The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson

I think it is safe to say that ‘The Silence In Between’ was my read of the month for January. This is a book (no surprise) that had been sitting on my shelf for far too long, but I was inspired to pick it up thanks to a lovely bunch of bookworms who set up a buddy read.

I found this book a truly brilliant and thought-provoking read. As someone who teaches both the eras in this book, it was so fascinating to reflect on the lives of the people of East Berlin, first under the Nazi Regime, and their supposed liberation thanks to the Soviet troops. It was truly harrowing to really think about how their lives, actually, faced very little change, just changing a regime from one end of the political spectrum with another – with an even bigger divide created between the people with the structure of the Berlin Wall.

And, amongst all this, we meet Lisette and her family; their lives are turned upside down when Lisette’s baby is in hospital in Berlin as the Berlin Wall is built, but he is on the wrong side of the wall. We follow Lisette’s daughter as she attempts to save her brother and gain the love of her mother, which has always been a little too far out of reach. And, parallel to this, we follow Lisette as a young woman and, as her history unfolds, we learn about the woman and mother that she has become.

Throughout all this, there is a theme of music running all the way through the story, and the importance and comfort that it has brought at different times to Lisette and then her daughter. But, also, how silence comes to have a number of different meanings – especially silence that allows people to hide, silence that allows people to be protected, and how silence can come between people. And that it is time for the barrier of silence to removed, just as Berlin’s divide needs to be removed.

I read this book in one weekend, as I could not put it down. I had to know what was happening to Lisette and her family. I felt thrown into the world of Berlin, as World War Two came and went, and the Cold War intensified. My heart broke for the family and the world that they were living in. And it clearly reminded us all that the many can not be blamed for the actions of the few, and that sometimes the real human cost is not considered throughout history. Especially as conflict is not just about the military, but it is also about the civilians.

This is a book that I will be recommending to many of my bookish friends, especially if they are fans of historical fiction. And this is not a book that I will be forgetting for quite some time. In fact, it is the sort of book that I wish I could read for the first time again.

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