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The Voices of Silence
In 1989 Romania it's unthinkable to criticize the country's leader. Flora Popescu can't imagine a revolution, but suddenly daily life brings frightening changes. Some changes seem connected to a new classmate who dresses and eats better than his poor classmates. As Flora's world crumbles around her, she learns that her father's in danger and only she can save him from the secret police.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
3 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Bel Mooney
97 books20 followers(From official website)
As someone who has worked right across the media, I ‘meet’ the widest range of people through my books for adults and children, journalism and broadcasting. And I love it – especially my latest metamorphosis into an advice columnist, first for The Times and now for the Daily Mail on Saturdays. Believe me, there’s no complacency when I say I am blessed with a terrific life. It hasn’t all been easy. But I guess nobody’s life is…and why should it be?
I was born in Liverpool in 1946, where home was a flat in a low-rise estate called The Green, on Queen’s Drive, near Broadgreen Hospital, where I was born. I went to Northway Primary School and then passed the 11+ to go to Aigburth Vale Girls’ High School. This was old-fashioned state education and it served me very well indeed.
Then when I was 14 my world was turned upside down by a move to the South-West of England, to Trowbridge in Wiltshire. That’s when my beloved, hardworking parents obtained their first mortgage, on a three bed-roomed semi. It was such a step up in the world! I went to the local girls’ grammar school and tried to learn a new accent, in order to fit in. It wasn’t easy. But maybe writers should never really fit in…
When I left school I went to University College London, and in 1969 gained a first class honours degree in English Language and Literature. In 1968 I married my first husband, the broadcaster and writer Jonathan Dimbleby. We met in our second year (he was a philosophy student) and married in a whirlwind after knowing each other just four months. Our marriage was a real meeting of minds and was to last for 35 years, until 2003. Jonathan is one of the best, most wonderful people I have ever met. Still.
When I graduated I expected to go back to Uni and do a PhD as invited by my department, but I was seduced down the primrose path of journalism, and have never regretted not writing that thesis on Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. Anyway, I am now a Fellow of UCL and hold honorary degrees from Bath University and Liverpool John Moores – so, if I wanted, could dip my toe into university life once more.
My first job was on the now-legendary magazine NOVA, which was very exciting, as it used some of the best writers, photographers and designers around. I was Assistant to the Editor, then a feature writer, then contributing editor. After that I had a contract with the Telegraph Magazine, contributed to the Sunday Times, Guardian etc, and was a regular with the New Statesman, under the inspiring editorship of Anthony Howard. Later still I wrote columns variously in the Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan, the Listener and the Daily Mirror.
In 1974 Jonathan and I had Daniel, then in 1975 our second son Tom was stillborn, and in 1980 we had Kitty. At that time we moved to Bath and I began another career as a broadcaster, making programmes for radio and television. I also began to write fiction, starting with ‘The Windsurf Boy’ (1983) and then the first ‘Kitty’ book, ‘I Don’t Want To’ (1985). In 2005 I began a new strand of my career, writing a weekly advice column for The Times, and in 2007 I took that column to The Daily Mail.
In September 2007 I married the photographer Robin Allison-Smith. We live in Bath with our small white dog, a Maltese called Bonnie (of course!) We like doing travel pieces together and riding around on Robin’s Harley-Davidson ‘Fat Boy’ and dancing to the 1972 Wurlitzer and eating and drinking and going to the theatre and hanging out with friends and with Dan and Kitty. Robin and I have set up a company ‘Moon Media’ which offers photography and words, sometimes together. Contact www.robinallisonsmith.co.uk to discuss possibilities. We are also co-owners of a boutique ski chalet in the French Alps, so if you are interested in a wonderful holiday (beautiful in summer too) www.broski.co.uk.
As someone who has worked right across the media, I ‘meet’ the widest range of people through my books for adults and children, journalism and broadcasting. And I love it – especially my latest metamorphosis into an advice columnist, first for The Times and now for the Daily Mail on Saturdays. Believe me, there’s no complacency when I say I am blessed with a terrific life. It hasn’t all been easy. But I guess nobody’s life is…and why should it be?
I was born in Liverpool in 1946, where home was a flat in a low-rise estate called The Green, on Queen’s Drive, near Broadgreen Hospital, where I was born. I went to Northway Primary School and then passed the 11+ to go to Aigburth Vale Girls’ High School. This was old-fashioned state education and it served me very well indeed.
