![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/icons/nav_back_xs.png)
Member Reviews
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar779667-micro.png?1734580085)
What a gripping premise, I ended up reading this in one sitting. A fantastic modern dystopia that I think will stay with me for quite a while. I don't want to talk about the plot too much because going in fairly unaware made this even better. But it's incredibly well written, thought provoking, and often shocking. Thoroughly recommend.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar845633-micro.png?1734580085)
An intriguing read that kept me guessing - I couldn’t help but wonder whether the cult-like world would come crashing down eventually. A really novel (pun intended) use of footnotes that led me to wonder whether this was a real-life story that I had somehow missed. My only disappointment was that I felt that Rachel’s eponymous notebooks, though often referred to, weren’t used to add to the story. I’d have loved to see some of her real vision vs. the one promoted as hers.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
What happens when a silent protest becomes a movement? This is what is explored in Hailey’s new novel The Silence Project.
.Told in the first person narrative we are told the story from the point of view of the daughter as her mother starts a silent protest that affects and engulfs the noisy world of her family. What starts out as small soon becomes a sweeping statement that would include followers and people joining on this silence. We have a world where people come up with their own reasoning on what is being protested but never clear with people feeding in their own ideologies. What ends up becoming a world wide movement becomes more sinister once it becomes a corporation.
The plotting of the book is excellently done and giving it a real life non fiction feeling by including footnotes, bibliography, etc gives this an account that becomes as realistic as Jonestown, Waco, and a host of other cults. The authors also goes in deep with the diary publishing and how a single crusade turns into a conglomerate enterprise which is scary and interesting within itself.
The characters are well developed and very three dimensional given a breathing living humans something to fear and be in awe of. I have to admit, I have my own belief system but I have never been able to lose myself to dive right into this with any conviction so when I am faced with people or characters, I am amazed that people are able to do this. Not saying that it becomes appealing to myself but that people have such undeniable faith that they can totally encompass the ideologies.
Overall, this is a great book that asks a lot of questions, horrifies with its subject matter but at the same time explains the world around us as we have seen grass root protest and cults numbers ever increasing to sometimes horrifying results. Highly recommended.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
Emilia lives with her parents in a pub. When she is 13, her mother Rachel moves into a tent in the garden and embraces silence. Other women join in, creating a worldwide movement called 'The Community." For 8 years these women remain for the most part silent with the goal of speaking less and listening more. Then the shocking "Event" occurs where more than 20,000 women self-immolate. After the Event, the remaining members of the movement bastardize the Community in the name of what Rachel would have wanted. Emilia joins the Community for a time until she becomes disillusioned and decides to try to set the record straight by publishing her mother's journals along with her own memoir. The book is hyper-realistic. A fascinating and thought-provoking read that would make an excellent book club pick.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar723956-micro.png?1734580085)
I absolutely loved The Silence Project. I was hungry for a feminist novel with a dystopian (or utopian) slant, and this delivered in spades.
The protagonist is Emilia, daughter of Rachel of Chalkham, who was the founder of the Community. Emilia tells the story of how it all started and of how the Community evolved from its founder's initial ideas. On Emilia's 13th birthday, her mother moved into the garden and stopped speaking. As Emilia rails at being abandoned, women start to gather around Rachel, finding solace in her silence and how she listens to them. The movement grows. And grows. And grows. Some years later, Rachel stages the Event, and the Community's power and global influence snowballs.
It's a wonderfully constructed multilayered novel, where the story is revealed piece by piece, keeping the reader intrigued. Emilia's frustration is well captured as she strives to hold onto her mother while the Community appropriates her for themselves and their own purposes. Her fundamental frustration (what did her mother really mean???) pervades the book.
It's an especially interesting novel to read in these times, as we witness the cult of the individual sparking right-wing waves in many countries. While the Community's goals - to save the world (from climate change, overpopulation and poverty) - are more worthy, this book nevertheless asks valid questions about cults, about power politics and manipulation, about female empowerment and about utilitarianism/consequentialism: does the end ever fully justify the means?
With a great cast of well-drawn characters - both likeable and nasty -, strong writing overall and great pacing, The Silence Project is a clever novel of ideas and a cracking good read.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
Wow! A book that could almost be described as dystopian because of the picture it paints of the world, and it is a world that seems to be within touching distance of our world now - which is what makes it chilling. And as for the beginning - a prologue that describes our 'voice' - Emilia, watching her mother set herself alight and burn to death. What follows is Emilia writing a book that will explain who her mother actually was.
