Goodreads asked Katharine Johnson:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Katharine Johnson The idea for The Silence stems from my fascination with old houses and the stories they hold, combined with my passion for Tuscany. I have visited and written about so many amazing houses in my job as a home-interest journalist but don't often get the chance to put the stories I hear into print. I fell in love with Italy many years ago as a backpacker and lived in Venice and Florence before travelling around the country. We bought a house in the Lucca province and I was intrigued when locals said they knew the house but didn't seem to recall any details about its former owners. I'm sure this is because there was nothing interesting to say about it but it started me thinking about the idea of a story about a Tuscan villa with a secret past.

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