The Silence In Between
Paperback Published on: 01/05/2025
Price: £10.99
Bookseller Reviews
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A poignant and powerful debut.
Here’s another book that perfectly demonstrates why I love debuts so much - I’ve now discovered a beautiful new writer to look out for.
I thought this ... READ MORE
War torn Berlin
This novel is kind, thoughtful and poignant.
Does everyone have evil inside them?
Is seeing terrible things and saying nothing equivalent to consentin... READ MORE
Heartbreaking yet Hopeful
This book is without a doubt one of the best books I have read this year. Every character became so dear to me I just wanted to reach in an protect them fr... READ MORE
Poignant and thoughtful
A piece of historical fiction set in Berlin during both the Second World War, and after the city was partitioned during the 1960s. It begins as the border ... READ MORE
Poignant and revealing about struggles in Berlin
Goes between Berlin in the 2nd World War and East Berlin when the Wall was built cutting of the West and East. Focused on one family who had a rough time i... READ MORE
Everyone should read this!!
Absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. A must-read. Especially for those who lack compassion these days.
Compelling Debut
I enjoyed reading this duel narrative, historical novel immensely. It follows Lisette and Elly, mother and daughter, as the Berlin Wall rises up to separat... READ MORE
Amazing!
This was an absolutely incredible novel. It looks at a perspective of WW2 (and later, the division of East and West Germany) from a perspective we don't of... READ MORE
A powerful story of human resiliance and family bonds
I tore through The Silence In Between, reading it in two giant greedy sittings. I was instantly pulled into Lisette and her daughter, Elly's world. The tho... READ MORE
Compellingly beautiful
The Silence In Between is a beautiful but heartbreaking read from a wonderful new voice in historical fiction.
Being quite ignorant of the history aroun... READ MORE
One to watch!
An intensely and brilliantly researched book that has drawn everyone in who I've described the premise to. I thought the way the story unravelled in the du... READ MORE
The Walls Between
It's rare to read a debut with an author arriving as fully formed as this. A powerful book about intergenerational conflict and trauma, national identity, ... READ MORE
Fantastic debut
It is only when one steps back that it becomes terrifyingly clear that three generations of German women could live through so much history and so much ho... READ MORE
FANTASTIC!
I devoured this book in 2 days! A beautiful story, which is all consuming, the type you are thinking about through out the day, and you count every moment ... READ MORE
A fine debut
I think this is an excellent novel. Very well written for the most part, it tells a very good story populated by sympathetic, complex characters who have t... READ MORE
Heartbreak and Hope
This historical fiction novel is Josie Ferguson's debut and is shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and is certainly a worthy nomination.
W... READ MORE
A powerful debut
You can tell that much research has gone into The Silence in Between. It highlights the atrocities of war from a perspective I’ve not read before. It shine... READ MORE
Emotional - this had me in tears!
Josie Ferguson tells a story of a nightmarish situation where a mother is separated from her new baby by the Berlin Wall in 1961, with the split timeline o... READ MORE
An emotional punch in the gut
The Silence in Between completely blew me away - it’s not the kind of book I’d usually read, but I found myself completely captivated by the story. This is... READ MORE
Synopsis
Imagine waking up and a wall has divided your city in two. Imagine that on the other side is your child...
Lisette is in hospital with her baby boy. The doctors tell her to go home and get some rest, that he’ll be fine.
When she awakes, everything has changed. Because overnight, on 13 August 1961, the border between East and West Berlin has closed, slicing the city - and the world - in two.
Lisette is trapped in the east, while her newborn baby is unreachable in the west. With the streets in chaos and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone who tries to cross, her situation is desperate.
Lisette's teenage daughter, Elly, has always struggled to understand the distance between herself and her mother. Both have lived for music, but while Elly hears notes surrounding every person she meets, for her mother - once a talented pianist - the music has gone silent.
Perhaps Elly can do something to bridge the gap between them. What begins as the flicker of an idea turns into a daring plan to escape East Berlin, find her baby brother, and bring him home....
Based on true stories, The Silence in Between is a page-turning, emotional epic that will stay with you long after you finish reading.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
- ISBN: 9781804992739
- Number of pages: 352
- Dimensions: 197 x 128 x 23 mm
- Weight: 246g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allbrilliant book!
This is a remarkable book - engrossing, engaging, appalling, uplifting. A dual time line connects the lives of a mother and daughter in the Berlin of WWII ... READ MORE
Great Debut!
Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy, I confess I had been desperate to get my hands on this since I first saw it on twitter.
This is a ... READ MORE
Powerful
Written from a dual narrative perspective that moves between time: WW2 and 1961 when the Berlin Wall was erected, the story of Elly and Lisette is a powerf... READ MORE
An amazing sotry - and a brlliant debut
I was disapponted at the start of this book when it went back from 1961 to 1944. I read a lot of war fiction and had hoped that this book was about post wa... READ MORE
Harrowing
A well researched historical novel, with a backstory from the 1940s taking the reader through to the building of the Berlin Wall and its eventual fall in N... READ MORE
Bravery in the face of Adversity
I shall never forget this book. It greatly impacted me, and I have learnt a lot. Its authenticity is compelling, and how much it hurts to know the sadness ... READ MORE
Just stunning! An absolute gem
Wow, what an exceptional book this is. I did not want it to finish because I knew I would miss it so much. If you are a lover of historical fiction like me... READ MORE
A Novel of Craft & Precision
It is one thing to have a great premise for a story. For a debut novel, it is quite something else to carry it off with great craft and precision. Josie Fe... READ MORE
An incredible moving debut
I loved every minute of this stunning debut; Josie so beautifully bottles the time and place of this dual narrative, bringing to life a complex mother-daug... READ MORE
How women suffer in troubled times!