On Emilia's 13th birthday, her mother, Rachel, walked out of their pub and set up a tent in the bottom of the garden and never again spoke a single word. She was fed up with the 'shouting', the way that people are never listened to - something that many people feel happens today - and so she became silent, she listened. As time went by, people were drawn to her, to her silent protest and the Community was born. Eventually she and her follows decided that they had to make the ultimate sacrifice to get the message across. After her death, the Community grew and its mission - based as it said - upon Rachel's message became a very different and dangerous animal. Emilia is writing her book to explain her mother - the woman she knew and not the person that the Community say she was. Emilia has an anger within her that for all of her mother's wish that the world should listen, she felt that her mother did not listen to her. She felt that her mother failed to see her and there is a heart-breaking episode when Emilia gets her first period and wants her mother. The book is Emilia writing about her mother and her mother's mission, it is her own experience working for the Community and it skilfully melds fact and fiction. Current events are included, there are footnotes linking news articles and tv programmes that refer to her mother and these give a sense of reality to the whole book. You are tempted to click on the link even though you know that it is fictitious. She documents how the Community has grown into something that she believes her mother would not recognise - that the initial reason for her mother's Silence Project has been forgotten. The Community is now so powerful, and its projects are chilling and although they claim that they are carrying on her mother's mission, her mother's notebooks give no clue about her mission. At the end, we don't know what her mother wanted and that is not a criticism of the book at all, because at the end of the book we are exactly where Emilia is. She will never know what her mother intended, because she is not around to ask.
A brilliant read.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar393700-micro.png?1734580085)
Thanks so much for NetGalley for my ARC to enjoy!
Full rating: 3.5, rounded down.
The Silence Project was a really interesting read, and one I'm still unsure on how to rate. A blend of fact and fiction that sometimes leaves you questioning whether the events discussed are actually truthful, it was a hard hitting read that one might struggle to find enjoyable due to its nature.
When Emilia Morris's mother burns herself alive after a vow of silence that took the family by surprise, her life becomes a mess and a muddle that takes years to unpick.
Overall, while I was gripped by some of the horrific events detailed throughout Emilia's life, I can't say whether the plot actually ever went anywhere. It reads as a biopic of a fictional person of importance, but it takes a long time to wind its way to a conclusion and there's a lot of fiddling and faffing to get there. There are some fantastic quotes and beautiful moments, but it's easy to find yourself distracted in some of the minutiae.
Hailey does a spectacular job of creating a warning in her literature, but the enjoyment of the read is tempered by the fact it loses its way.
Full rating is determined based on some very likeable characters, a clever concept and a truly terrifying alternative future.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
I received a free copy from Netgalley to review. Here is the blurb:
On Emilia Morris's thirteenth birthday, her mother Rachel moves into a tent at the bottom of their garden. From that day on, she never says another word. Inspired by her vow of silence, other women join her and together they build the Community. Eight years later, Rachel and thousands of her followers around the world burn themselves to death.
In the aftermath of what comes to be known as the Event, the Community's global influence quickly grows. As a result, the whole world has an opinion about Rachel - whether they see her as a callous monster or a heroic martyr - but Emilia has never voiced hers publicly. Until now.
When she publishes her own account of her mother's life in a memoir called The Silence Project, Emilia also decides to reveal just how sinister the Community has become. In the process, she steps out of Rachel's shadow once and for all, so that her own voice may finally be heard.
What a brilliant idea for a story and really thought provoking. To be honest at times I found the pace at a bit slow, but it certainly gets you thinking what if... It was very relatable and written in such a way it was believable. The idea of a single woman's protest growing to where it ended up as a global entity far removed from the original idea is scary with their ideology at the end being terrifying.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
I found this book both intriguing and disburbing in equal measure. Emilia lives with her parents in a pub and suddenly her mother, Rachel, decides to move into a tent in a field at the back of the pub and stop talking completely to anyone. Emilia and her father decided that this was something that would end and Rachel would come home. Time passes and Rachel becomes more of a recluse from the family which Emilia cannot understand especially when it is her birthday and Rachel still does not communicate which Emilia finds heart rendering. At 13 she cannot understand it. Eventually other women join the “community” and take a vow of silence. They do talk but in designated areas. Rachel still does not communicate. The idea of the community is that we do not listen enough to people and that premise is correct. The community grows and then an event happens which shocked the world as the community itself had gone global. Emilia cannot comprehend this action. Emilia continues the story and decides to publish a book of her mother and the community after many years and when she finds her mother’s diaries. This causes controversy in the community but Emilia is determined to carry on and put the world right about how she feels Rachel would not have wanted the community to move in the direction it has. There are many issues for Emilia alone the way mainly the community not wanting the diaries to come out which may give the community less “clout”. An interesting book and worth a read although sadness follows through the story.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
I really enjoyed this book and could see it as a series or film really quickly. Thought provoking and interesting this is definitely worth a read
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
Wow! A pretty powerful and emotive story! Extremely well researched and very difficult to put down. Pete and Maddie’s baby is premature and rushed to an NiCU ward in a London hospital ,the consequences of which lead to a knock on their front door two years later. There are two men standing there, one is a private detective and the other a man who professes to be the father of their son Theo with DNA proof to match! His son was born at the same hospital on the same day! There was a mix up with the baby tags and someone has to pay the price! The story ensues, taking your breath away with its intensity at times. The strong characters, their psychology and emotions are spell binding and gripping! Not to be missed!
