Now this is one Hell of a book! I was hooked. No kidding. I wasn't even half way through and I was raving about it to my book club and how much they're gonna love it.

I cannot even put into words how real this felt for me. Like numerous times I was researching and looking on good ole Google to see if it actually happened. I am so so blown away by how this book made me feel.

I really loved how it was Rachel's daughter that narrated the story and how brutally honest she was about her part within the community when she worked there. I felt I could really connect with her and empathised with her when she told us how ashamed she was. I cant even imagine how hard that work be living under her mother's shadow, her legacy and seeing what the community did but saying it was all because of Rachel.

This was a true masterpiece, so well thought out, so well written I think it's definitely going to be a top book for 2023!!!!

Huge thankyou to Netgalley, Carol Hailey & Corvus for the ARC.

This is an original and powerful novel which explores both how a cult develops, and how the actions of an individual in pursuit of their beliefs can have an irrevocable effect on both the wider community and, particularly, on their own family. When Emilia is thirteen, her mother Rachel, feeling a lack of purpose and meaning in domestic life, moves into a tent at the bottom of the garden and refuses to speak. Her ideas about being silent in order to listen to and hear others draws in a growing number of followers until it becomes the Community, a mass movement which spreads worldwide. After the Event, a ritual mass suicide, the Community’s influence balloons and becomes increasingly controlling and sinister. Emilia, struggling to come to terms with what happened, decides that she needs to understand the truth about her mother- and to tell the world what she knows. So many big issues are highlighted- how can we tackle problems like climate change, over-population and terrorism? How can anyone make their voice heard in today’s society? Does power always corrupt? Is sacrifice ever worth it? But most of all, Hailey looks at how a parent’s actions can make or destroy the life of their child, causing lifelong harm. The description of Emilia’s boyfriend Tom reacting to the Event, in which his own mother took part, is one of the most horrendous and moving things I have ever read. Emilia herself gets caught up in the Community in her efforts to rebuild her life, but comes to find a way to move on and find hope against the odds. Thought-provoking, compassionate and gripping, this is a book which deserves to find a readership as wide as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Power.”

Found this a little hard to get into, but so glad I persevered. Refreshingly different, engaging and beautifully written. No spoilers here, so read it for yourself, you won't be disappointed!

WOW!!!!! Hooked from the first page and read this book in one sitting… Full of tension and suspense. A real page turner

A very original concept of a fake memoir. Cleverly constructed with fake bibliography references, I often forgot it was totally a work of fiction. The story is fascinating but cod be quite slow at times. Definitely a story that you'll want to see to the end.

Rachel Morris astounds all by removing herself from the family home on her daughter’s 13th birthday, and taking up camp in the garden behind the pub where the family lived and worked. To take matters even further, Rachel decides that she will not speak again. Her family are completely baffled by her actions and it takes some getting used to, if they ever do. Over time the camp becomes a hub for women wanting to escape the noise and bustle of the world, so that they can listen.

This book was a clever concept and written well. I liked the beginning, but not so much as the story progressed, and the DRC part was of no interest to me at all. I really liked the letters, the emails and Emilia’s early life, but found the rest very hard going. However, I do appreciate the skills and hard work that the author invested. Sadly, not one for me.

2.5*

Thank you NetGalley.

I read a sample back in June and was delighted to be offered the full book to read ahead of publication. Thank you to the publisher Corvus Books and NetGalley for providing this in exchange for an honest review.

My review of the sample was: <i>The scene setting was amazing and I immediately had many questions. Such a strong opening and I wish the whole book was already available.</i>

It's not as easy to review the full book without giving spoilers, so I think rather than comment on the plot I will probably comment around the general vibe of the book. It has very much an unsettling, Black-Mirror-like feel, merging real events, people and places with fictional characters.

The author didn't just build a world and write from the POV of a person who is writing a memoir, she also had to come up with fake studies about the Community, and fake experts who wrote fake books about the Community, which she often quotes from. The footnotes are essentially a fake bibliography of fake research and websites. (I'm not sure these are entirely necessary, mainly because none of the links work, but boy do they fuck with your head A LOT)

The chapters alternate between flashbacks and the narrator's present time, but the flashback chapters do progress more or less chronologically. I know some readers are not keen on frequent time jumps, if this technique bothers you then this book may not be for you.

There was a weird change in tone around the 66% mark that I think may benefit from more revision, as the author very suddenly started overusing parenthesis and exclamation marks mid-narration which hadn't really been as frequent in previous chapters. This is when the narrator is first arranging to travel to Congo and describes the beginning of her time there.

The book takes a particularly interesting turn when the narrator begins to question the nature of her work in Congo and I think it does a pretty good job of showing nuance where somebody does something that's harmful to others with the best intentions, and how they cope with the guilt when they realise that actually their actions had an unspoken and downright racist motive.

