The Silent Period
A Novel
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In a novel of bilious wit and unexpected tenderness, a jaded young woman ceases to speak.
Cristina Martino is twenty-eight and adrift. Underemployed at a university library in Turin, Italy, she still lives at home with her parents, in the shadow of her successful, married elder sister, Elena. One night, listlessly scrolling through Instagram, Cristina decides to delete her social media profiles.
What is at first a digital detox becomes an act of self-effacement: Cristina deprives herself of words, then gestures, then disappears altogether, sparking a growing “silent revolution.” When Elena tries to find her, she discovers a world much quieter and stranger than anyone ever imagined. A slender novel of big ideas, The Silent Period probes at solitude—whether chosen or suffered, salvific or fatal—and our need for genuine connection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The elegant and witty latest from Manfredi (The Empire of Dirt) sees an unfulfilled young woman commit to silence. Narrator Cristina Martino, 28, lives in Turin, Italy, with her parents and works at a local public library after failing to launch a career in archaeology. Struck by a desire for "purity and perfection," she deletes all her social media accounts and gets off Tinder. Later, she resolves to stop speaking. She wryly recounts in her narration how she came to the decision after reading a study about suicide attempts, which prompted her to reflect that she has "always lacked the motive, more than the will," to kill herself. She begins dating a handsome man named Dani, whom she met through a childhood friend, Silvia, but remains silent during their time together, causing Dani to comically carry on both sides of their conversations and claim, in her voice, that she's gone silent because she feels "inadequate." As Cristina's silence stretches on, she alienates herself from those closest to her, including her family and Silvia, and relies on her flying scorpion fish for companionship. Cristina's voice is arrestingly raw, and Manfredi sketches a convincing character portrait that builds to an intriguing inquiry into the nature of human connections and self-expression. This leaves readers with much to chew on.