Then when I was 14 my world was turned upside down by a move to the South-West of England, to Trowbridge in Wiltshire. That’s when my beloved, hardworking parents obtained their first mortgage, on a three bed-roomed semi. It was such a step up in the world! I went to the local girls’ grammar school and tried to learn a new accent, in order to fit in. It wasn’t easy. But maybe writers should never really fit in…
When I left school I went to University College London, and in 1969 gained a first class honours degree in English Language and Literature. In 1968 I married my first husband, the broadcaster and writer Jonathan Dimbleby. We met in our second year (he was a philosophy student) and married in a whirlwind after knowing each other just four months. Our marriage was a real meeting of minds and was to last for 35 years, until 2003. Jonathan is one of the best, most wonderful people I have ever met. Still.
When I graduated I expected to go back to Uni and do a PhD as invited by my department, but I was seduced down the primrose path of journalism, and have never regretted not writing that thesis on Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. Anyway, I am now a Fellow of UCL and hold honorary degrees from Bath University and Liverpool John Moores – so, if I wanted, could dip my toe into university life once more.
My first job was on the now-legendary magazine NOVA, which was very exciting, as it used some of the best writers, photographers and designers around. I was Assistant to the Editor, then a feature writer, then contributing editor. After that I had a contract with the Telegraph Magazine, contributed to the Sunday Times, Guardian etc, and was a regular with the New Statesman, under the inspiring editorship of Anthony Howard. Later still I wrote columns variously in the Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan, the Listener and the Daily Mirror.
In 1974 Jonathan and I had Daniel, then in 1975 our second son Tom was stillborn, and in 1980 we had Kitty. At that time we moved to Bath and I began another career as a broadcaster, making programmes for radio and television. I also began to write fiction, starting with ‘The Windsurf Boy’ (1983) and then the first ‘Kitty’ book, ‘I Don’t Want To’ (1985). In 2005 I began a new strand of my career, writing a weekly advice column for The Times, and in 2007 I took that column to The Daily Mail.
In September 2007 I married the photographer Robin Allison-Smith. We live in Bath with our small white dog, a Maltese called Bonnie (of course!) We like doing travel pieces together and riding around on Robin’s Harley-Davidson ‘Fat Boy’ and dancing to the 1972 Wurlitzer and eating and drinking and going to the theatre and hanging out with friends and with Dan and Kitty. Robin and I have set up a company ‘Moon Media’ which offers photography and words, sometimes together. Contact www.robinallisonsmith.co.uk to discuss possibilities. We are also co-owners of a boutique ski chalet in the French Alps, so if you are interested in a wonderful holiday (beautiful in summer too) www.broski.co.uk.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 27, 2016
A middle grade novel, verging on a young adult novel, set in Bucharest, Romania in the days surrounding the 1989 Revolution. The entrenched fear, repression, and mistrust of the Communist era are told through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl. Written by a British journalist who covered Romania in the months after the Revolution.
A quick read, but filled the whole time with a sense of dread for the main character, Flora, and her friends and family. You know there is a "happy ending" for the country - the fall of Communism - but fear of the state means that everyone's life is potentially on the line until the last page.
A definite read to better understand modern Romanian history.
A quick read, but filled the whole time with a sense of dread for the main character, Flora, and her friends and family. You know there is a "happy ending" for the country - the fall of Communism - but fear of the state means that everyone's life is potentially on the line until the last page.
A definite read to better understand modern Romanian history.
December 30, 2017
This is the book that started it all-my love for reading. I read this book in the 6th grade, it was the first real chapter book I had ever read. I remember thinking it had way too many pages and there was no way I could read it all in time to turn in for a book report. When I finished I felt so accomplished (silly I know) but I also remember thinking books were magical and so with that said this book will always have a special place in my heart.
September 13, 2020
The Voices of Silence, for me, was a great book. Though I may have some bias. The story described Flora Popescu's and her family's life just before and into the revolution that over threw the communist Romanian government in December of 1989.
Having Romanian heritage, I visited and went to summer schools in communist Romania. In addition to seeing it first hand, family friends and relatives told me of the severe difficulties in enduring day-to-day life during those times. They told of the secrecy that all families kept from their neighbors and many of their close friends. They told of the scarcity of most foods, we in the US take for granted as being available.
Bel Mooney captures the times and sentiments exactly as they happened, giving the reader the feeling of being there and living through those tumultuous times.
If you want a historically accurate representation of those times, along with the suspense of young Flora's efforts to save her father from the Securitate (Secret Police), read The Voices of Silence.
Having Romanian heritage, I visited and went to summer schools in communist Romania. In addition to seeing it first hand, family friends and relatives told me of the severe difficulties in enduring day-to-day life during those times. They told of the secrecy that all families kept from their neighbors and many of their close friends. They told of the scarcity of most foods, we in the US take for granted as being available.
Bel Mooney captures the times and sentiments exactly as they happened, giving the reader the feeling of being there and living through those tumultuous times.
