This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the publisher via Trish at TLC Book Tours. I received no other compensation. The book is currently available in stores.
The Weight of Silence: A Novel
Heather Gudenkauf
Mira Books, 2009 (paperback original) (ISBN 077832740X / 9780778327400)
Fiction, 384 pages
(Visit the book’s website and click “preview the book” to see the first 19 pages.)
First sentence: “Louis and I see you nearly at the same time.”
Comments: If you tell a small child that it will be her fault if something bad happens, she’ll probably believe it. If you tell her that something terrible will happen if she doesn’t keep quiet, and the terrible thing does happen, she just might feel that she’s so much at fault that she’ll stop talking at all. Seven-year-old Calli Clark hasn’t spoken in three years. She communicates without words, and her friend and neighbor Petra Gregory has spoken for her ever since they met in kindergarten. But one summer morning, both girls disappeared from their homes without a word.
The backstory in Heather Gudenkauf’s novel The Weight of Silence goes back years, but the main plot occurs during one intense, suspenseful, terrifying day in the lives of the Clark and Gregory families. The past relationship between Calli’s mother Toni Clark and deputy sheriff Loras Louis has long been a problem for Toni’s husband Griff and Louis’ wife Christine, and it further complicates matters when Louis oversees the investigation into the girls’ disappearance. Griff, Calli’s father, is known for both his drinking and his temper, and he hasn’t been seen all day either; is he somehow connected? Are the girls together, or is it a horrible coincidence that they both went missing on the same morning? And what of Toni’s older child, her son Ben, who has been in and out of the nearby woods all day?
Gudenkauf uses alternating viewpoints to tell the story; chapters are narrated in the first person by Toni, Louis, Petra’s father Martin, and Ben, while Calli’s chapter’s use third-person narration. I thought this was a smart choice, reinforcing that other characters speak for themselves, but Calli doesn’t. I usually like the way that this format offers multiple perspectives on events, and it works well here for conveying the plot, but some of the narrators are more effective – and affecting – than others. I thought that Toni and Ben were the most realistically drawn characters, and while I found Calli very appealing, I had trouble recognizing her as only seven years old. She seemed to be written older than that, particularly in the descriptions of her relationships, especially her friendship with Petra. Petra’s character, on the other hand, seemed under-written to me. I appreciate the higher level of drama in a story of two missing little girls, but wasn’t as drawn into Petra and her family’s side of it nearly as much as I was Calli’s.
I read this book as an ARC, and sometimes I think I’m too nitpicky for the ARC experience. I know that these are “uncorrected proofs,” but I kept spotting little things that needed corrections, and they were definitely a distraction. I’ve tried to set that aside in forming my opinion of the book as a whole, but they did make it tougher for me to consider the quality of the writing itself.
I think Heather Gudenkauf had high ambitions and a big reach for the story she wanted to tell in her first novel. While it certainly kept me engaged, I think I might have liked it better if she’d packed a little less into it overall. I think it would be provoke some great discussion for book groups, though, and I will be interested in seeing what this author does next.
Rating: 3.25/5
Get 10% off when purchasing The Weight of Silence in print or e-book between August 1 and September 15 at eharlequin.com – use coupon code SILENCE10.
I'm one of those people who apparently liked this one better than you did. Sorry you didn't enjoy it! My review will go up later this week.
Word Lily – I liked it in parts, but wanted to like it more than I did, and I always feel bad when that happens. I do seem to be in the minority, though – I'll be looking for your review!
I have a hard time with knowing whether children's voices are appropriate for their age. It's definitely something I struggle with when I read a book, though I personally didn't find that to be a problem with this book. But again, I don't have my own kids, so I accept my perception is probably skewed. 🙂
On retrospect, I would have liked to have heard more from Petra, but I wonder if it would have been too much…
Anyway, all that to say, thanks for taking part in the tour and obviously putting so much thought into your review! It's much appreciated. 🙂
Thanks for posting about this one. It sounds so good.
Errors in an ARC don't bother me, but they do in a finished copy! I think I would enjoy this book even though it is rather busy.
Trish – I'm always glad to be a tour host for you and Lisa, and I really was intrigued by this one. Thanks for the opportunity to read it!
Diane – I do think it's worth reading, even if I didn't find it entirely satisfying myself.
Kathy (Bermudaonion) – Errors definitely bother me a lot more in a finished copy! I just wish they didn't distract me so much.
"Busy" is a good way to describe this novel, actually – it does have a lot going on.
Thank you for taking the time to read The Weight of Silence and comment on it. I'm glad you liked the use of multiple perspectives in the book.
Heather – Thank you for visiting and commenting. I appreciated the opportunity to read your novel, and I did like the multiple perspectives.
I've been seeing mention of this book now and then on other blogs and am curious about it. It does sound like something I would like.
Minor errors in ARC's don't usually bother me. I may or may not notice them, but I can usually overlook them. The one time I couldn't get past it was when there were frequently missing words. Whatever font the publisher had used in the printing didn't print out the italicized words–and there were a lot. It was too distracting and it hurt my enjoyment of the book.
Thanks for your great review, Florinda! I'm always glad to come across a mixed review of a book that so many people are praising. It balances things out and doesn't raise my expectations too high.
Wendy (Literary Feline) – I should probably have more patience with ARCs. There's a reason they state that they're "uncorrected proofs," and my job isn't to make the corrections. But part of me wants to copy-edit them anyway, and sometimes it does get in the way of what I AM there to do – read and review the story. It's annoying. But entire words missing would be REALLY annoying!
I feel a little guilty for not loving this one as much as many other reviewers have, to be honest. I think you'd like it, though.
I liked this book quite a bit. I agree with you that Toni and Ben were probably the best written narrators. I loved Ben most, probably, because he was just such a good, confused, kind-hearted kid. For the like, 10 seconds when it seemed like he might get blamed, I was super nervous 🙂 I'm sorry the errors bugged you though, that's frustrating!
Kim – I agree – it's definitely frustrating, and distracting.
I think Ben was probably my favorite character, too.
I was one of the readers who liked the book better than you did 🙂 — but I appreciated your balanced and honest review. It's great to read different viewpoints on the same novel.
Laughing Stars – I do seem to have a minority opinion on this one, but I did like it – I just didn't love it. I might have liked it a little more if I'd read it as a finished book rather than an ARC; at least, I would have been less distracted by minor things that took me out of the story. I do feel bad that they affected me so much.