India Mullen’s taut performance highlights the devastating, long-term effects of traumatic events in the audiobook of When We Were Silent, Fiona McPhillips’ debut novel.
Despite her traumatic past, Louise (Lou) Manson is living a relatively normal life. That changes when Ronan, the brother of her former close school friend, Shauna, shows up. Ronan, now a lawyer, persuades Lou to testify in a lawsuit against Highfield Manor, jeopardizing her newfound stability by unearthing secrets and lies that have been buried for decades. Mullen brings out the complex emotions that surface when Lou is forced to relive the incidents that occurred when she attended the prestigious Dublin private school for girls. With her full-bodied voice and unhurried pace, Mullen conveys an unsettled atmosphere and the intricate dynamics between all the players—villains and victims—as their paths reconverge and the truth of what happened to the girls, including Lou, is revealed.
Fans of Megan Miranda’s The Perfect Stranger and Lisa Jewell’s The Night She Disappeared will enjoy this suspenseful and haunting listening experience.
Read our starred review of the print version of When We Were Silent.
