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Silence
Days before her high school graduation, Nicki Groh runs away from the New Hampshire town where she has grown up. In the months that follow, Nicki will find her way back home, a young woman much changed from her earlier self.
Harriet Groh, Nicki's adoptive mother, is the person most affected by Nicki's absence. Much of the story is told by her, and much of the story is about her, how she "disappears," too, from an earlier self and discovers her own voice, even if silence is the language in which she finds it.
Harriet's voice continues the tradition of female voices that Mr. Brookhouse began in Running Out, his first novel, which Anthony Burgess called "A triumph of poetic economy and a powerful evocation of place." He continued this voice with A Selfish Woman. Silence once again displays Brookhouse's elegant, economical prose.
Silence is a deepening narrative about the roles we play, how we fit into them, how we choose them, or how they choose us. The novel is structured around earth, air, fire, and water-essential elements of the ancient world whose influence remains powerful in ours.
Harriet Groh, Nicki's adoptive mother, is the person most affected by Nicki's absence. Much of the story is told by her, and much of the story is about her, how she "disappears," too, from an earlier self and discovers her own voice, even if silence is the language in which she finds it.
Harriet's voice continues the tradition of female voices that Mr. Brookhouse began in Running Out, his first novel, which Anthony Burgess called "A triumph of poetic economy and a powerful evocation of place." He continued this voice with A Selfish Woman. Silence once again displays Brookhouse's elegant, economical prose.
Silence is a deepening narrative about the roles we play, how we fit into them, how we choose them, or how they choose us. The novel is structured around earth, air, fire, and water-essential elements of the ancient world whose influence remains powerful in ours.
- GenresFiction
150 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 14, 2009
Silence is the story of several people in a small New Hampshire town mostly during one summer. The main stories are those of a young woman who runs away just before graduation and her adopted mother who seems to be exploring her lesbianism. Although the characters are not particularly colorful (in parallel with the greyness of the town?), Brookhouse manages to invest the reader in what happens in their ordinary lives -- up to a point.
Early on, there are some tense moments, but that fades away and we are mostly left with fairly mundane goings-on of fairly mundane people. (In this regard, I would compare his writing to what I know of Joyce Carol Oates.) Until I got about 2/3 of the way through the book, I would have given the it 4 or even 5 stars. I was enjoying the characters and wondering what was going to happen to them. By the end, though, realized that nothing was going to happen really. I kind of stopped caring about these boring people, not really doing much.
One more serious complaint: I don't think the lives of gay men and lesbians are very accurately represented. As a gay man, from a small town even, I didn't recognize the behaviors as "impossible but probable" but as "possible but improbable," a dramatic error Aristotle warns of in his Poetics.
Early on, there are some tense moments, but that fades away and we are mostly left with fairly mundane goings-on of fairly mundane people. (In this regard, I would compare his writing to what I know of Joyce Carol Oates.) Until I got about 2/3 of the way through the book, I would have given the it 4 or even 5 stars. I was enjoying the characters and wondering what was going to happen to them. By the end, though, realized that nothing was going to happen really. I kind of stopped caring about these boring people, not really doing much.
One more serious complaint: I don't think the lives of gay men and lesbians are very accurately represented. As a gay man, from a small town even, I didn't recognize the behaviors as "impossible but probable" but as "possible but improbable," a dramatic error Aristotle warns of in his Poetics.
October 19, 2012
Silence is the first novel I have read by Christopher Brookhouse. I was drawn to it because it is set in a small town in New Hampshire and as someone who vacations in New Hampshire about every 2 years, I am fascinated by it! It's such a different setting than the Chicago suburbs that I call home.
I admit that when I read the first chapter, I thought I had the entire plot line of the book figured out in my head. Oh, I was so smart, I was so sure of what would happen in the book. Until I read chapter 2! Brookhouse took a story that I felt could have been written in a formula-fiction sort of way and instead wove it into an interesting story.
The story follows Nicki and her adoptive mother Harriet and those that know them. Everyone, however, knows everyone else - the whole small town feeling. Nicki seems to have it all - good looks, good personality, and brains. And yet, after an attempted rape, she runs away from it all just a few days before high school graduation. The story then continues to follow everyone through the summer and into early fall.
I really enjoyed the story. I think I will read some of Brookhouse's 8 other novels in the future!
I admit that when I read the first chapter, I thought I had the entire plot line of the book figured out in my head. Oh, I was so smart, I was so sure of what would happen in the book. Until I read chapter 2! Brookhouse took a story that I felt could have been written in a formula-fiction sort of way and instead wove it into an interesting story.
The story follows Nicki and her adoptive mother Harriet and those that know them. Everyone, however, knows everyone else - the whole small town feeling. Nicki seems to have it all - good looks, good personality, and brains. And yet, after an attempted rape, she runs away from it all just a few days before high school graduation. The story then continues to follow everyone through the summer and into early fall.
I really enjoyed the story. I think I will read some of Brookhouse's 8 other novels in the future!
March 23, 2009
I had some difficulty sorting the changes voices at the beginning of this story, however, once into it some of the static seemed to calm down and each character developed they own rhythm. The subtleness of all of what Nicki Groh had to deal during her life seemed to come together and implode on her as the result of one simple act of violence.
Each of Mr. Brookhouse’s characters seems to have their own set of unique quirks that are not at all obvious. He slowly draws them out and reveals them not only to the reader but to the other characters as well. Silence shows how destructive it can be to not only the person keeping the silence but to everyone they come in contact with along the way.
This is a slow thoughtful read that will leave you with plenty to think about after you have finished the last page.
Each of Mr. Brookhouse’s characters seems to have their own set of unique quirks that are not at all obvious. He slowly draws them out and reveals them not only to the reader but to the other characters as well. Silence shows how destructive it can be to not only the person keeping the silence but to everyone they come in contact with along the way.
This is a slow thoughtful read that will leave you with plenty to think about after you have finished the last page.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews