A book which threatens never to leave your heart… you must read The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves.

The plot:

Frank hasn’t spoken to his wife Maggie for six months.

For weeks they have lived under the same roof, slept in the same bed and eaten at the same table – all without words.

Maggie has plenty of ideas as to why her husband has gone quiet, but it will take another heartbreaking turn of events before Frank finally starts to unravel the secrets that have silenced him.

Is this where their story ends? Or is it where it begins?

This is probably the easiest 5/5 stars I’ve given

At the opening of the review, it’s as good as place as any to start with the opening of this book. And what a shocking opening it is. It’s the ‘turn of events’ mentioned in the synopsis, and the rest of the book is about the two protagonists and how they’ve lived their life, leading up to why there was six months of silence and unravelling all the secrets/ feelings along the way.

This is probably the easiest 5/5 stars I’ve given for a general fiction. The characters were fantastic, the plot was well thought-through and written beautifully, with the right amount of sad-to-happy.

Although there are tough topics weaved in, they are handled delicately. There were paragraphs where I couldn’t help but smile, and other moments where my heart dropped. It’s an emotional read which although I couldn’t relate directly to, still pulled at my heart strings.

Once I got 30 pages in, that was it – I could not, and did not want to put it down. I was so intrigued and in love with the story so far that I needed to read what was going to happen there and then; it also has plenty of little twists to keep you engaged – ‘just one (our a hundred) more pages’. The Silent Treatment is the perfect book to lose yourself in.

Greaves has done a spectacular job with every element of this book, and I’m struggling to find even minor complaints. I’m shocked that this is the author’s debut – it’s as if she’s been writing for years and knows how to connect with the reader.

The Silent Treatment is about ordinary voices and experiences with parenting and building/losing relationships with an unforgettable meaning.

Utterly stunning. Watch out for this author – I certainly will be.

The Silent Treatment, Abbie Greaves, RRP £12.99 (hardback); Book Depository 

Pages: 325

Publisher: Century

Genre: Fiction