting to him. These two dysfunctional families have a good bit of drama!

There are some serious secrets from that summer in 1967 and it has taken 30 years for them to bubble to the surface. The author does a great job with atmospheric writing and describing the hot scorching days in Australia. What really happened to Mandy that summer and does Isla’s dad know the answers? This one kept me guessing until the very end.

This one shared a bit of the tragedy that happened in Australia with removing Aboriginal children from their homes. I am wondering if that is what the title refers to in this case? It’s definitely got me thinking!

Thank you to Susan Allott, NetGalley, and Harper Collins/William Morrow for an early copy of this one to read.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I had high expectations for this book but was disappointed. Most reviews were favourable. The story is set mainly in Sydney where I lived for three years, and have enjoyed many mysteries with Australian locations. I purchased the Kindle version as The Silence was one of five books on the Washington Posts’ list of recommended mysteries this week. It has been called ‘vibrant with Hitchcockian atmosphere’ and often compared with the books by Jane Harper. I regret it didn’t come close for me.

I thought this debut novel had an interesting plot but felt its execution fell flat. Set in two timelines 30 years apart (1967 and 1997) there was an interesting subplot centering on the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families and sent to less than ideal institutions in a government attempt to give them a better life (destroy their languages and culture). There was an informative and powerful movie about this practice, The Rabbit-Proof Fence.

The characters were flat and I was unable to connect with them. They were all unlikeable, and although their thoughts and behaviours were described, I felt I was being told but somehow but couldn’t develop any emotional investment in the characters or what happened to them.

One night, Isla, living and working in England, receives a call from her father, Joe, in Sydney. Joe has been content living in Australia but is an alcoholic. Isla has also become an alcoholic but is in recovery after beating her former boyfriend in a drunken rage. Her mother, Louisa, is also in Sydney, but left Joe at one time, fleeing back to England with Isla. Later, her mother returned to Joe but is very homesick for England and miserable in Australia. She hates the heat and insects and is disappointed in Joe, sorry that she ever returned to him.

It is 1997 and the reason for Joe’s call to his daughter is that he is under suspicion by the police for the disappearance of next-door neighbour, Mandy, thirty years ago. He is thought to be the last one to see her alive, and she is now believed to be dead. Isla still has affection for her father but her brother remembers him as a violent drunk. Isla reluctantly agrees to return to Sydney to support Joe. Her mother suspects Joe might be guilty of murdering Mandy.

Mandy took care of Isla when she was a young child while Louisa was working. Isla has vague and fond memories of Mandy. Mandy lived next door to Isla’s family by the sea in Sydney. Mandy was in an unhappy marriage with Steve, a policeman. In 1967 Steve had become depressed and discontented with his work. He was involved in removing Aboriginal children from their families and leaving them at an institution he considered unsuitable. He was desperate for children but Mandy refused to become a mother.

The timeline alternates between 1967 and 1997 when Isla returns to Sydney. She learns that Steve quit his job and shortly after he and Mandy moved away. Mandy was left an inheritance and is being sought. She is not with Steve and is nowhere to be found. Did Isla’s father, Joe, kill her or is she still alive? Isla must deal with secrets held by the two dysfunctional families for many years before the case is solved, but the truth does not resolve years of pain and deceptions.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m being spoilt with great reads lately and here is another one to watch in 2020, Susan Allott’s “The Silence” a quietly emotional and beautifully written novel which has a dark sense of nostalgia to it even as it touches on deeply emotive issues.

Two families live side by side, one of their number disappears, a disappearance not noted until over 30 years later. Enter Isla, drawn back to the childhood home she has avoided, thrown by emerging secrets and her own jagged memories..

The Silence revisits a time in Australian history that I knew nothing about, the author captures the sense of time and place pitch perfectly, moving seamlessly between past and present until the truth comes out into the light. The characters are drawn with an intriguing, authentic set of layers, there is a sense throughout that something bad is coming and in the end this is a classic character drama playing out on a wide canvas, holding the reader in it’s grip from first page to last.