I was left wondering what the author wanted to teach with this book, and who she personally thinks the fictional "Community" align most with, out of the activist groups that exist nowadays. The Community aren't presented as a political party but as supposedly politically neutral, perhaps most comparable to modern-day charities? There is a comment towards the end that envisions what would happen in an alternate reality where the Community did not exist (e.g. our everyday world) showing that essentially, no reality is completely problem-free. I would have been happy to read further and see what future the author had in mind for the world of the Community - do the Community ever become a fully fledged political power, do they only seize certain countries Gilead-style or do they become a dictator that ends up oppressing the whole world?

Rachel decides that the world is too busy and loud, she takes herself down the bottom of the garden and sets up a Greenham Common style camp promoting listening. This is what happens next; to her daughter, the Community of women and how her thoughts and beliefs are interpreted by those in the Community.

A really clever book which is set 'now' so references current and recent occurrences - which makes it all the more believable and frankly, terrifying. There is a bit of a flabby mid-section but I would implore you to keep going. The ever-increasing fanaticism which starts off being fairly reasonable, becomes deeply questionable and chilling.

A compelling read which makes you think about some of the driving forces behind some current global political decisions.

Taking the form of a fictional memoir, The Silence Project is the story of Emilia, her mother Rachel, and The Community, Rachel's activism-project turned dangerous global cult.

The Silence Project poses great critiques of fame, the white saviour mentality and the dark side of activism and not-for-profit work. I also greatly enjoyed how the author made references to real life happenings and individuals in the first half of the book; this made the fictional occurences following on from The Event feel much more realistic and grounded in reality. The female characters in the book were especially varied and well-rounded, and their relationships with each other were complex and believable.

My only real criticism is that The Silence Project is SO ambitious with its scope, and whilst it succeeds in its aims more often than not, there were a few lulls in the narrative.

In a way, this book made me think of what I expected Naomi Alderman's The Power to be - that book fell short of my expectations, but The Silence Project most definitely does not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for this ARC.

Wow is all I can say. I could not put this book down. I have read a spate of books with similar themes particularly around silence recently but this is the most well done. The weaving of alternate universe with real life events made the book all the more startling and the most extreme of the policies seemed honestly not much of a stretch of the imagination.

The first part of the book covers Emilia's relationship with her mother and the shaping of the Community before the shocking Event. I felt Emilia's frustration and anger seeping into every word. The image of her standing outside the tent in her bloodied pyjamas just wanting her mum to come into the house and help her with her first period was particularly poignant. I loved her Dad - what a patient, gentle soul. Also there was a very timely and pointed comment about whether it is fair for the prime minister to be someone who hasn't stood in a general election that hit close to the bone!

The second part of the book covers the explosion of the Community into the mainstream and the twisting of her mother's intentions. Sophie is a viper, the interactions with her are chilling as she invents mantras and deceptions to back up what the Community is doing. It cleverly shows how cults prey on those feeling desperate, frightened and vulnerable and the slow creep of Casey's beliefs from blasé to fanatical figurehead are eminently believable.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of Emilia's contrasting experiences in the DRC as well. From still wrangling with her relationship with her mother and the Community, to violence and protests, exploring beautiful nature and falling in love. The description of the gorillas made me want to visit the DRC.

The book is genuinelly frightening because it could plausibly happen in real life. Also the twist of the Community's bigger plans was even worse than I had expected. I thought I knew where it was going but couldn't have predicted just how far they would go for money and power. Unsettling and clever, I thoroughly recommend this book.

When Rachel stopped talking on her daughter’s 13th birthday and committed to living in a tent at the bottom of her garden, the Community was born. This ‘cult’s’ primary aim was to listen and hear others by ceasing to speak, Years later, after her Rachel’s demise, Emilia decides to publish her mother’s notebooks.

This novel is well-written. It is honest and raw in its exploration of The Community. The impact of Rachel’s decision was, without question, far-reaching and resulted in generally positive, world-wide support. However, the effects of her decision on those closest to her - her family - was catastrophic. I found the study of Emilia’s character fascinating but the book was a little too long with too many reading references, which for me completely affected the flow of novel.

love a dystopian story, and reading the blurb of this intrigued me from the start. Emilia’s mother stopped talking one day, and never spoke again. She became the founder of The Community who’s tagline was ‘Shhhh….’ She wanted to listen, really listen and bring about change in the world.
Then in one devastating day, Emilia watched as her mother died by immolation.
The book is written from Emilia’s view point, as a companion to her mothers notebooks that were written during her silence. All in all a pretty good book that will definitely leave you with questions.

This book - as the author says - is a blend of fact and fiction. In places I had to stop and think where one ended and the other started. It is an amazing, heart-rending bumpy ride which shows how one person, with one act, could change the world. There are so many truths in the book, mixed in with so much deceit. We need to keep our wits about us - and listen!