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-placeholder-micro.png)
Wow, really powerful story and a compelling read.
Emilia’s mum (Rachel) goes to live at the bottom of their garden on her 13th birthday. At this point Rachel stops speaking. She writes that people need to listen more and speak less. Soon there is a small community of women living largely in silence at the bottom of the garden, using the river to wash in, having pit fires to keep warm in winter. They become The Community.
Eight years later The Event happens which changes Emilia’s world for ever.
Dystopian telling of how The Community is allegedly fulfilling Rachel’s views, but Emilia isn’t so sure. The Community has tasked itself with correcting their perceived over-population of the world. Emilia reads her mum’s notebooks and she isn’t convinced, but she’s now trapped within The Community.
Although I knew it was a work of fiction, it was difficult not to believe I wasn’t reading a book of real events - I think this was partly down to the references throughout, I even found myself checking some of them online (of course they weren’t there, or was that part of the conspiracy theory?). It was also quite a disturbing read at times, and made me realise how easy it could be to brainwash people who are desperate to believe in something and a purpose - sounding like they had plausible aims, yet the implications…….
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
I was drawn to this book as I wanted to find out why a mother would suddenly leave her husband and daughter and move into a tent at the bottom of the garden and never speak again. Communication for the rest of her life was via letters and written messages.
We learn that the mother is called Rachel and we know that she becomes known as Rachel of Chalkham. Her story is told by her daughter, Emilia.
I found it very hard to believe that this story is a novel. It is so realistic that I kept googling facts to see if they were really true. Some of the facts are indeed true such as the story of Sadako and the thousand paper cranes.
All the characters are very real and not just the main characters. There is so much detail.
This is often not an easy read but it is well written and very interesting.
Rachel falls silent as she wants people to listen more and to talk less, to listen to each other and to listen to nature. Few can argue with this.
Like many people Rachel is concerned about the environment and overpopulation. She knows that politicians like the sound of their own voices and rarely listen to the people.
Bit by bit, she is joined by other women who have also become disillusioned.
Soon “The Community” has branches all over the world.
The first half of the book leads up to the horrific “Event” where Rachel and her followers set fire to themselves to try to get people to listen. I apologise if this is a spoiler but I think it is fairly obvious almost from the start that this is going to happen. This event is watched with horror by Emilia and her boyfriend whose mother is also part of the Community and sets fire to herself too. This event is pretty graphic and is followed by an act of revenge where Emilia and her father have to leave the village, go into hiding and try to rebuild their I lives.
The cult continues and Emilia finds herself drawn into it. She goes to work for the Community in the Congo and meets a wonderful family who become an important part of her life.
Many mistakes are made by Emilia and the Community who believe they are helping the African women by providing them with contraceptive implants. This leads to further tragedies.
Eventually, Emilia manages to break away and rid herself of her toxic friendships.
The book is Emilia’s story. She is writing about her mother while trying to make sense of her own life and to make amends for her mistakes.
The Community has become all powerful and has moved a long way from its original purpose. They believe that they are carrying out Rachel’s wishes following her suicide but Emilia is sure that they are not. Part of their plan is euthanasia for the over 60s to try to control population growth. Emilia decides to publish Rachel’s notebooks that she wrote during her silent period. They will provide the truth.
A very thought provoking book. Thank you Netgalley for giving me an advance copy although I am not sure my review has done the book justice. Highly recommended.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar709279-micro.png?1734580085)
I have just finished this book and I could not put it down. It truly blew my socks off for its originality but also how believable it was. I was engrossed in Emilia's story and I found her character totally relatable. I believe we were teenagers at the same time so learning Beyoncé’s dance moves and fighting over yellow wristbands made her character even more believable for me.
I found it difficult to remember at certain points that this event did not happen and at times I questioned whether I need to Google this. It was madness!
I can’t wait to see what Carole writes next.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar445732-micro.png?1734580085)
I finished this book yesterday and wanted a bit of space to consider my review. Firstly, I want to say it is original, and then that it is really well written. I was engrossed in Emilia's story and I found her character convincing. From the beginning where she was a 13 year old child until the end where she was in her early thirties. Her voice was strong, consistent and believable.
