Review: Silence by Julia Park Tracey
In Silence, author Julia Park Tracey imagines the life of her 1720s ancestor in the Massachusetts Puritan community. Tracey was at first intrigued by her ancestors’ name, Silence, and reflected on what kind of a life of a woman named Silence in the early 18th century might have. As an aside, many people (particularly women) of the MA Bay Colony had attribute names. One of my own ancestors of this time/place was named Deliverance!
Tracey starts with the facts she knows – that the real Silence Marsh lost her mother, husband, and baby all in the same year. From there, Tracey weaves a tale of Silence voicing her disillusionment with God for allowing such tragedies to befall her. For her disobedience, Silence is ordered to a year of silence as well as a series of public humiliations. Widowed, she moves back in with her weaver father and tends house deep within her introspection. Much of Silence’s life during this period is in deep reflection and isolation. Despite her inability (order not to) to speak, Silence forms unexpected friendships with a willful young girl, a Boston apothecary woman and her doctor son, and a woman who has been largely outcast due to her former captivity in a Mohican community.
The aspect of Silence that most stands out to me is the in-depth descriptions of domestic tasks for a woman of this specific time and place: from beekeeping, to candle making, to cooking and cleaning. Silence is not only lost in her domestic duties of keeping her father’s house, but also very deeply in thought. In truth, the majority of the book encompasses Silence’s inner thoughts and ruminations which at times makes for a slow read despite this short novel. Most of the action in Silence takes place at the beginning and end, with a slow-moving middle that many times had my own mind wandering. I know these inner thoughts and ruminations were important character development for Silence, but I personally did not find these lengthy sections engaging enough to keep my attention.
I appreciate the author’s ancestral research and taking care to craft a life for her ancestor, Silence Marsh.
Silence will be released September 24, 20204
