The Weight of Silence [Kindle Edition]

This story is spread over a sixteen hour period when two 7 year old girls both vanish from their houses on the same night, without a trace. Calli suffers from selective mutism and hasn't spoken since she was 4 years old, despite councelling and psychological help. Her best friend, Petra, understands Calli and acts as her mouthpiece to other friends and adults alike.

The book is written a chapter at a time by a different narrator: as well as the two girls, there is also Antonia and Ben (Calli's Mum and brother), Martin (Petra's Dad) and Sherrif Louis (who was an childhood sweetheart of Antonia's and is still in love with her). From the first realisation of a disappearance (at 4.30am) until the conclusion the reader is taken on a journey through the adults attempt to bring the girls home safely.

This may sound like the book is a thriller / mystery type and at times I did wonder if that was what it was trying to be: however if that was its intention then I'm not sure it works. There is a crime committed but it's pretty obvious "whodunnit" in both the girls cases fairly early on and the great revelation at the end falls a bit flat. The book really centres around Calli's muteness more than anything and her reasons for being that way. I also suspect that this was meant to be some great revelation too but again, it's not hard to work out why pretty early on.

I don't mean to sell the book short as, admitidly, it is a real page-turner. The short chapters that are alternately narrated by a different character means that the book has great forward momentum and I do like that in a book; one where you say "just one more chapter" and then again and again until you've read the whole thing before you know it. To summarise, I really liked this book and although I didn't think there was anything particularly clever or original in it sometimes I don't need that in a book. As far as debuts go, this is a pretty good attempt. I do think that the book could have done with a tad more spit and polish but it's more than likely that I will pick up her next book when it's out too - I think this author may be one to watch in the future.

I would recommend for a holiday read or a quick page-turner between more heavyweight tomes.

The Weight of Silence is the final book in the TV Book Club's Summer Reads selection and as I'm drawn to books about families in crisis I decided to give it a try.

The book follows two families who wake one morning to discover that their 7-year-old daughters have disappeared. A frantic hunt for them begins with suspicion for their disappearance thrown on numerous people throughout the story.

The book was fast paced and made up almost entirely of dialogue - this combined with the fact that the book was narrated by six different people meant that I felt I was just skimming the surface, never really getting to know any of the individual characters or the motivations for their actions. I was dragged along by the action, forced to turn the page by the continual end-of-chapter cliff hangers, but never felt any emotional connection to the characters.

There were some tender moments and I especially liked this paragraph about marriage:

"People say that being a mother is the most important job you will ever have. And it is very important. But it is even more important, I believe, to be a wife, a good wife.... I don't mean you have to be a floor mat. That not what I mean at all. I mean, who you choose to walk with through life will be the most important decision that you will ever, ever make. You will have your children and you will love them because they are yours and because they will be wonderful....But who you marry is a choice. The man you choose should make you happy, encourage you in following your dreams, big ones and little ones."

But these moments of genius were rare and I ended the book feeling a bit disappointed. The resolution to the mystery of the girls' disappearance wasn't particularly original or surprising and I felt that certain plot points were a bit dubious.

Overall this was a light, entertaining read, but I don't expect to remember much about it next year.

I pre-ordered this book based on a 20 word review in a book industry magazine. When I started it, I was enthralled from the first moment, enjoying the way the story unravels, loving the mystery and desperately wanting further clues to be revealed. This is a wonderful novel told through the eyes of several characters, allowing you to get to know and understand them and share their fears and desires. If you enjoyed Alice Seybold's "The Lovely Bones", you will love this book!