The Second Silence
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A woman fights to free herself from a heartless husband in a novel that “delivers romance, a variety of relationships, and suspense in one appealing package” (Library Journal).
Noelle realizes it is time to move on when, rubbing lotion on her leg, she cuts herself with her wedding ring. The cut is slight, but it makes her realize that her marriage to Robert Van Doren is causing her nothing but pain. Although successful, wealthy, and boyishly handsome, her husband is a heartless man, who cheats on his wife and makes a living at the expense of the environment. Although it takes time to build up the courage, Noelle knows that leaving him is the right thing. But Robert Van Doren is not one to accept defeat. He punishes Nora by using his considerable power to get custody of their child. Leaving Robert is not the end of Noelle’s struggle; it is merely the first step on a treacherous journey towards freedom. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Eileen Goudge including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her seventh novel, best-selling Goudge (One Last Dance) delivers every modern cliche required to satisfy readers who like their fiction titillating and predictable. Recovering alcoholic Noelle Van Doren informs her domineering, philandering husband, Robert, that she wants a divorce. Robert is an unscrupulous real estate developer whose deals routinely destroy historical buildings and damage the environment, and he doesn't like rejection. He avenges himself on Noelle by inviting her to dinner at a popular restaurant where he slips a drug into her soda that makes her appear to be drunk. He then snatches their five-year-old daughter, Emma, and embarks on a campaign to discredit Noelle and gain sole custody. Meanwhile, Goudge interweaves the story of Mary and Charlie, Noelle's long-divorced parents. Mary conceived Noelle while still in high school. Though she and Charlie attempted to make a go of their marriage, they were thwarted by family interference. The pair are reunited in the quest to exonerate Noelle of Robert's unfair accusation that she is an unfit mother. The novel's central issues are noble but executed without imagination: power-hungry Robert is the perfect villain; Noelle the passive wife and mother finding the strength to take control of her life; and Mary and Charlie's reignited romance proves that first love is best. Peripheral characters include Noelle's teenage sister, Bronwyn, who is deflowered with care and sensitivity by wrong-side-of-the-tracks Dante, a misunderstood fellow with "a bad-boy smile and bedroom eyes" who's caught up in Robert's evil plan. The narrator's voice alternates between folksy and New Age therapy speak, yielding few surprises in this glorified Harlequin romance. 4-city author tour.
