A touching and at times desperately sad tale which is thoughtfully written and unhurried,

The Silent Treatment explores love and loss, desperation for a family, mistakes and hidden secrets between one couple, and their daughter.

Each unable to communicate what they so desperately need to. Each wishing for the best for others. Each loving the other. But each locked in a six month long silence unable to break the loop.

At times it reminded me of Mitch Ablom novels. Beautiful and tragic. A recommended read if you are at a point in your life when you can read about such things. A truly heartbreaking story of love. Get tissues ready...

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC I. Exchange for my honest views.

Frank hasn't spoken to Maggie, his wife for six months. Why?
Maggie has had enough and decides to end her life but is found.
As she lies in a coma Frank opens up to her about their love, life and why he hasn't spoken.
Will Maggie recover and more importantly will they?

Thought provoking book, beautifully written

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

I'm afraid I couldn't get to grips with this book. The opening repeated scences annoyed from the onset,and as there's so many other books I'd to read, I decided I didn't want to waste my time and effort in this one.

As someone that absolutely hates getting the silent treatment, this book both interested and scared me to death. I couldn’t look away. Very unique idea that totally worked for me. Loved it!

This seems to be a book that you either love or it leaves you a bit unsatisfied. I am sorry that I am in the latter group. I read it fairly quickly, enjoyed it well enough but found the central premise rather unbelievable. To accept that after 40 years of apparently extremely happy marriage, Frank stops speaking to Maggie while carrying on normal life, is pushing my ability to enter the story. He has his reasons and she tries to get through to him but fails until the day he finds her slumped on the kitchen table having tried to take her own life. Silent treatment is generally thought to be a form of passive aggression. Someone who can't deal with their own feelings or who wants to punish you, stops communicating and refuses to explain why. This is one of the most painful and difficult things to deal with in any relationship and of course it can drive someone to take extreme action. But Frank - why?

The book is about the story of their relationship and their family and the struggles they had with their daughter. I wondered if one reason she went to completely off the rails was because her parents were cocooned in their own love pact and didn't want the outer world to spoil their threesome. Too much pressure. Too intense expectations. Who knows as this wasn't really explored in the story?

However, the book tells us in great detail how much Frank adores his wife and how in retelling her their story,, along with the bits that he had previously kept secret, he helps her recover from the effects of her suicide attempt.

It is an interesting idea and I was attracted to the book because of the themes but in reading it I felt a bit disappointed. I certainly read it quite happily but would have liked the book more if there had been more depth to the analysis of their claustrophobic relationship and what lay behind their daughters troubles. And I wish there had been more explanation for why a loving loyal husband would stop speaking to his wife - just feeling guilty didn't really convince me.

So, a mixed reaction from me. But I would try another by this author as I think her ideas are very interesting.

I liked this book but unfortunately I didn't love it.

I found it hard to warm to the characters entirely, however it's still a lovely story and a nice read.

Frank and Maggie, having been happily married for forty years have hit a bump in the road. Actually it's more of a colossal boulder which neither of them seems able to clamber over or around. For the past six months Frank has not uttered one word to Maggie. Not one. But why?

One morning he finds Maggie slumped over the kitchen table having apparently swallowed the contents of a bottle of sleeping tabelts. Did she intend to kill herself, or was this an attempt to shake Frank out of his dreadful silence?

During the next few days, whilst Maggie lies in an induced coma, Frank sits beside her, and begins to talk to her, reminiscing about the early days of their relationship, their subsequent marriage and the only child Eleanor, who despite being a perfect child has become something else altogether as she entered her teens. As they struggle to help her, they each become mired in their own misery.

This is probably one of the most moving books I've read in recent months; it is joyous and tragic in equal measure with this small family of three all totally believable and all terribly flawed. To say the family is dysfinctional isn't quite right, but the missed signals, the miscommunication between people who love each other deeply was, at times, unbearable. It's a gentle, but at times brutal, unpicking of a relationship.

Beautifully written, not a word wasted, no cliches or sterotypes here - a book that will stay in my mind for a long, long time.

Trigger warnings for a suicide attempt and addiction.

This book starts with a wife attempting suicide. Then it’s a monologue interwoven with flashbacks from her husband about what lead them both to this point.

The book was alright I didn’t particularly like either husband or wife. I found that the topics discussed were fairly superficial on the depth. I felt like the ending was too easy and everything was tied up too quickly.

I couldn't put this book down. I was totally captured by the story. I love how the story is split, almost in half, with the perspective changing from Frank to Maggie. The epilogue truly is the cherry on top, as it gave the whole novel some much needed clarity and finality.

Without giving anything away, I can whole heartedly say that the love between this couple is so strong and they really do have each others best interests at heart. This story, fixates on their love and their life together, following the highest highs and the lowest lows. We get to see these moments from both perspectives, which really adds to both the story, and our understanding as the reader.

Although I know that this is a work of fiction, my heart still aches for Frank and Maggie, for everything they've gone through. I can imagine how they felt throughout their story; hope, helplessness and heartbreak being the predominant emotions. Closely followed by the strength of their love and the joy shared.

A heart-wrenching, utterly captivating debut from a shining new voice. In The Silent Treatment, Abbie Greaves celebrates the phenomenal power of love, loss and leaving nothing unsaid through a unique portrayal of a long marriage with all its secrets and silence. Cleverly crafted and beautifully written, this novel pulses with an unspoken tenderness that moved me beyond means.

Frank and Maggie are unforgettable characters who’s love and challenges will repeatedly capture your heart.