Also convincing was the way the book was written. I had to remind myself it was not based around a real event. the novel idea of using footnotes as you would in a factual piece was a good way of allowing us to suspend out disbelief.
The Community - the organisation/lobby group/cult founded by Em's mum Rachel - being a figment of the authors imagination, was impressive. The use of her mother's notebooks and then her own experiences while working for the Community, made it believable and sinister. I wanted to get through it to see what happened. I had no idea how it would end. As well as a good read, it provides a warning.
I think Carole Hailey is a fresh new voice and I will definitely look forward to anything else she writes.
I give this a 4.5, but will round up to 5 for it's originality and the quality of the writing.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar948200-micro.png?1734580085)
I’d like to say thank you to Netgalley and Atlantic Books for granting me access to this text.
I first received a sampler of this text and after reading it, I could not wait to get my hands on the full thing! I love a cult and this dystopian story has such a unique premise. On Emilia’s thirteenth birthday, Rachel, her mother, takes a vow of silence. This is the start of an activist project, which soon spirals into a global, dangerous cult. The writing and characters are fleshed out enough to feel grounded in reality - I found myself googling whether this was pure fiction. It often feels as though the fictional events have actually taken place. The relationships in this book were often complex and believable. There has been a lot of thought and creative effort put into this book and it shows. It definitely poses multiple questions and makes you think.
Unfortunately, I found the full text to be too long. As a result, I lost focus and the pace began to drag. I would end up skimming small sections because I wanted to get to the ‘good stuff’. There were also too many references for my liking - this disrupted the flow of the storytelling. At the time of reading, I was stuck in a big slump but made my way through it. Perhaps this lessened the impact of what the writer was trying to achieve and thus my rating.
Despite my critique, I’m glad that I read this book.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar876197-micro.png?1734580085)
An absolutely phenomenal book. One of my best reads of the year - truly a book everyone should pick up.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
There were multiple times in this book that I almost forgot I was reading fiction.
Although the idea of this book seems pretty out there, it’s also so easy to see how something like this could happen.
I thought it was really cleverly written from the perspective of Rachel’s daughter, however it did leave me frustrated a few times as it raises questions that we cannot be given answers to.
![](https://netgalley-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/65fed9235e/images/profile-micro.png)
Emilia Morris is celebrating her thirteenth birthday when her mother, Rachel, moves out, into a tent at the bottom of their garden. It is also the day that her mother stops speaking, and from that day on never utters another word. Drawn by her vow of silence and desire to ‘listen more’, other women join her. Soon there is a commune of women living down the end of the garden and they form the Community. They make efforts to spread their message to listen more, pulling off bigger and bigger stunts to spread the message. Then, eight years after Emilia’s thirteenth birthday, her mother and thousands of her followers set themselves alight in a grandiose statement, in what later becomes known as the Event.
Soon after this Event, the Community’s reach grows. It becomes a global force, with impact in every sphere of influence. Rachel is seen as a martyr, a hero, a monster - depending on who you ask. Emilia has kept her opinion off record. But after falling out with the Community she decides to publish her mothers journals, and her own account of her life with her mother in her own memoirs. It is a painful process, dredging up long buried memories, and talking to people long in the past. It is an emotional journey, and on top of that, it is a book the Community doesn't want written. Can she survive the process?
This was gripping and thought provoking read. It was well written, with excellent storytelling, and a well crafted storyline, the time jumps were managed superbly, and the characters were all superbly developed. It was portrayed in a realistic manner so that the dystopian elements were suitably disturbing, because it was not a stretch to see the events portrayed happening in this day and age. When so many elements ring true, it is off-putting to see how society could change like this in a matter of time. I was absolutely engrossed by this book, it was written like a real memoir/documentary, with footnotes, references, links to websites and interviews etc. This all gave it a hyper-realistic air, leaning even further into the feeling of a ‘what if’ that could come true. I could not stop reading, and when finished I could not stop thinking about this story. I have never wanted to discuss a book with someone more, this would be an ideal book club book, as it deserves the discourse after reading. A review does not do this story justice - go read it for yourself!
*I received this book for review from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
![](https://netgalley-profiles.s3.amazonaws.com/avatar523689-micro.png?1734580085)
Truly disturbing in many ways, from the decisions made by Emilia's mother Rachel and the emotional and physical impact that has on Emilia and her Dad to the worldwide fanatical craze that the community has become and the inability of Emilia and her father to escape its clutches and the legacy of Rachel.
At times a difficult read-more so because it is not beyond the realms of comprehension that it could really happen- will definitely send the odd shiver down your spine as fictional events touch very close to reality.