The Silent Treatment

By: Abbie Greaves

Narrated by: Adrian Rawlins, Olivia Darnley, Alison Dowling

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A lifetime together. Six months of silence. One last chance.

Frank hasn't spoken to his wife Maggie for six months. For weeks they have lived under the same roof, slept in the same bed and eaten at the same table – all without words. Maggie has plenty of ideas as to why her husband has gone quiet. But it will take another heart-breaking turn of events before Frank finally starts to unravel the secrets that have silenced him. 

Is this where their story ends? Or is it where it begins?

With characters that will capture your heart, The Silent Treatment celebrates the phenomenal power of love and the importance of leaving nothing unsaid.

©2020 Abbie Greaves (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"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)

"An original and moving debut from a talented new voice." (Santa Montefiore)

"The premise alone had me, but the book itself is just heartrendingly lovely. It’s beautiful, so moving and clever.I truly adored it." (Josie Silver, author of One Day in December) 

Gripping

I was hooked straight away. So many emotions. I loved it and listened to it in one sitting

What was the point?

I struggled to understand what the point of the book was and found it a cheap literary trick to use the two questions/secrets of what happened Elena and their reasons for 6 months silence provided nothing but a sense of foreboding throughout.

The characters annoyed me immensely. Don't know if I would have finished it if it wasn't for Book Group discussion.

Dull and boring

I am struggling to think of a book that was more boring than this. The characters were dull. The story was virtually non existent. The ending was obvious. There were no twists or secrets.

The narrators did their best to bring it to life but the worst thing was the writing. Everything was descriptive in a totally boring way. A bit like reading the diary of a 14 year old who has written - got up and went downstairs and had breakfast and then got dressed and went to school. This level of banality.

I cannot find anything good to say about this book. Total waste of my time listening to it.

Good start but very drawn out ending.

Enjoyed the book at beginning, middle but last few chapters were very repativite. No happy ending.

Warning: only read if ready for a good cry.

The last line of this book completely broke me. I loved it but I am still recovering. These characters will stay with me forever. A beautifully written book.