I thought it was excellent, disturbing yet emotionally resonant, descriptively immersive and with an unforgettable finale.

Highly Recommended.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Jane Harper, I have come to love Australian mysteries/thrillers, and I'm happy to add Susan Allott to that list! This deubt work impressed me, and after a drought of mediocre, 3-star reads, it was a 4-star breath of fresh air for me!

The book opens with Isla Green, who is living in London, receiving a phone call from her father, Joe. From it we learn that Isla's parents' friend and neighbor Mandy, who also sometimes cared for Isla, disappeared thirty years prior, in 1967, and that her father is the main suspect because he was presumed to be the last one to see Mandy alive. Isla returns to Sydney for the first time in a decade to support her father, but we quickly learn that it is not a happy reunion. Her mother, Louisa, is an angry, bitter woman, and her father, Joe, is a depressed alcoholic with a dark history. Once Isla returns home, she begins to remember more about her childhood, Mandy, and her husband Steve, and the timeline leading up to Mandy's disappearance. Secrets surrounding both Joe and Louisa and Mandy and Steve are slowly revealed, and Isla begins to make some connections that make more than a few people uncomfortable.

The chapters alternate between 1997 and 1967, between Australia and England, and the plot is a slow reveal as more information comes to light and secrets are exposed. There is quite a bit of character development, but I was so sucked in to both storylines, past and present, that it was not cumbersome at all. It did take me a few chapters to really sink my teeth into the plot, but then I couldn't put it down!

I have seen several comparisons to Before We Were Yours, but I didn't really see that - there is an element to the plot that involves Aboriginal children and the atrocities that occurred in regard to them in Australia in the 1960's, but it is a minor subplot. Still though, this book is brilliant and its many complex layers kept me guessing right until the very end.

Overall, a fabulous debut for Susan Allott, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future!

[Brooke - Brooke's Reading Life · Rating 3 out of 5]

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The Silence by Susan Allott. (2020).

It's 1997 and in London, Isla is woken by a phone call from her father Joe in Sydney. 30 years ago in 1967 their neighbour Mandy disappeared. There has been no trace of her and Joe was allegedly the last person to see her alive, and now he's a murder suspect. In 1967, Isla's mother is homesick after emigrating from England but her husband Joe loves their life in Australia. Next door, Mandy doesn't want a baby even though her husband Steve is desperate to be a father.
Isla returns to Sydney and the more she asks about the past, the more she learns. Is her father capable of murder? How much does her mother know? And is there another secret, one which goes deeper into Australia's colonial past...

I found this one to be alright. I didn't overly enjoy it but I didn't dislike it either. I think for me this would have been better as two separate books, and I'll try to explain why. The author clearly wants to shine a light on the fact that in Australia many Aboriginal children were removed from their homes for no real reason and placed in much worse conditions, which she explains in her author's note is not widely known in Britain. Steve, Mandy's husband, is a police officer doing this and struggling with it. I think the author could have written an entire book only on this and been able to go into more detail, rather than having combined it with a storyline of Mandy being missing and Joe suspected of her murder. That's my personal opinion and other readers may disagree with me as it did have a place in the book as it effected Mandy and Steve's relationship which led to other events occurring. I this this novel showcases just how much a lack of trust for whatever reason can deteriorate a relationship. Isla is in a difficult position of clearly loving her father and is determined to believe he can't possibly be guilty but doubts slip in; what a confronting situation for a daughter and father.
Overall: an interesting debut novel for this author, it's getting quite high praise on Goodreads, for me it was average but that's mainly because I think it could have been two separate stories rather than one. Definitely worth a read.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong debuting mystery thriller set in Australia and told through a dual timeline.

The central character Isla is woken by a phone call in the middle of the night from her father who has been implicated in the murder of former next door neighbour Mandy back in yhe 1960's when Isla was just a child.