Amazing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

The Silence Project gripped me right from the first page. Told from the point of view of young teenager Emilia (a narrative that is always hard to pull off for adult writers), this is a compelling read. On Emilia’s thirteenth birthday, her mother Rachel moves out of the family home and into a tent at the bottom of the garden. Taking a self-imposed vow of silence, Rachel hopes to take stand against contemporary society, but as Rachel becomes more and more enmeshed into a cult referred to as ‘the community’, does her increasingly drastic political engagement come at the expense of the daughter who should be cherished?
I have NetGalley and the publishers to thank for my free copy of this unusual novel that I may not have otherwise discovered. Essentially the investigation of a complicated mother-daughter relationship whilst also shining a searchlight on what it means to belong to an exclusive and exclusionary social group, this is a book that deserves a wide readership.

This was a brilliant book and a really interesting perspective of how the actions of others can impact their families and leave a long-lasting legacy. Incredibly thought provoking and great, well-written characters. Highly recommended.

A few months ago, I read a truly excellent sample kindly sent to me by Corvus, and it turned out to be a book that was right up my street. I love the concept of the Very British Cult (The Rapture by Claire McGlasson is a fine example), and The Silence Project takes this and combines it with feminist politics along the lines of such greats as The Power by Naomi Alderman or Vox by Christina Dalcher.

When I was lucky enough to get a copy of the full book, I got exactly what I was after, and a few surprises besides.

The first half of the book is the fictional memoir of Emilia Morris, daughter of cult-leader Rachel of Chalkham. Rachel one day decided to stop talking in order that she might hear more clearly, and builds a (the) Community around her who believe this is the way to solve the world’s problems. Grown weary and frustrated with the same old minor protests, Rachel eventually decides, with many of her followers, to immolate herself in a final global protest.

This was the story I was expecting, and it fully delivered. I’ve read several books this year that lay out the frustrations of people (usually women) who have grown up in the long cold shadow of a famous and subsequently neglectful parent — and I won’t lie, I enjoy them immensely. It’s a literary kink I didn’t know I had! And Emilia’s narrative rings so true, filled with frustration mixed with the emotional maturity of adulthood’s hindsight. Emilia is a massively sympathetic character in this portion of the narrative, and my heart really ached for her.

But this truly is a book of two halves. At the midway mark, Rachel lit her pyre, and I wondered what the rest of the book would bring. So often, the death of the famous parent is the end of the story. But Emilia’s story becomes her own as she goes through her personal aftermath following her mother’s death, but also the way the Community continues to grow in power and force, moving, Emilia argues, away from the original principles her mother put in place. The unexpected location for much of this portion of the book is the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country I know very little about, but is relayed in vivid, beautiful, ugly detail in Hailey’s book. This move was one I wasn’t expecting, but it was a pleasant surprise.

The thing that surprised me as the novel turned its focus to the resolutions the Community proposes to what it perceives as the world’s problems, is that the word ‘eugenics’ is never mentioned. A lot of very dodgy concepts — concepts that Emilia initially buys into — are placed on the table, but that link is never directly drawn. Nevertheless, Hailey doesn’t hold back on making Emilia a far more problematic figure as her story continues, and no less loveable for that. There were moments when my heart really ached for her.

I’ve made a few literary comparisons in this review, and I think The Silence Project will be an excellent read for anyone who enjoyed the works mentioned. But The Silence Project really goes further than delivering a neat package, a hero’s journey, or a standard cult narrative. This is a book more complex and knotty than it appears from the outset, and I think might spark some very interesting conversations.

The Silence Project by Carole Hailey is released on February 9th, 2023, and is available for preorder here.

Review written with thanks to the publishers and Netgalley.co.uk for an e-advanced review copy.

*** I previously reviewed a sample of this books and was then sent the full version - this review contains my thoughts and feeling of the full version ***

I don't think I've ever read a book as quickly as I devoured The Silence Project, and I likely would have finished it in a day if it weren't for work or sleep.

The Silence Project is 'written' by Emilia Morris (but really Carole Hailey, the author), who is telling the story of her life as the daughter of 'Rachel of Chalkham' in the hope of setting the record straight once and for all about her mother. On the day of her 13th birthday, Emilia's mother goes to the river next to their pub, sets up a tent, and stops speaking in apparent protest over...something. Over time, word gets out about Rachel and her "silent protest" and she gains a number of followers. Over time, the Community grows until one day, in front of a crowd, her family, and the press, Rachel and many of her followers commit suicide.

In fact - 21,078 of them do. 

