The Silent Treatment

A Novel

By: Abbie Greaves

Narrated by: Alison Downing, Adrian Rawlins, Olivia Darnley

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

"A remarkably assured debut which doesn't go where you expect it to go. I very much look forward to seeing what she writes next." (Jojo Moyes, number one New York Times best-selling author)

"The premise alone had me, but The Silent Treatment itself is just heartrendingly lovely. It's beautiful, so moving and clever. I truly adored it." (Josie Silver, number one New York Times best-selling author of One Day in December)

Resonant with the emotional power of the best-selling novels of David Nicholls and Jojo Moyes, a rich and poignant debut about lies, loss, and a transcendent love at the heart of a troubled marriage.

A lifetime together.

Six months of silence.

One last chance.

By all appearances, Frank and Maggie share a happy, loving marriage. But for the past six months, they have not spoken. Not a sentence, not a single word. Maggie isn’t sure what, exactly, provoked Frank’s silence, though she has a few ideas.

Day after day, they have eaten meals together and slept in the same bed in an increasingly uncomfortable silence that has become, for Maggie, deafening.

Then Frank finds Maggie collapsed in the kitchen, unconscious, an empty package of sleeping pills on the table. Rushed to the hospital, she is placed in a medically induced coma while the doctors assess the damage.

If she regains consciousness, Maggie may never be the same. Though he is overwhelmed at the thought of losing his wife, will Frank be able to find his voice once again - and explain his withdrawal - or is it too late?

©2020 Abbie Greaves (P)2020 HarperAudio

Beautiful story

An absolute tear jerker. It is truly a sad love story but I loved every minute of it.

Great Story and Performance!

Loved it! Moving story. Halfway through they switch to hearing from both points of view rather than just the husband as it is for the first half. It added a whole other layer of depth and was captivating. You wanted them to go back to the other person just as much as you wanted their side to keep going. Very well written and performed. It is a sad story from start to finish but worth the read/listen for sure!

A tender page turner

This sweet sad simple story of how the things we don’t say can shape our lives more then we want them to.

Loved it

The depths of human emotions tastefully revealed in a realistic story of a couple and their inability to save their beloved child. Heart renderingly beautiful. This is one of the few books I will listen to again for the richness of the joys of love it portrays.

The greatest tragedy: Losing a child

A touching story of an older couple facing the death of their only child. After 6 months of the silent treatment by her husband following the loss of their daughter, he opens up to her as she lies in a coma. In the second part her side of their life together unfolds. All their secrets are revealed to each other in this unusual dramatic story. At the end, you are not depressed by their dilemma.

Absolutely beautiful.....

What a beautiful story. And what beautiful writing that evoked so many responses. And the narration was absolutely perfect by all three narrators.

Such a good book.

This was a really good book. It was very well written. I started reading this morning , and just couldn’t put it down till I finished it tonight. Kind of sad.

Bad

Bad. Not good. Boring. Unengaging. Amateurish. Pointless. Uninspired. Derivative. Just plain bad, not worth reading.

A Summary of Life

This is a uniquely written story of the ups and downs of life. Beautifully dark. If you can’t relate to this story in one way or another then you have certainly lived a more fortunate life than me.

Almost returned, but don’t!

In the first 20 mins I almost returned this book as I’m not a big fan of a ‘narrated story’ - a story that is told by primarily one character. But I hung in there and I’m so glad I did. Very good story with a relevant and sad story line. The ending calls for people to reckon with life being short and unpredictable so we need to be ready to meet our Maker.