After the Silence: a twisty page-turner of deadly secrets and an unsolved murder investigation

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I had expected this to be a murder mystery drama and it is but one of the main themes is domestic control and abuse which I hadn’t expected. A murder ten years before is constantly flashbacked together with the reactions of the people close to the victim and it's like a record with a crack in it - the same things are repeated again and again and again and again. After the Silence is an abiding story of abuse, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and the tolls that these take on women—up to and including their very lives. The murder mystery at its heart is easy to guess, but despite that, After the Silence is tense and compelling.

As the tenth anniversary of the Nessa Crowley’s death approaches, a pair of Australian documentarians visit the small island of Inisrun, off the coast of West Cork to investigate her unsolved murder. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. The book is set in west Cork, and her accent veers from Dublin to a really broad Midlands accent, both of which are a very long way from west Cork. Louise O’Neill’s writing is astute and restrained, holding back the most important details and allowing readers to connect the dots themselves.No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. As the story progresses, we must wonder whether or not Henry is guilty—and if so, is Keelin covering for him, an unreliable narrator? Almost from page one, O’Neill makes it clear that the psychology in this psychological thriller is far more focused on Keelin Kinsella’s relationship with Henry. A powerfully atmospheric, darkly compelling mystery characterised by Louise O'Neill's exquisite writing and powerful psychological insight.

After the Silence is set on a small island within a close knit community - This community is torn apart by the loss of one of their own on a stormy, unforgettable night. Apparently a fortune teller had predicted that her husband would only have daughters so therefore his birth proved that Keelin had been unfaithful to him. Keelin is now an outcast to the island she was born on, having sold herself out by marrying a Kinsella. It’s clear not just to the reader, but to the islanders still struggling to come to terms with their loss and the outsiders still fascinated by the tragic events a decade ago, that the Kinsellas are hiding something.

The subject of rape has long been ‘unspeakable’ and remains one of the most controversial and emotionally charged issues for society. O’Neill brings you right into the heart of Inisrun, getting to know the villagers and the events that led to the death of Nessa Crowley. These two men had arrived to Inisrún yesterday, and they’d asked if they could interview Keelin first, before anyone else. Switching between the past and the present, the story explores the events leading up to the murder and the lingering fallout ten years later, as a documentary crew arrives on the island to lift the lid on the families involved. While her friends and family initially see Keelin’s new marriage as positive and safe, Keelin eventually finds herself isolated from close friends and the victim of coercive control and gaslighting.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. This is O'Neill at her best: splintered portraits of relationships so sharp you could cut yourself on them, deeply empathetic characterisation and a vivid exposure of the brutality of all forms of domestic abuse, including the ones that so often remain hidden in the shadows. But when the body of a young woman was found in the garden the next day, life on the island changed forever.

First off big ol content warning for domestic abuse - both physical and psychological and coercion/controlling relationship. Her daughter would pause ever so slightly, giving Henry the opportunity to interject, lavishing praise upon the girl for her sense of civic responsibility. This is the power of fiction at full strength; what would be dry or too stark when laid out in non-fiction becomes moving, terrifying, paramount when told through fiction’s lens.