Set in post-Second World War Britain, Silent Music tells the story of Ruth, a young girl who moves between her family home in London and her grandparents’ house in the country and the many secrets both houses hold.
Her mother suffers from depression, which leads to ‘episodes’ and a constant skirting around certain issues which inevitably puts a strain on Ruth and her father. Ruth’s aunt had been a concert pianist, who died young, and when Ruth begins to show a similar talent for the piano, it must be kept secret, hence the ‘Silent Music’ of the title.
It’s an absorbing read, the story sucks you in early on, but I would think it is too long for a start, while at the same time leaving too many unanswered questions. The cause of Ruth’s mother’s illness is not explained, though there are hints at a traumatic war-time experience and time spent in France. Nor do we find out how or why Ruth’s aunt Evelyn died, and there are other small things that leave the reader quite frustrated (well this one in any case.) Someone has suggested there might be a sequel in the offing, and the epilogue would seem to lend itself to that.
What attracted me to the book in the first place was the author Jane Hawking. She was the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking’s first wife and author of the memoir on which the film The Theory of Everything ‘was based. I haven’t read that book, but I did see the film which I enjoyed immensely. She herself was a post-war child, and she suffered from depression at times during her marriage to Hawking, which is probably why she writes with such confidence about these things. Not being a pianist I can’t evaluate how she does on the musical side, but she does credit a friend with helping her to ‘ensure the authenticity of the musical elements’ of the novel. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what Jane Hawking produces next.
Eileen Dunne
