Frank and Maggie have had a lifetime together but for the last six months, Frank hasn’t uttered a word to Maggie. Life has continued -eating, sleeping, sex - but no words. Maggie has tried to make him talk to her without success. So Maggie takes matters into her own hands.

My first thought on reading the blurb of this book was to wonder what exactly could make a husband stop speaking to his wife for six months? Did she do something wrong? Or did he? Was there something he was ashamed of? Feeling guilty about? The blurb was intriguing but part of me thought this was unrealistic. You can’t share a life and not talk for that length of time.

After reading the book, I can understand why Frank couldn’t speak for that length of time.

This book is most definitely all about the characters of Frank and Maggie. Their daughter is also important but really, it’s Frank and Maggie you need to believe in, to feel something for them and the author masters that. You could possibly regard Frank as a geek but that is what makes his character work. And Maggie is the yin to his yang. As they feel their way through the world of marriage and then parenting, the author drops hints at their abilities to keep secrets from one another but you don’t see the significance until the end. Despite this, the love that Frank and Maggie had for each other is obvious.

“Because that is what love is, isn’t it? Giving without receiving.”

As the book continues and we start to hear both sides of the truth, we see how both Frank and Maggie have tried to protect each other. And we see how they worry that their actions will change the way the other feels about them.

“No one wants to hear the person they have given their live to has the mind of a monster - do they?”

That shows how they perceive their actions, their behaviour.

The build up to the big reveal of Frank and Maggie’s secrets created tension for me and kept me wanting to continue, desperate to find out the truth. When the secret was out, when it is clear how close to the end we are getting, I was an emotional wreck. The actions of Frank and Maggie were actions I could understand. As a parent, I know there is no rule book out there and you do the best you can - but equally you question whether you are doing the right thing constantly. I could imagine myself clearly in both Frank and Maggie’s shoes and I could really feel how they must have felt.

This book will stay with me for a long time. I think this is one of the best debut novels I have read and I can’t wait to read more by this author.

I’d like to thank Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Silent Treatment’ by Abbie Greaves in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Frank and Maggie have been married for forty years and there’s no doubt they’ve always loved each other but she can’t understand why he’s not talking to her and hasn’t for the past six months. Then when Frank returns from work he finds Maggie has taken an overdose of pills and she’s taken to hospital unconscious and put in an induced coma with little hope of recovery. Frank urgently needs to tell Maggie why he hasn’t been speaking to her but before he has the chance to he discovers her journal with her ‘confession’ which she wrote for him prior to taking the tablets. Can he reach the hospital to tell Maggie the truth before it’s too late?
‘The Silent Treatment’ is a story in two parts beginning with Frank telling of how he and Maggie met, their marriage and why he couldn’t speak to her, the second part being Maggie’s ‘confession’. This story is beautifully-written with gentle and loving characters who show strength in facing their problems. From page one I became so involved that I finished the book in a day, unable to put it down as I needed to know more about why Frank couldn’t talk to Maggie. The issues covered in this story have been handled with sensitivity and compassion and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. A well-deserved five stars!

Rounded review form 3.5 stars to 4 stars.

As the title suggests, this book follows the marriage of Frank and Maggie with Frank stuck in a bout of 6 months silence unable to talk to his wife.

Maggie ends up in hospital in a coma. With some coercing form a lovely nurse, Frank finds his voice again and tells Maggie's (and us) their story. From their first chance encounter, courting, marriage and their journey as husband and wife. He begins the story in order to tell her his big secret - what has driven him to 6 months of silence.

This is a well written slow read which makes you want to continue reading the book to find out the reason for the silence. The first third of the book is a lot of character building and setting the scene for a life changing event, after this, it is very hard to put down.

Will Frank manage to tell Maggie his secret? Will Maggie wake up? And what will happen to the other character who is introduced in the book?

ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a hard book to get into, it took me several attempts. It’s about a married couple not speaking for 6 months, and when she is admitted into hospital with a serious problem he wishes he had made the effort! I don’t think I would be recommending this to anyone

An involving read that pulls at your heart strings. I loved how the narrative changed from one teller to another.

A Review Of ‘The Silent Treatment’ By Abbie Greaves

Netgalley kindly sent me a copy of Abbie Greave’s, extremely moving, debut novel ‘The Silent Treatment’ due to be published 2nd April 2020.

The main characters Maggie & Frank have spent a lifetime together & after coming through the emotional trauma they face just before their wedding it seems like the foundations of their relationship are rock sturdy & from the outside looking in that they go through their life on the ‘same page’ as each other & in a happy, loving marriage.

But then Frank stops speaking & for the past six months hasn’t uttered a single word. Day after day they go through their routines in utter silence, eating meals together & sleeping together but not one word is spoken between them & Maggie finds this silence totally deafening.

Then one day Frank is in his office when he hears the fire alarm go off, Maggie was cooking tea so he goes to investigate & finds her in the kitchen, unconscious on the floor with an empty bottle of sleeping pills on the table.

Maggie is rushed to hospital & placed in a medically induced coma while the doctors assess the damage. Frank is overwhelmed at the thought of losing his wife & a kind nurse encourages Frank to sit & talk to her so that she can hear his voice & give her something to fight for.

After six months of silence will Frank be able to find his voice again by her bedside & explain to his darling Maggie why he stopped talking & what secrets will he uncover of Maggies when he comes across her journal, in which she is counting down the day’s until she takes the pills unless Frank breaks his silence.

This book is so thought provoking! A loving couple who are both going through such emotional pain in isolation because they stopped communicating & their marriage became mute, a lesson to always stay on the same page in the book of love!

A fantastically clever debut novel full of emotional tension creating a real page turner. One to pre-order for next April folks!

Thank you to Net-galley and Random House UK for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story wasn’t what I expected it to be, and although I enjoyed Frank and Maggies story, I was confused about which genre I was reading.

I enjoyed the switch in the middle (no spoilers) as it made the story make a little bit more sense, however didn’t find myself getting too invested in the outcome.

Six months ago Frank stopped talking to his wife, Maggie. She isn’t sure exactly why but has a fair idea. Today is the day that Maggie doesn’t feel she can cope with this any longer and takes drastic action.

This is a very emotional story with highs and lows. I admit to having sobbed at various points, particularly the ending. Perhaps a book not to read in public?

What can I say? I certainly don’t want to give out any spoilers. I feel it is imperative that the reader follows Frank & Maggie’s story as they tell it. I really don’t want to spoil such a poignant work.

The characters are great. Very human with their good and bad points, their mistakes, their indecision. Any one of us could easily put ourselves in Frank or Maggie’s place. The story is very up to date, bringing to life issues that many people face on a day to day basis. The book deals with these sensitively without apportioning blame.

I loved this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

This book is very well written. I really like the style in which it is written. A powerful story of love and what others go through to protect their own. Wonderful read. Couldn't get through it quick enough.

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough as I was so enthralled by Frank and Maggie’s stories and so eager to discover what had turned Frank mute six months ago. This was beautifully told and I loved Frank who was so utterly in love with Maggie and though she was a more difficult character in her own eyes I really liked Maggie too, she was very human. This unfolds so well and the issues they faced thoughtfully told although I really don’t want to give the plot away so I dare not say much in detail. I felt so much sympathy for both of them and the blame they both felt, this really is a gem of a read.

A relevant and poignant love story that leaves the reader hoping to know more and more as the chapters go by.

Frank and Maggie's love story is full of vibrant feelings that did help me understand how important it is to communicate with the ones you love - it doesn't matter if have a partner or not - it is about communicating with the ones that are around us - friends, family, work colleagues... etc cause we don't really know what silence can lead to.

A love story that will make you cry and laugh and sometimes even get angry at the characters. If only they knew what their secrets will bring...

