Thank you to Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this. It hooked me in from the start with interesting characters and an unusual storyline. When I think about the fact that there were quite a few main characters, two different time periods and two different countries sometimes that can put me off. But in this book none of it matter as I read it in two days.
In 1967 Amanda Mallory goes missing and is never seen again or really mentioned until 30 years later. Police are reinvestigating the case and Amanda’s (Mandy’s) next door neighbouhr Joe Green is a prime suspect in her disappearance. Joe’s daughter, Isla, who has been living in London flies back to Australia to support her dad and uncover the truth about what happened 30 years.
Really enjoyed it so I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Silence is much more than just a mystery book. The story includes information about the Stolen Generation which occurred during one of the timelines of this book.. It's a sad story but well written and researched.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

The book was good, but hated the going backwards and forwards with the timeline! All about relationships with there suspense and betrayal! Was a good read but had to perceive

I really enjoyed this book. Isla receives a call from her father in Sydney to tell her he is being questioned by the police about the disappearance of their neighbour, Mandy, 30 years ago. She reluctantly agrees to fly over to offer her support. The story is told in 2 time frames, one from Isla's viewpoint trying to piece together what really happened, and the other from Mandy's viewpoint, telling what actually did happen. This is a real page turner that will keep you gripped to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This is a book I nave been waiting to read but without knowing it. It looks at the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families in the early 1900s and the consequences.
This then leads into other t issues about relations between Australia and Britain. What a period of history this was! Shocking and cruel and I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of the events this book deals with.

This then the powerful background, the main story starts with a young girl returning to Australia to see her father and then finding out secrets about him and her family that deal with shocking historical crimes. AS you might expect, it’s highly emotional and to think the disappearance in the novel is not noted for some 30 years! This was immersive and powerful from the start and I read hungrily buoyed by the great writing and the emotive subject.

I read in the author note that the author has a story to tell about homesickness having moved to Australia herself but that she found this story and wove the threads together. This was very cleverly done and I was invested in each and every one of the characters from the start. It’s certainly not easy reading. Certainly not that. The writer moves from past to present with ease and it builds up to a very impressive and heartbreaking finale. This book has broken me. I feel humbled after reading it and kudos to the author for drawing me in, making me care and wanting to learn more about the Aborigine culture and history.

I went through the entire gamut of emotions: sadness, grief, anger, shock, admiration and everything inbetween. Highly recommended.

A disturbing reflection on some of Australia's forgotten history, the separation of children from their families. The story is told sensitively and is well written. Very moving and gripping.

Wow, this was a stupendous novel from beginning to end, it's not a thriller but kept you turning the pages, I hated having to put it down. The characters were so vivid and the Australian scenery was cleverly described, you could almost feel the heat of the sun on your face, the cool of the ocean and the sound of the cockatoos in the trees. It's one of the best books I've read recently and will definitely and eagerly await more from this author. The scenes will Steve and William in the cabin brought ears to my eyes, I have to warn you. The sensitive subject of what the government were doing in taking children from families was dealt with in a realistic way so you could imagine the horrors these families suffered. For someone like Steve, desperate to start a family of his own, it was all too much and we could understand why. Mandy was such a lively character, we could feel her attraction to Joe and then all his weaknesses taking over as the years went on.. I could see their side by side homes in my imagination very clearly. Amazing book I highly recommend. If I ever thought I could write a book, this is an example of what I could never in a million years achieve or anything close to it.

I really enjoyed this book, except for one thing and that was the constant back and forwards in time. One day, soon, this will go out of fashion. It was overdone and I had to keep checking when and where I was.

It is a difficult book to review without giving anything away. Like most Brits my knowledge of the persecution of Aborigines is sparse and it is well worth reading the authors notes at the end. The author notes that the Australian government has apologised but not the British. A difficult subject these apologies, how far do you go back to apologising for your ancestors behaviour? I am not condoning any of this, far from it, but you have to learn by your mistakes and not repeat them, but no amount of apologies or money will make amends for what happened. And while children from poor Aborigine families were being taken away and put into institutions, they were also taking children from the UK to Australia.

The book is also about complex family dynamics, a newly immigrated family starting out on their new life but Louisa finding it difficult to fit in. It was very much a man's world and Joe had a good job, but Louisa relied on her neighbour Mandy to help her through things. Mandy had her own problems with her relationship with her husband, he in turn was struggling with his job as a Policeman tasked with removing children.
Violence and alcoholism play a large part in the families live, especially with Joe and Isla his daughter.

