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The Weight of Silence

by Heather Gudenkauf

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,9041038,659 (3.77)71
Fiction. Literature. HTML:Masterfully written and beautifully told, Heather Gudenkauf's debut is a stunning novel of family devotion, honesty and regret that will linger long after the last page is turned.
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 a 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.
… (more)
  1. 10
    The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond (ForeignCircus)
    ForeignCircus: Another haunting tale of a missing child.
  2. 10
    The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (bookwyrmm)
  3. 00
    Dibs in Search of Self by Virginia M. Axline (marcejewels)
  4. 00
    What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman (ForeignCircus)
    ForeignCircus: Another haunting tale of a missing child.
  5. 00
    The Centre of Winter by Marya Hornbacher (sweetbug)
    sweetbug: The two books have a similar feel, although The Center of Winter is not a suspense/thriller type book.
  6. 00
    December by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop (DubaiReader)
    DubaiReader: Also about mutism
  7. 00
    Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum (aya.herron)
  8. 01
    Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan (ForeignCircus)
    ForeignCircus: Another haunting tale of a missing child.
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English (99)  Dutch (3)  Italian (1)  All languages (103)
Showing 1-5 of 99 (next | show all)
I read this a while ago and forgot to mark as read. Very good book with a great plot. Very visual writing! ( )
  JillHannah | Nov 20, 2023 |
From the first chapter, I could not put this book down. The story built up perfectly, revealing bits and pieces of the tragic puzzle of these families' lives, making it hard not to put myself in their places. Normally I would have no interest in a story sprung from a child abduction, but I this was written so beautifully. I'm glad I picked it up. ( )
  jenmanullang | Jun 14, 2023 |
Two little girls go missing in the night. One of them has selective mutism. The book is a suspense novel in that you think you know what happened to the girls, but you really don't. But it's also a tale of family dysfunction as one of the families must contend with alcoholism and its many ramifications for the family dynamic.

All in all, I did enjoy the book (probably 4 stars for enjoyment), but it's very Jodi Picoult-ish. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and there are some hard to fathom coincidences where you need to be willing to suspend disbelief. I really had to knock a star off for lack of believability even though the writing was good enough to compensate to a large degree.

In fact, I really did enjoy the author's writing style, and I'd probably read another book by her if it came along. I would recommend this book as more of a beach type, summer read . . .just not a whole lot of literary merit . . .but enjoyable. ( )
  Anita_Pomerantz | Mar 23, 2023 |
Borrowed this book from a co-worker and was pulled in almost immediately waiting to see what, when and how. Very good book. ( )
  KyleneJones | Apr 25, 2022 |
Finally, a book I liked with no weird endings! ( )
  AlexM12345 | Jan 5, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 99 (next | show all)
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For my parents, Milton and Patricia Schmida There is no one who comes here that does not know this is a true map of the world, with you there in the center, making home for us all. --Brian Andreas
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Louis and I see you nearly at the same time.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:Masterfully written and beautifully told, Heather Gudenkauf's debut is a stunning novel of family devotion, honesty and regret that will linger long after the last page is turned.
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 a 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.

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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 a tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Petra Gregory is Calli’s best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra or Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered.

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.
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