You think you know it all, or know a lot. Well, you don’t. The Silent treatment will teach you more through the essence of silence than through words. A stunning narrative.

I found this book rather tedious to read. I stuck with it but now feel that I rather wasted my time. I thought, when I read the introduction from Netgalley, that it could be rather interesting but am now sorry that I made this choice. How a husband could not speak to his wife, of many years, for six months and she is seriously ill in hospital is hard to comprehend. This could have been a reasonable short story but I felt it too long.

A bittersweet story about a couple who no longer speak. After 6months of silence it all becomes too much for Maggie who does something drastic. The story is told from the perspective of Frank talking to Maggie and Maggie telling her side through a journal being read by Frank. An interesting premise which worked well. Heartbreaking yet uplifting too.

I must be in a grumpy phase because I am finding the last couple of novels far too sentimental and mawkish. I didn't like the central premise here and that caused me not to believe in the relationship. I read a lot o fpositive reviews so I'm sure it's just me, but I got this from Netgalley and so I feel I need to provide at least some feedback. The writing was competent, the ideas within topical and important; I liked the Yorkshire nurse character. I think ultimately, I saw the ending in the blurb ( "Is this an ending, or a beginning? " Well, obviously a beginning, otherwise you wouldn't ask!) so I wasn't curious about the outcome of what happens in the first few pages. I think there's a tendency in some books, to take away the tension about what will happen at the end, so the reader can focus on the character development, and that may be a great idea, but I'm not a fan. I like to be gripped.

I read the whole book but found it very slow and a bit pointless. Glad i stuck with it but it just wasnt for me.

The writer immediately drew me in to discover the complexity of the relationship between Frank and Maggie. An easy but emotional read as one enters the challenge of human relationship and missed opportunities.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a great first time novel b Abbie Greaves. I found this to be very moving and emotional..

Wow... an incredibly unique novel written in such an engaging way. I was intrigued from the get go and didn't see any of the twists coming! It's the first novel I've seen to blend romance and thriller genres so well, and I genuinely couldn't put it down. The characters are beautifully developed and it's so easy to start loving each and every one of them. Thank you for such a wonderful read!

The Silent Treatment, Abbie Greaves

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction ( Adult)

I really didn't know what to expect, the description is tantalisingly vague. All I could think was Why? Why didn't Frank speak to Maggie? Did she speak to him? Had they rowed? What on earth had happened to carry this on for so long?

Well, that answer comes slowly, little by little as we learn about Maggie and Frank's life together. Its clear they adored each other right from the start, from that first meeting up to now, even though he's not speaking – and I was just so intrigued the more I read.
They were so close, one of those couples who were really perfect together, who complement each other. They had some setbacks in life but it seemed to bring them closer, so where, how, why did it all go so very wrong?
My first though was that maybe one of them has an affair or something, but it quickly became clear that neither would do that, and I just couldn't think of what could have prompted such a long silence, especially when it doesn't seem to be an angry or resentful lack of communication, not held out as a punishment, but simply a lack of speech, and I found it such a puzzle.

Its a beautiful story, very easy to read and engrossing, very moving, very emotional and yes, like other readers it did make me cry.
Yet the big question of why, which maid it such a mystery also began to frustrate me. The more I read the less I understood, until pretty close to the end, and I did find that a bit disheartening, wondering if when all was reveled it was going to be anti climatic.

I did feel the last section wrapped up a little too quickly, after that long, drawn out story of questions, it felt as if I was given the answer I'd been waiting all through the story for, quickly followed by a tidy, neat wrap up. It felt a bit too slick after the way the main story was so carefully drawn out, as if the two didn't really work together. This is one of those books I enjoyed, am glad I read but which I doubt I'll reread. ,G

Stars: Four, a moving, easy to read story but I felt there was a disparity between the main part being so slow to reveal and suddenly , story out, reasons disclosed and bam, neat ending. I needed a little more than a quick, slick conclusion.

Arc via Netgalley