Isla heads back to Sydney as she trys to clear his name, whilst there she uncovers some dark secrets - including Australia's colonial history.

An effective atmospheric read tackling difficult topics of alcoholism and domestic abuse, a gripping accompanied mystery.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I realised my life was going to be shaped by my husband. His choices, his decisions. Anything WAS possible, but only for him.”

Family loyalties.

The legacy of secrets.

The legacy of shame.

It was the cover of THE SILENCE which first attracted my attention, but Erin Kelly’s description was the thing that sealed the deal for me: a book that “excavates dark, decades-old secrets buried in human hearts, in families and in nations.” I can never resist a book about dark family secrets, and was looking forward to some virtual time travel to the 1960’s, one of the timelines in this story.

What can I say? THE SILENCE was five stars all the way for me! I filled four pages of my reading journal with quotes, and devoured the book over the course of a day because I just couldn’t tear myself away. Straight from the start, we get to know the three compelling, flawed female characters that are driving the story. Mandy and Louisa, who are two unhappy Australian women trapped in their boring housewife lives in suburbia during the 1960’s. And Isla, Louisa’s adult daughter, who will discover some dark family secrets when the police opens the case of Mandy’s mysterious disappearance.

Set against the backdrop of the terrible events that marked the era of the “Stolen Generation”, THE SILENCE gives a chilling account of a woman’s life in Australia in the 1960’s. Both Mandy and Louisa, bright and vivacious young women, are soon stifled by marriage. They are dependent on their husbands for everything, and have none of the liberties we now take for granted, for example being able to have our own bank account, or being allowed to work, drive a car, travel without the husband’s permission. Steve, Mandy’s husband, may be loving and kind most of the time, but suffers from bouts of depression and guilt from his role in removing indigenous children from their families. Joe, Louisa’s husband, has a dark violent side his daughter still does not want to acknowledge, but which prompted his young wife to flee back home to England with her small child during the summer Mandy went missing.

“There were happy times, weren’t there? Louisa says.
You’re never happy, Isla thinks [...] “Of course there were”, she says. “But the bad times were really bad.”

THE SILENCE was raw and gut-wrenching and got under my skin as only few books can. Each character appeared vividly in my mind, their thoughts, actions and emotions leaving their scars on my psyche. Overall, it was a sad, tragic story, but so well written and so observant that I was utterly captivated all the way. Allott’s insights into the dynamics of an unhappy marriage and the effects on the whole family left a lasting impression, as was her presentation of a woman’s life in Australia during the 1960’s. It’s the era my mother would have experienced as a young wife, and I could see an echo of her among the pages – a bright, independent woman stifled by the restrictions of her time, and by the person who she loved, her husband. It was sobering and yet very compelling. I couldn’t put the book down!

And if the personal portrayal of womanhood and marriage isn’t enough to lure you in, then be assured that there is also a very decent mystery buried in these pages. The historical background, especially the events related to Steve, also delivered a sobering message and one that may present a trigger for readers with indigenous backgrounds, where many generations have been affected by the events portrayed.

In summary, THE SILENCE was a brilliant book, the type that comes around rarely, containing all the elements of a dark family drama cum mystery that make for an unputdownable read. I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a multi-layered mystery with compelling characters and a historical context that stays with you long after you have turned the last page. I can’t wait to read more from this author in future!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

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[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow burn mystery set in Sydney Australia, a woman goes missing and after a phone call 30 years later the missing pieces are sewn together in this dual timeline story.

The pacing is slow which allows you to get to know the central characters better. In unravelling the past many family secrets are uncovered, there is a common thread of deep sadness of kept secrets causing damage to all of the relationships, the brutality of alcoholism a way to deal with the pain and hidden suffering. The Silence being an apt title for this story. The book touches on the heartbreaking side of Australia’s colonial past. It adds to the sense of time and place and gives a darkness to the story.

