Inspired by a real story, The Silence in Between by Swedish-born Josie Ferguson is a heartbreaking story of motherhood during hard times and the vulnerability of women in times of conflict.
As her new born baby Axel needs some emergency medical intervention, Lisette brings him to a hospital in West Berlin. Overnight though, the infamous Wall is erected and everyone daring to move without permission from one side to another will be instantly shot. Lisette, who already survived the end of the WWII, together with her mother, Rita, and the sexual aggressions of the Soviet soldiers, is going through another trauma. The trauma of not being able to act, of being powerless in the front of aggression. Or rather of being silent, as when she witnessed the Jews being taken away to concentration camps?
Elly, Lisette´s 15-year old daughter, was assigned the role of breaking out the drama, as she decides to try to bring her brother back, in an effort to gain back her brokenhearted mother. The echoes of the inter-generational trauma reflected onto the mother-daughter relationship is in my opinion one of the biggest strength of the book, approaching motherhood in a contemporary-historical key.
Well researched, this book resonates with real stories I´ve read or heard about from those times. For such a heavy contemporary drama, it is very important to build an accurate context, allowing the narrative fiction to grow.
Shortlisted for the Waterstones debut prize, The Silence in Between is a novel of our times, whose topics are still relevant for the coming generation. There is a never-ending cycle of trauma, particularly experienced by women and reading and writing about it may offer an escape sometimes.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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