Australia here we come

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑  I am an unmitigated fool for a novel set in Australia as these novels have populated my favorites list with high frequency for the last couple of years. The Silence was no exception. Focusing on some of the darker secrets of Australia's past, it sheds light on the practice of taking small children away from Aboriginal families and putting them in state-run homes full of violence and neglect. A horrific policy that caused years of heartbreak and suffering.

In 1997, we travel with Isla, A daughter of Australia, who currently works and lives in the UK. She is going back home to celebrate her father's birthday but finds he may be in a fair bit of trouble when she arrives. A next door neighbor, Mandy, who Isla vaguely recalls from her early years, has gone missing but it isn't a new development. It occurred thirty years ago and her father may have been the last person to see her before her disappearance.

This novel sets an addictive tone as we examine the lives of a number of very unhappy people and jump back and forth in time to reveal what happened thirty years ago. Things were rather difficult for Mandy and her husband, Steve, and Isla's parents, Joe and Louisa, living next door. The story isn't gripping, as such, but it does get under your skin making it difficult to set this book aside to focus on mundane day-to-day tasks. I felt such empathy for Mandy and was wishing Isla success as she dug for the truth and discovered more than she expected. This is a great novel, much enjoyed on a bright sunny day when lockdown at home due to Covid19 calls for an engrossing distraction.