The ending was a little bit too rushed, everything sown up a little too quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

Deeply moving and utterly gripping, The Silence surprised me in its complexity and depth. It is not just a well-written mystery, but also a window into the truth of British and Australian history, the horrors the British empire has committed over the centuries, and the ways in which the indigenous peoples of Australia were harmed by those in power.

This well-written novel is part thriller, part Australian history, part literary fiction. These genres work well together and lead to a gripping read that gathers pace as it goes on.
Set in 1967 and 1997, Isla returns to Australia where she grew up after living in London for some years.
Her childhood neighbour and part-time carer Mandy disappeared 30 years ago. Is she dead and is Isla’s father implicated in her disappearance?
The relationship between Isla’s parents and the neighbours Mandy and Steve were a tangled web, and Isla slowly uncovers the truth of what happened to Mandy.
Bound up in this story are themes of domestic violence and the appalling forced removal of aboriginal children from their parents.
I’d recommend this novel if you like your mysteries to be rounded with great characterisation and don’t mind a slow burn that keeps you guessing.

It's hard to believe that The Silence by Susan Allott is a debut novel .If I was given the book and read it without knowing who had written it I'd have guessed at Jane Harper straight away,not just because of it's gritty depiction of life in Australia away from the tourist brochures but by the quality of the writing.
The book follows 2 dysfunctional families on 2 timelines , 1997 and 1967 . In 1967 Isla Green is a lively young girl full of energy who idolises her neighbour Mandy in Sydney ,Australia . In 1997 she's a troubled young woman living in London and a phone call from her estranged Father brings her back to Sydney.
With her parents Joe and Louisa Isla lives next door to Mandy in 1967 and her morose and troubled husband Steve,. Steve is a policeman with the job of taking away the children of Aboriginal parents as part of the Australian government's appalling "child welfare" policy of the time and the job is making him crack up..
The Greens are recent migrants from England ,Joe is abusive , Louisa is homesick and runs away back to the Motherland taking Isla with her. Events while they are away,Joe persuades them to return, affect the lives of both families, Mandy disappears and Joe is suspected of murdering her when her disappearance is re-examined as a "cold case" investigation..
That's the basis for a tale that is believable,well-written and thought-provoking. Many issues come into the story,amongst them relationships, the problems of migrants ,Australian culture in the 1960's , domestic abuse,alcoholism and mental illness. The main characters are well-drawn,if not particularly likeable. As a former migrant herself Susan Allott shows the stresses of migrant life ,something she's experienced herself and on a personal note I've known 2 couples split after moving Down Under wasn't to the taste of one partner while the other embraced it whole-heartedly. .
It's hard to believe that Ms Allott is British given the location of the book and her in-depth knowledge of Australia and it's culture, as I said at the beginning of the review this could very easily be mistaken for the work of one of Australia's best known authors and anyone who enjoys Jane Harper will love this.
An excellent book that deserves great success.

Big thanks to Susan Allott, HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest reviw.

The Silence is a complex, deeply moving and brilliantly written book about an uncomfortable, shameful piece of Australian/British history. It is about flawed people, difficult relationships, buried memories and a compelling mystery about a missing woman. But at the heart of the book is the painful and deeply disturbing history of the separation of children from their Aboriginal families by the State. This is a story which needs to be told and the author has achieved this in an intelligent, sensitive manner. A must read for 2020.

Poor quality copy sent to Kindle as lots of words were joined up.
The book was confusing at times and I found it slow

** spoiler alert ** Set over two timelines,thestory of a woman,who unbelievably nobody seems to have missed for thirty years.
Now,it comes to light she might be dead,and it might be at the hands of he neighbour.
I was drawn in mostly by Joe,who seemed to be the beloved father of Isla,yet nobody else could stand... then came the drip feed that he was actually a violent alcoholic,and no wonder people were willing to think the worst.
Interesting backdrop to the story is the removal of aboriginal children from their homes in the 60s,which is something I've never heard of.



An excellent book all round.

Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
To be honest I initially thought this might be too much of a "girly" book for a male in his mid fifties, but thought what the heck, let's give it a go. Can only say how glad I am that I read this publication.
An absolutely cracking read about the disappearance of a woman thirty years ago. The thing is, no one realises there is anything suspcious about her being missing until thirty years after.
The story revolves around two families and is set mainly in Australia, but partly in the UK over a number of years.
Actually think there might be the potential for a film in this script.