I assumed the author was Australian but have discovered she’s English so I commend her for getting the Aussie sensibility and lingo down pat. ‘The Silence’ although not always perfectly polished it was a decent read but at times a little too slow in parts diminishing the mystery aspect.

[Lee at ReadWriteWish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Silence is an unsettling mystery which is told in two timelines. In 1997, Isla is living and working in London when she is contacted by her father, Joe, in Australia. The police say Joe was the last person to see the family’s neighbour, Mandy, before she went missing in 1967 and, if they find her body, he will be their chief suspect in the murder case.

Returning to Australia is an emotional rollercoaster for Isla. Spending time with Joe, her alcoholic father, and Louisa, her bitter mother, is not a relaxing holiday. Although in this timeline she discovers more and more about that summer in 1967, she also discovers everyone’s recollections are quite different and tainted by their personal issues. Even Isla and her younger brother's memories and perceptions of their parents greatly differ.

In the 1967 scenes Allott gradually reveals the circumstances leading up to Mandy’s disappearance. Joe and Louisa’s dramas are depicted along with those of Mandy and her husband, Steve, until the climactic scene showing just what happened to Mandy.

The flashbacks are chronological and the tension and pacing builds perfectly until the climactic scene. I guess my only complaint would be that the 1997 Isla scenes could have been much more fraught with danger.

I’d probably consider this more of a character study than a plot driven mystery novel though. The various characters all have to face up to their dark sides and the consequences of their actions. A lot of topical issues, from the time and still today, are covered including the forced removal of Aboriginal children, the lack of rights for women, alcoholism, PTSD, domestic violence and police corruption.

The title of the book is very clever and refers to a few things; none which I can mention without spoiling. Apart from those tangible happenings in the book, The Silence title also added another layer to the stifling atmosphere which I thought Allott nailed.

Actually I think the main way I’d describe The Silence is 'atmospheric'. The prose is deceptively simple and whilst reading I felt like I really was in 1967, living through a hot dry summer in a world with limited or no rights unless you were a white male. The Australian-ness of the setting was also spot on and I was surprised to find that Allott only lived here for a short while (although she does have the advantage of being married to an Aussie).

I have to confess I did struggle a little bit with the dark themes of the book but this is more to do with the current events of the world than the book itself. Being so depressed by Covid and then depressed by the events of the book was not a good pairing. I definitely need to read a sunny romance next. And this is why I shaved a star off my rating. To be honest, there really was no happiness in this book. During normal times, I might not have noticed the relentless bleakness of the book but now is not a normal time.

However, if you can get past that, I'd still highly recommend the book and I'll definitely be interested in Allott's next offering.

4 out of 5

[Fiona Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this impressive and beautifully written, Australian-set debut with the devastating subject of the Stolen Generation at its core - children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families over a period of some sixty years.

The Silence takes its readers into two time frames - 1967 and thirty years later. It is 1997 when it finally comes to light that Mandy, wife to Steve - one of the police officers responsible for removing Aborigine children - has not been seen for thirty years. Isla was just a little girl when her next door neighbour and sometime babysitter Mandy went missing and nobody noticed she was gone. Now living in England and trying to take control of her alcoholism, Isla gets a call from her father Joe who is being implicated in Mandy’s disappearance. It is then that Isla returns to her country of birth and starts to excavate long-buried secrets.

What unfolds is a patient and captivating story which digs deep into Sydney’s harrowing historical heart, laying bare racism and the constraints put upon women during the 1960s. An atmospheric and poignant read, Allott is clearly a writer with great promise.

