The Silence by Susan Allott (Review by Bruna Looby)

Rating: 3.8/5.0

This great book is more of a slow-paced kind of story, where we only find out the truth in the last few pages. As a thriller lover myself, I prefer crazy and intense stories that make you forget to breathe. So the fact that a slow-paced story was able to get me hooked is a good sign.

The chapters switch between 1967 and 1997, in Sydney and London.

1967: Steve and Mandy are a married couple that are going through a difficult time. Steve wants kids but Mandy doesn’t. Besides, she feels like she doesn’t love him anymore. Steve has some rough days because his job as a police officer is to take Aboriginal children away from their poor families. He knows what he does is horrible and he feels like a monster.

Across the street, Louisa and Joe live with their child Isla. Isla is a sweet kid and she loves when Mandy babysits her. Mandy and Louisa are quite close and they share some parts of their lives, but not everything. For example, Louisa doesn’t share that Joe is aggressive when he drinks or that she’s planning on leaving him.
Meanwhile, Mandy’s life turns upside down when her husband brings an Aboriginal child back to their house. He feels guilty for taking the child away from their family.

1997: Isla decides to spend some time with her parents in Sydney. Joe is being accused of murdering their neighbor Mandy thirty years ago. Isla doesn’t believe he’s guilty and she’s determined to prove it. But the facts keep pointing back to her dad.

Isla talks to some people and she discovers dark secrets from the past. She finds out about the Aboriginal child that Steve took home a few days before Mandy disappeared. And she also finds out they had a very bad fight a few days before she vanished. So why is nobody looking more into these facts? Why do people keep pointing at her dad as the suspect, and not Mandy’s husband?

I really enjoyed this book because I could not figure out what had happened until the truth was revealed. I love when that happens. I also liked that the story takes place in Australia, mentioning Aboriginal people and discussing a little bit of their history. Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it.