Silence  E-mail this product to a friend

“A quiet novel of personal and seasonal change set in a small town in New Hampshire. Brookhouse writes confidently and unobtrusively about authentic issues.” —Kirkus

“Christopher Brookhouse has written a book that captures the reader from the very first page. The story told through the eyes of a mother takes us on a fast journey where no one speaks their true feelings or accepts any negativity in their lives. The main characters: Nicki a high school senior and Harriet (Nicki’s adopted mom) and Sheldon (her father), spend a majority of their time doing what everyone wants and expects them to do. No one wants to upset the status quo. However, when something terrible happens to Nicki, her mother trying to find herself, flirts with the idea of having a short rendezvous with a high-school teacher and is more than curious about her friend Ann who is a lesbian. Brookhouses’ use of vivid description in Silence gives readers the opportunity to reflect on their own lives and fantasize about what could have been. Having the mother tell the story adds a more personal touch, as if we were mind-reading.” —Reader Views

“This is a haunting novel whose title is also its final word, and closes a year of interlaced secrets. Even the skillful prose is minimal, its deft surface suggesting how much in Jeffery, N.H. goes unspoken: affairs, adoption, abortion. Nobody’s surprised when a novel strips away secrets to unmask tawdry sex and violence—the surprise here is that beyond rumor and below silence the sex should be so tender and the violence punished. A memorable story by a talented writer who understands women better than most women understand themselves." —Doris Betts whose ninth novel was The Sharp Teeth Of Love