Without any clear guidance now that Rachel is gone, the Community has grown into a global enterprise and powerhouse, but their original mission seems to have drastically changed. But since Rachel never spoke or wrote down her plans after her suicide, this has given the Community enough free reign to do as they wish under her name and under the guise that this is part of Rachel's grand plans for the Community.

The only 'guidelines' they and Emilia have at all of what Rachel wanted to achieve are in Rachel's diaries, which are to be released for publication and for people to interpret what they will.

Emilia's 'book' documents her life from her 13th birthday onwards, going into detail about the early days of her mum's mission, up to her suicide, and beyond when Emilia gets pulled into working with the Community and is starting to be blinded by their manipulation. By publishing her accounts, Emilia is hoping to show the world (who are eating out of the now powerful Community's hands) that the saint-like image they've built up of Rachel is wrong and the Community is dangerous.  

The Silence Project is almost like a murder documentary—where you already know the outcome and are recounting events prior, invested in the hope of finding an angle or explanation to the madness. As mentioned before, I could not put this book down.

Although it is a work of fiction, it reads like a recounting of true-life events. The use of footnotes, references to websites and other works, interviews, and newspapers, all lend themselves to making this work of fiction feel as believable as possible. Since the book is set in the UK, the author even made sure to reference real shows and newspapers (such as Question Time, The Telegraph, BBC, etc) that exist throughout.

One notion I had when I finished is that it's never revealed what Rachel's plan really was, other than the wishy-washy notion that people need to 'be silent and listen to/hear each other more'. But to what end? What are we listening for? Who do we need to listen to? It never explains why Rachel was obsessed with disasters or why she decided to finally pitch a tent and never speak again. 

And ... that's the whole point. To Emilia, it was never explained at the time, and she will now never know—no one will, as the only person who could fully explain was silent and is now dead. And the ones running the narrative have their own twisted agenda, are too powerful to oppose, and are now, ironically, no longer listening.

We will never find out what people think of her book, if they believe her, what people think of her mum's diaries, or if the Community ever gets taken down. It's not a fully satisfying ending or explanation of events - but that just makes it better and more believable because by the end of Emilia's book, things are still ongoing.

5 stars well earned.

[This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.]

Absolutely haunting.

I didn’t expect to be as gripped by this book as I have been. I haven’t been able to put it down, and when I’ve been forced to (to do my day job!) I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It’s brilliant and a bit disturbing, just like dystopian novels should be. Evocative of The Handmaid’s Tale or 1984, it’s even given me nightmares (which I can’t say a book has done before…!). The horror comes in the reality, in the fact the novel absolutely could happen.

Fantastic. Hailey is a force.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for this privilege!

(4 stars)
UPDATE (after reading FULL BOOK)
I enjoyed this story a lot. It's written by Emilia and tells the story of her relationship with Rachel (her mother), and the Community. It feels very personal, honest, heartbreaking, and she doesn't hold back from her own faults.

Rachel takes a vow of silence on Emilia's thirteenth birthday and moves out of the family home into a tent at the bottom of the garden. Emilia initially believes it's because of her - as you would at that age, at least I would, anyway. Women of all ages join her and build a community.

The reader feels a part of both the Community and the family. Rachel is correct, there's not a lot of listening going on these days. I absolutely see why she and other Community members did what they did, like Buddhist monks' and nuns' acts of self-immolation. It's the ultimate protest - a sensational form of suicide - shocking people into listening. Afterwards though, once the protests are over and Rachel's guidance is no longer available to the Community, it starts to take on a life of its own. Things are attributed to Rachel, and done in her name, but did she actually have anything to do with them? This book shows very well how easily things can be bastardised.

There was a wee 'dip' at the end of the first third of the book (hence the four stars), but by that time I had committed to the story, so I carried on.

Well-written and realistic, I look forward to reading more by this author.

I initially chose to read a sample of this book, and was later offered an ARC of the full book which I voluntarily and honestly read and reviewed. All opinions are my own. My thanks to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author.
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(5 stars)
I enjoyed reading A SAMPLE of this work as it is very well set out and felt as though it was being written by a real person. A book within a book, kind of atmospheric with a side helping of suspense.

The sample was short, and cut off just as things were getting interesting, however it conveyed enough interest that I would like to read the whole book if I was offered it.

Whatever made Emilia's mother, Rachel, take a vow of silence must've been enormous. Why choose to start it on Emilia's thirteenth birthday? Was it something to do with her? After eight silent years, why did Rachel set herself on fire? Lots of questions floating about in my head that I need answers to. I look forward to reading the finished work.

I chose a sample of this book which I voluntarily and honestly read and reviewed. All opinions are my own. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. (I will update as and when I am able to read the whole book.)

This book was amazing with a premise that was both original and intriguing. It was incredibly well written with an exceptional storyline and well developed characters. I don't want to give anything away from this book as it will ruin it for people but honestly one of the best books I have read so far this year and maybe last year too