[Louise Fein · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Silence is a complex, deeply moving and brilliantly written book about an uncomfortable, shameful piece of Australian/British history. It is about flawed people, difficult relationships, buried memories and a compelling mystery about a missing woman. But at the heart of the book is the painful and deeply disturbing history of the separation of children from their Aboriginal families by the State. This is a story which needs to be told and the author has achieved this in an intelligent, sensitive manner. A must read for 2020.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a terrific read. The Silence of the title refers to society’s silence on the forced removal of aboriginal children from their homes. This is a sad story of betrayal, violence, alcoholism, infidelity and loss. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strength of character…

In 1997, in her flat in London, Isla Green gets a phone call from her dad in Sydney. He’s worried. He tells her that the police have been looking into the disappearance of Mandy Mallory, who used to be their next-door-neighbour back in 1967 when Isla was a very little child, and they seem to have him in their sights as a suspect in her possible murder. His long-troubled relationship with his wife is reaching breaking point, because he thinks she believes the police’s suspicions. Isla has always been closer to her dad, so she decides to go home to Sydney to support him through all this – the first time she has been home in years. At first she is convinced her father could never have killed anyone, but once she’s home old memories begin to resurface and she sees the people she thought she knew through different, more experienced eyes, and suddenly she’s not so sure any more…

The book is told in the third person throughout. The 1967 strand forms the bulk of the book, is told in past tense, and mostly centres on Mandy’s life in the few months running up to her disappearance, with occasional sections showing us Isla’s rather fragmentary child’s-eye memories of Mandy and her own family. Unusually for the time, Isla’s mother worked outside the home, so Mandy often looked after Isla, watching her while she swam off the beach at the back of their properties, giving her snacks, chatting to her, and generally being a kind of aunt figure to her. As Isla’s memories of her slowly revive she realises how much she loved Mandy, who gave her a kind of emotional sanctuary at a time when her parents’ fraught relationship was making her home life unhappy.

Isla also begins to remember Mandy’s husband Steve, and how all the local children were a bit afraid of him, though Isla had forgotten why in the intervening years. As the story unfolds, we discover that Steve was with the police, and part of his job was to remove Aboriginal children from their families as part of the government policy to break their links with their communities and ‘merge’ them into white society. Steve, though, is finding it increasingly difficult to believe that the children benefit from this policy – he knows they often end up in children’s homes rather than loving adoptive families. While for most it’s an invisible problem or not a problem at all, some people, like Steve and also Isla’s father, are beginning to question the cruel racism that underlies the forced removals.

The later strand in 1997 doesn’t take up so much space, and as so often happens in dual timeline books, I mostly felt it was a distraction from the main story, although it’s equally well written. It’s written in present tense, and mainly focuses on Isla as she gradually begins to discover what happened back in 1967. Isla is a recovering alcoholic, a trait she has inherited from her dad who, however, is decidedly unrecovered. We gradually learn how his alcoholism has affected the family over the years.

So, dual timeline, parts in present tense, two alcoholics, and a trendy “worthy” subject – by rights I should have hated this. But I didn’t! The writing is terrific, the pacing is perfect, and Allott handles the subject of race and forced separations with a great deal of subtlety, showing the differences in society’s attitudes between the two timelines and indeed with our current attitude too. There are no anachronisms in either of the time periods, and she doesn’t preach or belabour the message. She makes the correct assumption that most people didn’t think they were doing wrong back then, or didn’t think at all. They’re not monsters even if to our modern eyes the acts they committed may seem monstrous. She also avoids giving too many descriptions of drunkenness and hangovers – just enough to remind us of Isla’s underlying struggle with her addiction.

All that makes it good, but what made it great for me is the character of Mandy. She’s not perfect and makes some foolish choices, but never with bad intent. She reminded me, oddly, of the character of Ida in Brighton Rock, not that the stories have any similarities at all. But both women are kind, open-hearted, generous souls, slow to judge, quick to comfort, who attract the troubled and damaged and then become snarled in their problems. They each have a sense of impending tragedy in their stories, too, since society judges harshly and treats cruelly those who give love and comfort too freely – especially women, especially back then. I loved her – an excellent creation who makes it hard to believe she came from the pen of a début novelist.

