Biography: Louise O'Neill is the feminist powerhouse and outspoken voice for change whose novels Only Ever Yours and Asking for It helped to start important conversations about body image and consent.

years ago, Nessa Crowley was discovered dead in the Kinsella's back garden following a huge party, and a storm. In Henry’s mind, his love for Keelin justifies how he behaves towards her, because our society teaches men that to love a woman is to want to control her, to put her on a pedestal, to bind her to you so that you can admire her and praise her—but on your terms and in a way that can never threaten your own success. The narration shifts between the events leading up to the party, and the present day where the crew consisting of Noah and Jake interview the Kinsellas and other people involved. It lacked exploration, I didn't feel any depth in the characters, and in particular I had no major affiliation towards any of them. Firstly I'd like to thank Tandem Collective UK, Riverrun and Louise O'Neill for a hardback copy of After the Silence for an honest review!After facing years of neglect and physical abuse from her father, Laura is rescued by Pam Willis, a social worker. The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter. Yet Keelin is a woman full of kindness and gentleness, with an urge to help others but secrets she must keep hidden away. I have read many books set in America with Latinx characters using Spanish that I may not have understood but in context it's easy to figure out or look up.

There were constant time jumps which could have used a little more clarification as it was sometimes jarring moving between timelines and interviews. O'Neill has proven herself to be particularly adept at portraying victims of trauma, from sexual assault to domestic abuse, as we’ve seen in much of her work to date. While I understand that the story is set in a part of Ireland where Irish is the primary spoken language, many readers are not proficient in such a language so for them it is completely foreign. In this bold, brilliant, disturbing new novel Louise O’Neill shows that deadly secrets are devastating to those who hold them close. This works well as a narrative device, as their interviewees give us some important background on the key characters, and offer different versions of the events in question.It can be hard to unravel all of the topics that O’Neill takes issue with; ranging from the horrifying examples of emotional and physical abuse, to the nuanced portrayals of personal tensions and the unfair expectations women face. What we view as unacceptable she views as acceptable because it validates the messages we have told her for 20 years. They are investigating the unsolved murder of Nessa Crowley, who ten years ago was found dead during a party on the storm-embattled island.

Louise O’Neill’s writing is astute and restrained, holding back the most important details and allowing readers to connect the dots themselves. Her daughter, Evie, who worships her husband Henry but seems to blame Keelin for everything that happens. Billed as a psychological thriller, After the Silence is a crime novel but not an entirely conventional one. Our protagonist Keelin Kinsella has a troubled past, having fled an abusive husband with her young son Alan in tow.Over the past two decades, the bestselling author has been a carer three times: to her father suffering from Parkinson’s, to her widowed mother and presently to her mother-in-law, the exuberant Granny Rosie.