This book left me with mixed feeling.
Brilliant and emotional narrative without a doubt. I was amazed with how ingeniously and with such simplicity Susan Allott managed to create the two time differences in the book. The language, the cultural differences and even the history from the late 60’s and late 90’s, as the changes that exist in the two different countries is easily felt throughout the book.
The narrative focus on the circumstances of the families and culminates on understanding what has happened to Mandy. Being a crime and thriller books avid reader, I would have liked the narrative to focus a bit on the investigation and I believe this is why I am having some mixed feeling about the book.
Saying this, and without wanting to give much away, the focus on the family, the family dynamics, the cultural and historical differences and pertinent themes including alcoholism and even women and aborigines rights made this novel into the wonderful read that it is!
I have enjoyed the cultural differences between England and Australia, how the lifestyles were (and are) so different and how this is well portrayed in the book.
Even though the book may feel slow paced I believe this is necessary and it felt right throughout the reading with enough suspense and thrills to keep it interesting.
Although it may be slightly different than my favourite types of books, I truly believe The Silence is a great read and a really enjoyable book.
I would also like to thank #netgalley #harpercollins and #susanallott for the opportunity to read #thesilence ahead of its publishing date in exchange for a honest review.

I really enjoyed this beautifully written, Australian-set debut with the harrowing subject of the Stolen Generation at its core - children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families over a period of some sixty years.

The Silence takes its readers into two time frames - 1967 and thirty years later. It is 1997 when it finally comes to light that Mandy, wife to Steve - one of the police officers responsible for removing Aborigine children - has not been seen for thirty years. Isla was just a little girl when her next door neighbour and sometime babysitter Mandy went missing and nobody noticed she was gone. Now living in England and trying to take control of her alcoholism, Isla gets a call from her father Joe who is being implicated in Mandy’s disappearance. Isla then returns to her country of birth and starts to excavate long buried and painful secrets.

What unfolds is a patient and compelling story which digs deep into Sydney’s dark historical heart, laying bare both racism and patriarchy. An atmospheric read, Allott is clearly a writer with great promise.

Spanning a period of 30 years this tidy little whodunnit ticks all the boxes and still manages to tastefully deliver a message for the lost generation.

Switching seamlessly between the late 1960's and the late 1990's it tells a story of betrayal, lust, anger and jealousy. Joe and Louisa are still settling in to Sydney after emigrating from Leeds and their neighbours Steve and Mandy who are Australian. Their combined actions cause ripples in the lives of the next generation.

Absolutely loved it. With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK

Just finished reading #TheSilence by @susanallott and really enjoyed it. A suspense filled story set in Australia in the past and more recent present, and one where I learned about an official policy that has haunted generations. A very convincing portrayal of the destruction caused by dysfunctional relationships. Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for an early proof.

I loved The Silence not just for the quality of the writing (luminous) or the finesse with which the twists and turns were meted out, but also for the ease with which the setting assimilates the reader into the Australian mindsets of the 1960s. Because the story is so gripping I didn’t even realise how much cultural information I was being cleverly spooned so that I’d have it to hand just as it then turned into a clue, and I had the satisfaction of thinking, Oh, but of course! (as I convinced myself I’d been the one to work it all out...)

For the few evenings I’ve been racing through this, Australia has been on our telly because of the wild fires currently raging. The contrast between these images and the neighbourhood Isla returns home to from UK when her father is suspected of involvement in the disappearance of the woman next door thirty years earlier, could not be greater. On the street where Isla grew up - and where Mandy was last seen - everyone has the ocean right at the bottom of their garden. And yet...things still find a way of heating up.

Earlier this year I listened to a true crime podcast called Teacher’s Pet which dealt with a similar scenario namely, a well-liked young women disappears from her seemingly idyllic suburban life and nobody raises the alarm until decades have gone by. The terrible thing is that the sort of entrenched sexism that allowed the story at the heart of The Silence to happen in the 1960s was still alive and kicking in the 1980s. In other words, with The Silence, Susan Allott has put her pen right on the pulse of recent Australian experience.

Between the juxtaposition of strong female characters our hearts go out to, and the way in which their stories and fates overlapping from the 60s and the 90s, and how harrowing the history of Aboriginal children being removed from their families by the authorities, The Silence is a novel whose time has come. It’s also very easy to imagine The Silence being picked up by Netflix or Showtime as a mini-series. One can only hope Jane Campion and/or Nicole Kidman get their hands on a copy.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for kindly letting me see an advance copy.