The story itself is straightforward, never stretching credulity, and told with deceptive simplicity – all the complexity is in the characterisation. Allott shows you don’t need twelve sudden twists at the end or an “I did not see that coming” moment – she proves that even if there is a sense of inevitability there can still be true suspense. I cared deeply about what Mandy’s fate would be, but never felt like rushing to the last page to find out – I savoured every step of the journey. Highly recommended, and Allott has leapt straight onto my list of must-read authors. I hope she’s working hard on her next book...

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty solid mystery novel with lots of layers to unravel. Sadly, none of the characters had much depth and it kept a distance for me with the story. I just wasn’t invested.

[Jess☺️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The silence is that addictive read that you just can't seem to put down so I recommend reading this when you have plenty of time to yourself because your not stopping.
It's a sad mystery with moments of small shocks which will keep you hooked until the end, there's also moments of the real Australian history thread throughout which leaves you with an ache in your heart.📚

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

discover the locations in the novel

This is a book I nave been waiting to read but without knowing it. It looks at the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families in the early 1900s and the consequences.

This then leads into other issues about relations between Australia and Britain. What a period of history this was! Shocking and cruel and I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of the events this book deals with.

This then the powerful background, the main story starts with a young girl returning to Australia to see her father and then finding out secrets about him and her family that deal with shocking historical crimes. AS you might expect, it’s highly emotional and to think the disappearance in the novel is not noted for some 30 years! This was immersive and powerful from the start and I read hungrily buoyed by the great writing and the emotive subject.

I read in the author note that the author has a story to tell about homesickness having moved to Australia herself but that she found this story and wove the threads together. This was very cleverly done and I was invested in each and every one of the characters from the start. It’s certainly not easy reading. Certainly not that. The writer moves from past to present with ease and it builds up to a very impressive and heartbreaking finale. This book has broken me. I feel humbled after reading it and kudos to the author for drawing me in, making me care and wanting to learn more about the Aborigine culture and history.

I went through the entire gamut of emotions: sadness, grief, anger, shock, admiration and everything inbetween. Highly recommended.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isla Green has received a middle of the night call from her father. He has been questioned by the police about the disappearance of a woman thirty years ago. Apparently, her father was the last person to have seen his neighbor, Mandy, and there has been no trace of her since then. Isla returns to Australia to support her father and secrets of the past begin to unfold.

I absolutely loved this book and it held my attention like nothing else has been able to. I kept being pulled deeper and deeper into this unforgettable tale. The book fluctuates between 1967 and 1997 and the transition between these time frames flows along beautifully. This is a debut novel by Ms. Allott and she obviously will be a powerful force in the literary world. I loved each of these characters and found the book to be both very moving and very suspenseful.

There is a very sad true history running throughout this book. In Australia between 1905 and 1967, Aboriginal children were taken from their homes by the government, supposedly to give them a better life but in fact were taken to institutions where many of them were mistreated. I first learned of these children when I saw the movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence” many years ago.

I most highly recommend this book.

This book was won by me on LibraryThing in a contest where an unbiased review was requested.

[Faith]

Two unhappy marriages. Just not for me.

[The Book Review Café · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every now and then I need a break from my usual reading habits, I look for a book that’s different to my usual ‘go to reads’, I read the book description for The Silence by Susan Allott and it immediately piqued my interest. This book has a mystery at its heart, but it has so much more to offer, it’s a brilliantly written book that touches on a shocking time in Australian history.


The Silence Is a tale that explores abusive and toxic relationships, and buried disturbing secrets. I must admit although I really enjoyed this book I struggled to feel any sympathy or connection to its characters, they are all flawed in some way, which made them pretty unlikable in many ways. Although I really enjoyed this book I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t more emphasis on the separation of children from their Aboriginal families by the State, as I shamefully admit I know had no knowledge of this period of Australian history. Never the less The Silence made for an enjoyable read, and one I’m sure readers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy

[Melanie Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved The Silence not just for the quality of the writing (luminous) or the finesse with which the twists and turns were meted out, but also for the ease with which the setting assimilates the reader into the Australian mindsets of the 1960s. Because the story is so gripping I didn’t even realise how much cultural information I was being cleverly spooned so that I’d have it to hand just as it then turned into a clue, and I had the satisfaction of thinking, Oh, but of course! (as I convinced myself I’d been the one to work it all out...)

