About this item
Combining the emotional power and dual narrative style of Before We Were Yours with the nuanced, layered, and atmospheric mystery of The Dry, a powerful debut novel revolving around a shocking disappearance, two neighbor families, and shameful secrets from the past that refuse to stay buried. It is 1997, and in a basement flat in Hackney, Isla Green is awakened by a call in the middle of the night: her father phoning from Sydney. 30 years ago, in the suffocating heat of summer 1967, the Greens' next-door neighbour Mandy disappeared. At the time, it was thought she had fled a broken marriage and gone to start a new life; but now Mandy's family is trying to reconnect, and there is no trace of her. Isla's father Joe was allegedly the last person to see her alive, and now he's under suspicion of murder.
About the Author
Susan Allott is a British writer who lived and worked in Australia in the late nineties. She suffered acute homesickness and returned home to London, only to meet an Australian man who she went on to marry. She and her husband live in south London with their children. Susan's debut THE SILENCE, which is set in Australia, grew from her need to make amends with a continent that has not let go of her, despite a rocky beginning. Sign up for Susan's author newsletter via her website www.susanallott.comFollow Susan on Twitter @susanallott and Instagram @susanallottauthor and Facebook @facebook.com/sallottauthorTHE SILENCE was published in August 2020 by Borough Press (Harper Collins, UK) . The UK paperback will follow in April 2021. THE SILENCE was published in North America in May 2020 by William Morrow (Harper Collins, US) with the paperback to follow in July 2021. In Australia and New Zealand THE SILENCE was published by Harper Collins in May 2020. Harper Collins published THE SILENCE in the rest of its English language territories in August 2020.In Italy THE SILENCE will be published by Harper Italia and in France by Editions Belfond. In Poland THE SILENCE will be published by White Dot.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It is 1997, and in a basement flat in Hackney, Isla Green is awakened by a call in the middle of the night: her father Joe, phoning from Sydney. It seems that 30 years ago, the Greens' next door neighbour disappeared. Joe tells Isla he thought Mandy had moved away with her husband; but now Mandy's family is trying to reconnect, and there is no trace of her. Isla's father was allegedly the last person to see her alive, and now he's under suspicion of murder. Isla goes back to Australia for the first time in a decade, to support her father and to search for the truth. Her return to Sydney brings up echoes from the past, taking us back to the heat of summer 1967, to a quiet street by the sea where two young couples lived side by side. The more questions Isla asks, the more she learns about the secrets each marriage bore. Could her father have done something terrible? How much does her mother know? And is there another secret in this community, one which goes deeper into Australia's colonial past, which has held them in a conspiracy of silence?
