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The Weight of Silence

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About this listen

 It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night. Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Calli's mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter's voice.

Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered.

Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.

©2009 Heather Gudenkauf (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Marriage Fiction Disappearance

What the critics say

  • Edgar Award Finalist, Best First Novel, 2010
"Every so often you get really lucky, and a book comes along that just knocks your socks off: an absorbing, engrossing, suspenseful read that you just want to keep paging through, a novel that feels a lot like running downhill - fast and a little breathless - until it all winds down and wraps up. The Weight of Silence is exactly this kind of book.... Jodi Picoult has some serious competition in Heather Gudenkauf. [She is] an author to watch.” (Bookreporter.com)
"Deeply moving and exquisitely lyrical, this is a powerhouse of a debut novel. Heather Gudenkauf is one of those rare writers who can tell a tale with the skill of a poet while simultaneously cranking up the suspense until it's unbearable." (Tess Gerritsen)
"Gudenkauf moves the story forward at a fast clip and is adept at building tension. There's a particular darkness to her heartland, rife as it is with predators and the walking wounded, and her unsentimental take on the milieu manages to find some hope without being maudlin." ( Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most Relevant
A great story of different peoples perspective, of a terrible incident of young children and the adults around them. The development of characters even the children is rich and makes one start to root for a “happy” ending. Be advised though. Not a fairy tale. Enjoyed immensely!!

A great collection of characters

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Heather G delivers again a great book !

the twist and turns was great !

Great Listen

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A story that does not create sympathy for the adults that ultimately impact the lives of children in a significant manner. Not sure where the twists and turns were as it was a pretty linear and predictable plot. the narration only made matters worse. Very simple and disappointing.

Disappointing

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I struggled with this at first. it was very slow, and seemed to be just like any other book I had read this year. nothing stood out.
I was even tempted to return the books, but I'm happy I didn't.

it doesn't help the narrator's are very monotoned and show little to no emotion in their readings. (this being a very emotion book, I feel that really hindered the immersion of the story)

Once you get 2/3 of the way through the novel, the author definitely plays a game of keep-away with you.

Taking multiple chapters to finally disclose literally one word. (that's just one example that really stood out to me)
It was infuriating, and almost caused me to skip chapters, but then I realized the author had done what he set out to do: captivate my attention.

it's a great novel to listen to, I would recommend it.

just be aware the protagonist's mother, Antonia, is a horrible mother. she's not violent toward her children, but she allows far too much to happen to her children and is too much of a coward to interfere.

Out of all the characters in this novel, hers angered me the most.

Great story if you can get passed the narration.

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Wow what a great book!! I just couldn’t stop listening at all. I also got another of her books too. This was well worth the time and then some.

Absolutely excellent!

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