After the Silence: a twisty page-turner of deadly secrets and an unsolved murder investigation

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Although this is being marketed as a murder mystery/psychological thriller, what makes it stand out is not the revelation (there are so few suspects, anyway, in a tiny island community that it's not hard to unravel) but the acute and genuinely disturbing portrait of domestic abuse and coercive control. Space will be available for wheelchair users and other spectators who might find it difficult to view from the general public areas. This area is located on the west side of Parliament Street, close to the junction with King Charles Street. Space in this enclosure will be offered on a first-come, first-serve, basis. One carer or guest per person will also be admitted and a toilet for those with accessibility needs will be available nearby. I also blame the book for making me a bit snarky while I read it, as I just wanted to read and read and not be disturbed. I felt immersed in the Island setting and the secrets that I had to unravel and not just the who but the why, and all the threads that led to that point. Hopefully the description of the book is enough, but in case it isn’t, seriously, massive trigger warnings for partner abuse, gaslighting, controlling and manipulative behaviour, murder, etc. I struggled with this at times, and I have never had a romantic relationship, let alone a toxic or abusive one—I can only imagine how triggering this book would be for some people who have, and you should really, really think hard about whether you want to expose yourself to that before you read this.

I'm broken. This was heart wrenching. This is not just a murder mystery but an exploration of domestic abuse and violence towards women, and how society and the media treat women as a whole...which is not surprising considering Louise O'Neill's previous novels. I think this novel brilliantly examines how abusive relationships manifest differently, and how easy it is for anyone to become trapped in one, regardless of circumstance or knowledge of certain behaviours. After the Silence also touches upon why it is women in particular who read/consume stories about true crime and crime fiction, especially when the stories are also concerning women - and why is the media so drawn to a particular type of woman (young, white, slim, beautiful) when it comes to telling these stories.During the 19th century, the music was elongated, with pauses added to this call to make it more mournful and appropriate for remembrance purposes. After the one-minute silence which follows the The Last Post in a remembrance ceremony, the Reveille is played, which is a similar three-note tune, to mark the end of the silence. Domestic violence has been extensively explored in fiction in recent years, but the domestic coercion that O'Neill is uncovering here (and the afterword is a tribute to the research behind the novel) is so much more insidious, leaving mental rather than physical scars and thus rendering the victims even more isolated, even questioning their own mental well-being. sexual abuse, sexual assault, incest, and molestation may cause different feelings to emerge. During Photography is permitted, but the Metropolitan Police have powers to remove obstacles such as camera tripods where they obstruct public access or views. Spectators should not take photographs during the two-­minute silence when shutter noises can offend. Did Henry Kinsella kill Nessa Crowley? Does she ever get justice? You’ll have to read the book to find out! I won’t lie: it will be a difficult read, but it is so worthwhile. O’Neill engages me, gets me thinking about these issues, all while telling a deep, rich, dark story. This is the power of fiction at full strength; what would be dry or too stark when laid out in non-fiction becomes moving, terrifying, paramount when told through fiction’s lens. After the Silence is an abiding story of abuse, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and the tolls that these take on women—up to and including their very lives.

Ramírez, D. 2018. Violence, Literature, and Seduction. Avidly, 8 May. https://avidly.lareviewofbooks.org/2018/05/08/violence-literature-and-seduction/.After two brilliant forays into young adult novels, both well worth a read, O’Neill brought her unstinting criticism of patriarchy to her first adult novel Almost Love in the best and most scathing way possible. After the Silence is a more-than-worthy second adult novel. While both have passing similarities—depictions of emotional abuse, gaslighting, male partners treating women poorly—O’Neill looks at these issues from an entirely different angle. She forces us to confront not the darkest parts of relationships (particularly with men); rather she forces us to confront the greyest parts, the parts we seldom talk about because to admit they are present would be to admit our entire model of romance is broken. Queries about the march past should be sent to the Royal British Legion at: [email protected].