For the few evenings I’ve been racing through this, Australia has been on our telly because of the wild fires currently raging. The contrast between these images and the neighbourhood Isla returns home to from UK when her father is suspected of involvement in the disappearance of the woman next door thirty years earlier, could not be greater. On the street where Isla grew up - and where Mandy was last seen - everyone has the ocean right at the bottom of their garden. And yet...things still find a way of heating up.

Earlier this year I listened to a true crime podcast called Teacher’s Pet which dealt with a similar scenario namely, a well-liked young women disappears from her seemingly idyllic suburban life and nobody raises the alarm until decades have gone by. The terrible thing is that the sort of entrenched sexism that allowed the story at the heart of The Silence to happen in the 1960s was still alive and kicking in the 1980s. In other words, with The Silence, Susan Allott has put her pen right on the pulse of recent Australian experience.

Between the juxtaposition of strong female characters our hearts go out to, and the way in which their stories and fates overlapping from the 60s and the 90s, and how harrowing the history of Aboriginal children being removed from their families by the authorities, The Silence is a novel whose time has come. It’s also very easy to imagine The Silence being picked up by Netflix or Showtime as a mini-series. One can only hope Jane Campion and/or Nicole Kidman get their hands on a copy.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for kindly letting me see an advance copy.

[Jacki (Julia Flyte) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1997, Isla Fisher is in her mid 30s and living in London. She has recently admitted to herself that she is an alcoholic - as, we will learn, is her father. In the middle of the night her father, Joe, rings to tell her that the Police are investigating the disappearance of their next door neighbour, Mandy, 30 years ago. Apparently Joe was the last person to see her alive and he is a suspect in her presumed murder.

Isla flies back to Sydney where she finds her parent's - always rocky - marriage disintegrating under the strain. Her mother Louise appears to believe that Joe is guilty but Isla struggles to accept this.

The present day chapters alternate with the lead up to Mandy's disappearance in 1967 and gradually we learn about the issues in her marriage as well as Joe's. Mandy's husband Steve was a policeman whose job involved forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families to be put into State Institutions, the policy which gave rise to the "Stolen Generation".

The book keeps you guessing about what happened, but the story unfolds slowly and feels dragged out. And while as a mystery it doesn't have enough pace, I also read it not caring about what happened to these people. Louise, Joe, Mandy, Steve and Isla are all flawed and hard to like. I didn't feel sympathy for any of the characters and that means that I read it with a sense of detachment rather than investment. The quote on the cover describes it as a "riveting mystery", but it was more a "somewhat interesting mystery about people you struggle to care about".

[Jo_Scho_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1997, in London, Isla Green is awakened by the phone ringing in the middle of the night - it’s her dad, calling from Sydney, telling her he’s under suspicion for the murder of his next door neighbour, Mandy Mallorie. Mandy disappeared 30 years earlier without a trace, but now events have brought her disappearance back under the police radar.

Isla returns to Australia to support her father, but the more she discovers about the circumstances leading up to Mandy’s disappearance, the more she starts to wonder about her dad’s innocence. Did he really have nothing to do with it? There were plenty of bad things happening in 1967, could her dad be responsible for one of them?

I listened to this as an audiobook and it really held my interest. I’m a sucker for Australian fiction so I was fascinated from the opening sentence. The story switches between the two separate timelines; 1967 and 1997. I absolutely loved the 1967 story, it was nostalgic but also incredibly thought provoking remembering what happened back then. The characters were well developed and each played an important part and made the story flow effortlessly.

The Silence is essentially a compelling and fascinating literary thriller which will have you racing through the pages.