One Mommy's Review of Heather Gudenkauf's The Weight of Silence

Reading is a pastime I need to carve out more time for each day. It relaxes me and provides for a nice escape from the hustle bustle of the day. I recently received the book The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf from Mother Talk and thought I would share my thoughts with you.

The Weight of Silence walks the journey of two families as they discover that their little girls have gone missing. While the two are friends, they disappeared from their own houses in the early morning hours. As these two families try to figure out what happened to their children and find them, a delicate story is woven that articulates the power of family secrets.

I was drawn to this book immediately - curious to see how the author would capture the grief of parents who are missing their children. Thankfully, we have not experienced this tragedy. However, while reading it - the deep emotions of losing our second son to a stillbirth, the loss of control, the fear, the sadness - they all came into play. The author, Heather Gudenkauf, did well at pulling the reader into these emotions the family experienced.

The format of the chapters is different in this book, with each one being from the perspective of a character. For me, the structure provided a deeper sense of each person's feelings and experiences. It also added to the suspense of the novel because as I would form an idea of what I thought happened, each new chapter would offer different insight. On the flip side, I could see how some could feel that this structure breaks the flow of the book or storyline.

Readers will yearn for a breakthrough for the young girl in this novel, Calli. To feel the struggle as she lives in silence fills you with sadness for her. Readers will not be able to help themselves from feeling the intense need that her family and friends are filled with - simply to help her. To help her feel at peace.

The Weight of Silence will capture your interest and keep you engaged as you travel this emotional journey with these families. It is always a wonderful feeling to carry a book with you because you want to read it when you have a free moment - The Weight of Silence was exactly that for me. Again, a huge thanks to MotherTalk (and Mom Central) for this review opportunity.