Title: Breaking the Silence
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: January 1, 1999

T H R E E • W O R D S

Perplexing • Informative • Unsettling

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Since the awful day her husband died, Laura Brandon’s little girl hasn’t uttered a word. When a psychiatrist suggests that Emma won’t talk because she’s terrified of men, Laura is guilt-ridden. To help Emma, she needs to know what unspeakable secret lies behind her husband’s suicide.

Laura thought her family was perfect, but her quest leads her to a shocking truth. For her child’s sake, should her father’s sins be kept silent?

💭 T H O U G H T S

Next up for the monthly Diane Chamberlain buddy read was Breaking the Silence, one of her highest rated works. I went into this one without having read the synopsis or any reviews with the hopes of creating an opportunity to create my own experience and opinions.

This one certainly has a shocking start, and is filled with dark secrets kept hidden for decades. DC does a fantastic job at keeping an air of mystery with two distinctive storylines, which eventually converge. The plot kept me guessing as every time I thought I had something figured out, it would take a different turn. As with many of DC's novels, there is also an underlying theme of redemption. Through her writing, the author creates suspicion in many of her characters right from the start. I had the sense that someone was hiding something but I couldn't pinpoint exactly who it was.

Mention of the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal and the MKUltra project lead to a deep dive into the type of psychological torture that was considered to be 'experiments'. The descriptions of these torturous treatments were so unsettling to read about, but knowing all of this really happened is just heartbreaking. Additionally, I was intrigued by the selective mutism plotline and wasn't a fan of how it just ended. There was no real resolution, which seemed very unrealistic.

It's some some fairly convenient coincidences that felt unrealistic that kept Breaking the Silence from being one of my favourites. Yet the plot and characters were incredibly interesting, which made this a real page-turner. Exploring Diane's backlist has been a fun little project and I am excited to see where the final two books of the year will fall on the scale.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Diane Chamberlain fans
• character driven enthusiasts
• readers who like a mix of mystery and history

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Studying the stars makes you come to grips with your insignificance pretty quickly."