I was totally engrossed by this meticulously researched book which taught me a lot about Berlin's history during WW2 and about the events of 1961 when the ... READ MORE
A moving and emotional work of historical fiction
The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson is a moving and emotional work of historical fiction. On 13th August 1931, the border between East and West Berlin... READ MORE
When life is fractured in two
Set in two eras, in war torn 1940’s Germany and a city divided in 1961 we follow the lives of Lisette and Elly.
Exhausted mother Lisette has been in hosp... READ MORE
A remarkable and evocative novel
Initially, "The Silence In Between" by Josie Ferguson took some time to capture my interest, but by the 25% mark, I was completely hooked. Josie Ferguson e... READ MORE
Breathtaking, edge of yoyr seat stuff
Set in both 1940's war-ravaged Berlin and the aftermath following the wall being built in the 1960's, this is a remarkable tale told from two perspectives,... READ MORE
A fantastic debut!
I loved reading this book. Well… it was devastating, but I was captivated by the story and the characters.
The first half of the book features two paralle... READ MORE
The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson
The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson is an historical fiction book, about Germany in the Second World War and the time afterwards. For those living in ... READ MORE
A moving story of the Wall, its origins and legacy
There are two sides to everything - nothing in history has perhaps demonstrated this more than the Berlin Wall. It’s this Wall, and what happens either si... READ MORE
Very moving
A very moving story told from the dual perspectives of Lisette during the war years and Elly, her daughter, during and after the partition of Berlin. Elly... READ MORE
Powerful and emotive
1945 and as the war comes closer to Berlin, the women of the city are terrified about the approaching forces. Lisette is forced to become the mistress of ... READ MORE
An unforgettable story
There’s a lot of hope in this book of survival and loss. Elly is a symbol of determination - she never gives up, and her family is at the heart of all her ... READ MORE
Berli a city of two half’s
Shortlisted for the Waterstones, Debut Fiction Prize The Silence In Between had a lot to live up to and oh my did it deliver.
Set in Berlin, Lisette is ... READ MORE
Beautifully written.
This is a beautiful historical fiction read, set during both the Second World War and in Berlin during the 1960's when the Berlin Wall was constructed. It ... READ MORE
Thought provoking historical novel
A thought provoking book that should be in all school libraries. It is written over two time lines - WW2 in Germany and the building of the Berlin Wall in ... READ MORE
Emotional and enthralling.
The Silence In Between is a well written and well researched debut novel. It's an emotional and enthralling read told from 2 points of view, over two timel... READ MORE
The most incredible book!
I devoured it, reading into the small hours to finish it. The most beautiful, heartbreaking story, sharing a side of history I knew nothing about. I would ... READ MORE
Fabulous
What a rollercoaster story and so beautifully told. It has to be a must read for everyone interested in the social history of Germany in the fourties' and... READ MORE
Powerful, poignant and courageous
"Evil demanded little of me - it merely asked me to remain silent, to do nothing. And I complied."
Imagine waking up one morning to discover there is a... READ MORE
Exceptional in every way
Imagine you've had a baby but he's in hospital. You leave him to go home for a short time and while you're away from him a wall goes up between you and him... READ MORE
A phenomenal debut
What a phenomenal book, I couldn’t put it down and read it in one day. There has obviously been a huge amount of research done to ensure the detail of the ... READ MORE
An unusual World War II story
Lisette and her family are Berliners. They're not really supporters of Hitler but neither do they actively object to his policies, thinking it nothing to d... READ MORE
The Silence. Josie Ferguson
Fascinating description of life in East Germany as the wall goes up, written as if by East Berliners for the West. Desperately sad and descriptive of life ... READ MORE
Beautiful consideration of family and the past
I loved this book and devoured it in an evening. It was such a beautiful story of the love and tensions between a mother and daughter - and the secrets and... READ MORE
Compelling and moving
Two mothers, two daughters. Their fears, losses and traumas. Their fractured relationships in war-time and post-war Berlin both before and after the Wall. ... READ MORE
Excellent read
Despite the rather ( at times) grim subject I thoroughly enjoyed this book
As a teenager in the 70s I visited Berlin when the wall still existed and trave... READ MORE
Great book
I thoroughly enjoyed this book……
Interesting to have an insight on what happened when they closed the barrier between east and west and extremes that you ... READ MORE
Novel set in 2 seismic periods of BERLIN's history
In the Author’s Afterword, she states: “Writing historical fiction comes with a responsibility to accurately portray an important time in history, and thou... READ MORE
Beautiful
This was such an emotional read, the author has woven a tale which will have you falling in love with the characters and rooting for them to have life work... READ MORE
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