A must read debut of 2020.

This interesting novel grabbed me right from the start, as Maggie calmly swallows a handful of tablets, then gets up to make dinner from her husband. It takes till half way through prepping the green beans and she has collapsed suddenly, so suddenly there is no time to break her own fall. Frank is so engrossed in his study that the smoke alarm is the first sign of the tragedy that has unfolded in their kitchen. He finds their tea on fire in the oven and a little way away, Maggie is unconscious on the floor. Frank’s voice is hoarse and he’s unused to the sound as he calls the emergency services. This is when I found out that Frank hasn’t spoken to anyone, even his beloved wife, for the past six months.

When I requested an ARC of the novel it was this premise that first drew me in. Probably because, as my long-suffering partner will tell you, I nev. er stop talking. I imagine that not chatting to the person you live with takes concerted effort. Greaves came across the premise for her novel when she read an article about a Japanese boy who had never seen his parents speak to one another. It’s intriguing and does ensure that you keep reading; I kept wondering why and how this has started.

I hadn’t realised that the book was about pregnancy loss and infertility. Greaves writes about the grief and helplessness of this experience with real insight. Having been through the same experience, it was important that Maggie’s response be genuine. We see the ups and downs if a long term relationship and as Frank starts to reminisce, the romantic beginnings of building their home together. As Maggie lies in a coma at the hospital, her nurse Daisy encourages Frank to talk, to say everything he can to her because the time they have left together may be limited. This Is where Frank’s secret is revealed and we know why he hasn’t spoken for six months.

I enjoyed the novel, even though there were parts I didn’t fully connect with. Although Frank’s narration is emotional I found him difficult to understand. It’s a if there is a barrier between the reader and Maggie, both because she’s in a coma and because we only see her through Frank’s eyes at first until the narrative voice changes. I found myself waiting for a contrasting chapter from Maggie’s point of view early on, then with Maggie’s letters we start to see her inner life. I found this a moving and honest portrayal of pregnancy loss and parenthood. It’s hard to imagine a relationship where all the usual day to day things happen like eating together, sleeping together and sex, without a word passing between them. I guess it shows the strength of love, that Maggie can continue to give while receiving silence. I won’t spoil the ending, but it is emotional and I can see it staying with readers. This is an intriguing debut and I would read the author again.

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC copy. This will have a longer review on my blog around publication day.

I didn't know what to expect from this book but wow, I was absolutely blown away. Such an emotive storyline, beautiful told and so believable. As a mother myself I could identify with so many of the emotions and insecurities of being a parent, 'learning on the job. Outstanding and highly memorable.

I'm not sure how to review this book or what my real feelings are.

I read the book in a couple of days and felt engaged enough to finish it but felt a bit let down by the final reveal.

I am sorry but I don't think it was for me, but I am sure other people will enjoy it.

This one is complex to review. It’s a difficult story to read, about a lifetime of love between Maggie and Frank, but packaged up with over protection of each other and their long awaited child both physically and emotionally. It’s the story of how that over protection eventually retards the truth and resultant growth in their relationships, and changes some things forever.
After six months of Frank not speaking to her, Maggie takes action. This book documents the resultant, messy piecing together of what has gone on to bring them to this place. It speaks of love, but shows the flaws, the scrutiny and weighing up of self worth, and the shutting down of communication that can result when judging oneself as unworthy.
I liked this book, and all its characters. They were very real, and each one made me want to reach out and help them in turn. I’ll look out for more from this author!
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Silent Treatment is a wonderful bittersweet novel! It tells us of Frank and Maggie's 40 year love story. We begin almost at the end of the story and work backwards and forwards through the highs and lows of their lives together. We already know that they haven't spoken to each other for 6 months, but we don't know why. The author teases us through telling the story from all sides but gradually the truth comes out....and the truth when we finally learn it is heartbreaking. This is a thought provoking and poignant well written first novel and I look forward to reading more from Abbie Greaves.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for an advance copy of this novel.

This story is well written and an intriguing story, which sucked me in at the beginning. Written about an older couple it starts by looking back over their life, it was very touching and made me reminiscent of my own early days of marriage. I frequently made me smile reading about their sweet relationship.

Frank and Maggie were lovely characters; in the beginning you can't help enjoy their interactions and romance, though their story isn't without upset and disappointment. Later their life changes and both have to deal with it in their own way.

I found the first half of the book fascinating but towards the end of the story I did feel I wanted it to get on with it; however, this was just a minor annoyance in a good story. This is a debut novel by an author who is one to watch in the future.

This was not what I expected from the initial description, however I did find this an interesting read.. the idea of living with someone who did not talk to me for 6 months is totally abhorrent as. I. personally do not believe in this sort of behaviour. I found the way that the couple handled their daughter very realistic but sad at the same time and it made me wonder if I could be strong enough to handle the same situation. The characters were very well described and as a reader I felt that I was with them and understood the things they did, from the miscarriage through the no children and then on to Ellie. I felt emotionally for all three main characters.

Perhaps because I couldn’t really relate to the story and situation, I struggled to get through this. It was lost on me that a married couple could spend 6 months not speaking to each other but again, perhaps because I’m not in that situation I can’t relate. The writing was good and while I didn’t gel with story, I’d be interested to see what the author does next.

Loved this book - quite unlike anything else. It was lovely yet emotional to experience the whole romance of these characters - and also lovely to finally read that real love sits in wait, rather than prances about with roses and chocolates.