If you want a historically accurate representation of those times, along with the suspense of young Flora's efforts to save her father from the Securitate (Secret Police), read The Voices of Silence.
January 6, 2019
The Voices of Silence is an eye-opening book in which one can really see the realities of life under a communist-dictatorship government. The main character, Flora, lives in extreme poverty, surrounded by European nations with high-living standards. This hurts Flora in a very strong way emotionally. She knows that she is unlucky. The book moves quickly at the end, after all the mysteries are unraveled and Flora and her best friend Alys have to escape from the war. The best parts of the book are when Flora reunites with her friend Alys to save Flora's father. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a story about a revolution.
April 8, 2014
gr 5-8 180 pgs
1989, Romania. 13 year old Flora's life is full of silence, secrets, and hardships. No one is allowed to criticize the government. People must stand of long lines to get just about anything. Everyone lives in fear of being accused of being disloyal. But suddenly there are signs that things may be changing. Flora finds herself and her family caught in the middle.
Great story!!
1989, Romania. 13 year old Flora's life is full of silence, secrets, and hardships. No one is allowed to criticize the government. People must stand of long lines to get just about anything. Everyone lives in fear of being accused of being disloyal. But suddenly there are signs that things may be changing. Flora finds herself and her family caught in the middle.
Great story!!
March 23, 2019
One of the first non-Goosebumps/Fear Street books I've read and not only did it made my love for reading grow, it also made my appreciation of little things (such as a chewing gum and a banana) grow to such heights at such a very young age.
August 18, 2024
It has an attractive start where anyone who grew up in a communist country can easily relate and thus would find it interesting to follow. I did but I had a higher expectation of this book. I supposed it would start with a glance of Flora's childhood during pre-revolution time and then would develop into recent time with more of a discussion on the ideologies. But it stops at that glance of childhood and her witness of the revolution day. Sometimes I even felt bored to follow the he-said-that-she-said-that narration.
There are some other interesting details throughout, if one is curious to know about life in that part of the world during that historical period. Altogether it is worth a read and interesting enough for me to go through in one sitting, even though many may find it bit boring with the kind of (happy ending) fairy-tale plot.
There are some other interesting details throughout, if one is curious to know about life in that part of the world during that historical period. Altogether it is worth a read and interesting enough for me to go through in one sitting, even though many may find it bit boring with the kind of (happy ending) fairy-tale plot.
February 13, 2018
Grades 4-6; Shows a glimpse of life in Communist Romania. Bread lines; lack of basic things; oppression; no freedom of speech. Main character is a girl.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2019
A tale of revolution and betrayal.
I thought the basic story was good, but I found the writing wasn't sharp enough.
Reading time around ninety minutes.
I thought the basic story was good, but I found the writing wasn't sharp enough.
Reading time around ninety minutes.
June 26, 2022
Good story to understand more about Romania in the late 1980's .
January 8, 2023
one of the best books I read as a child.
April 3, 2026
A good historical fiction for upper elementary or middle school. A part of history you don't hear much about.
May 20, 2021
It’s a great book though sadly out of print .I couldn’t believe the stuff they didn’t have and what happened if they didn’t like the President ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
September 19, 2013
Story of the revolution in Romania, 1989, from the view of the people. Flora's family is on edge as her father is involved in the upraising against the government, and so is her best friend, Alys. Flora is torn between her family and Alys, who hides the truth from her for her own good, and Daniel, the new boy in school, who listens to her (for personal benefits). It takes time for Flora to piece everything together, but she manages well.
A children's book, but filled with significant points to note.
A children's book, but filled with significant points to note.
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April 27, 2016Endorsed by Amnesty International this is a valuable and informative read about a teenage girl, Flora, living under the Romanian dicatorship and observing its downfall and the effect of this on her political family. Other than this it mainly explores issues of trust amongst family and friends. It is educational and quite interesting but not brilliant.
March 28, 2016
Good, accurate (as if I would know, having never been there ;P ) picture of Romania during the time of the uprisings against ''comrade'' Ceaușescu. (right after Berlin wall got taken down)
Didn't love the girl (Flora) but she was realistic for sure.
Didn't love the girl (Flora) but she was realistic for sure.
October 24, 2007
A historical novel set in 1989 Romania during the revolution.
November 9, 2008
This book is a quick read. If you like books like Anne Frank's Diary or Number the Stars, you will enjoy this.
April 8, 2017
Really interesting little read. Perfect if you are interested in the Cold War and social impact it had upon countries within Europe.
April 7, 2016
Set in Romania during the communist rule during and after the destruction,of the Berlin wall as citizens were timid and frightened but had had enough of their government.
February 14, 2008
i really enjoyed this book. it shows the hardships of living in communism.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews