The Weight of Silence

One of my greatest fears as a parent is having my children disappear. And that's just what happened to the parents of two young girls in The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf. This book follows the lives of the people involved in the disappearance of the two girls as they desperately search for them, hoping for their safe return. The first of these young girls is Calli, a selective mute who "lost" her voice as a toddler when she experienced something tragic, the other is her best friend Petra, who also acts as her voice.

I loved the way this book was written. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character involved, from Calli's older brother Ben to the deputy sheriff involved in the case and even from the perspective of the two missing girls themselves.. It was fascinating to see the situation from so many sides. While going through the current situation the past is also explored. The reader learns the twists and turns of these people's lives and what brought them to this point.

I literally struggled to put this book down. I started it one evening after my daughters had gone to bed and was up until after 3am just wanting to finish it, but gave up the fight and got some sleep. When I got up the next day I started reading it until I was finished. Part of the drive to finish it was wanting to know if the girls were ok or not. Sure, it's just a story and doesn't make a difference. But I'm so paranoid about this happening with my own girls that I just HAD to know the end.

Thank you to MotherTalk for providing me with this book and the hours of entertainment it provided me!

Book information:
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Mira (July 28, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 077832740X
ISBN-13: 978-0778327400