The Silent Treatment is a heartfelt journey through the psyche of spouses Frank and Maggie, who have not spoken in 6 months. The reason for the silence is unclear to Maggie, and in despair, she takes a handful of sleeping pills, resulting in a coma the doctors are uncertain she will wake from. Frank’s inner turmoil and the reason for his silence is unveiled, chapter by chapter, as he sits by Maggie’s bedside, waiting for her to wake.

Without giving too much away, the journey of Frank and Maggie was frustratingly agonizing. The method of Maggie’s voice was genius, and provides the reader an excellent way to get to know Maggie without her truly being present. Though it got to be long-winded at some points, the love that Frank and Maggie have for each other is mesmerizing and and present in every chapter and interaction, making the mystery of the silence that much more alluring.

I felt as if the pace was a bit slow; and I was not a big fan of the ending, but it was a solid three stars and kept my interest enough to get to the end!

This book is a really tender portrayal of life and relationships. It has all the epic romance of The Notebook, but feels all the more realistic for its focus on small failures and secrets that cloud even the best of relationships. It's a tragic love story, but one that fills readers with hope that goodness and truth can ultimately prevail.

In her debut novel, Abbie Greaves zeroes in on the marriage of Frank and Maggie, and the ways in which it has grown, transformed and turned in on itself over 40 years. Writing with the emotional resonance of a lifelong storyteller and the compassionate heart of a dear friend, Greaves reminds us that relationships take work, we are always growing, and with the right person, none of that will matter.

THE SILENT TREATMENT kicks off rather traumatically with Maggie preparing to die by suicide. She has written her husband a note, cooked dinner and swallowed a handful of pills. Though Frank is just down the hall playing chess on his computer, it is not until the smoke detector goes off that he realizes something is wrong. As he waves smoke out of the room, he finally spots Maggie’s body.

At the hospital, Frank learns that while Maggie is still alive, the next few days will be the real test: she will be hooked up to machines and left in a medically induced coma until the doctors determine if there is any part of her that will survive. Terrified and hopelessly lonely, Frank takes to her bedside with the devotion of a parent, marveling at how thin and depleted she has become. Though the nurse encourages Frank to talk to Maggie, assuring him that she will hear him, he finds himself at a loss for words. And then he admits the unthinkable: he has not spoken to his wife in six months.

In stops and starts, Frank begins to tell Maggie their love story, starting from the very first moment he laid eyes on her in a crowded pub. Always the bookish, scholarly sort, Frank never had much luck with ladies, but somehow, his first chat with Maggie flowed easily and naturally. Though he neglected to get her number, a chance encounter with her at a clinic weeks later gave him the courage he needed, and they started to date.

As Frank regales Maggie with tales of their early dates, he reveals his awe that someone like her would ever spend time with someone like him. To him, Maggie was truly like the sun: bright, all-encompassing and powerful. She was steadfast, earnest and warm --- and he never quite got over his shock that she could ever choose him. Early on in their relationship, he recounts, she became pregnant and the two got engaged quickly, ready to devote their lives to each other and the child they would soon bring into the world. But then Maggie miscarried, and their careful planning for the future was rocked. They still married, but their relationship had a new depth to it, a painful layer that neither could ever fully face. Several years later, though, Maggie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Eleanor.

From that point on, Frank and Maggie became a threesome, discovering within themselves new abilities and capacities for love that they never could have imagined. But Eleanor was quiet like Frank and prone to bouts of despair like Maggie, and the combination proved tragic, particularly in her teenage and early adult years. Now the unthinkable has happened, Maggie is on life support, and it is time for Frank to come clean. As he admits to all of his darkest thoughts and deepest secrets throughout their marriage, he reveals a life so full of love and hardship that it seems fit to burst --- and then Maggie gets to tell her side.

Upon returning home from the hospital after a particularly difficult visit, Frank discovers a notebook full of letters from Maggie that explain her desire to leave this world --- but only after she, too, comes clean about her role in their marriage and how it has led to the last six months of silence. Flipping the novel on its head and completely upending readers’ expectations, Greaves repeats the same stories from Maggie’s side, revealing a lifetime of unspoken words, buried secrets, and a deep well of love and respect. Weaving unspeakable hurts with endless love, she pens a tale as full of pain as it is of joy, pushing her characters to their absolute limits while reminding readers of the power of love.

THE SILENT TREATMENT is a jarring, moving exploration of a marriage and the work it takes to maintain one. Divided into two parts, it paints a full picture of both Frank and Maggie’s silences and the things they have each missed in between. Greaves writes with such detail that her characters are painfully authentic, even more so because we only get one side of their stories at a time. By allowing us to see Frank and Maggie through their own eyes and one another’s, we are able to feel as though we truly know them inside and out, creating a deep intimacy that transcends the page. I feel as though likability is too simple a concept to apply to characters like these, but I am sure that many will find Frank and especially Maggie to be unlikable. Please push through that, I beg of you. Greaves writes with such raw honesty that even the worst moments of this book are worth the energy it takes to swallow them.

Painfully moving and surprisingly uplifting, THE SILENT TREATMENT is a careful study of love, identity and compassion. I am eager to see how Greaves follows up this remarkable, unique debut.

How can a spouse not speak to the other for 6 months??? The answer comes forth slowly as the reader examines the marriage of Frank and Maggie. Yes, the answer comes slowly, but the reader will have trouble putting the book down as more and more pieces of the puzzle are put together. I suggest this for book clubs because it is sure to provoke a lot of discussion.

Perhaps not the right time for me to read this book....Frank and Maggie have been happily married for decades, but sadness has enveloped them, and suddenly, six months prior, Frank stopped speaking to Maggie. When Frank finds Maggie collapsed and unconscious having downed sleeping pills, she is rushed to the hospital and
put in a medically induced coma, with Frank at her side constantly. The story is told from both view points, from their charming courtship and marriage, their many years longing for children, and when Eleanor finally arrived, they were the family they always wanted to be. But parenthood isn't always easy. Maybe it was because the reader learns the story, slowly, from both points of view, maybe because it takes a long time to get to the breaking point, but I became a bit impatient with the telling. Excellent character development though, and the frustration level of Maggie and the couple's friends certainly rang true.

I loved reading this book, but the more I think about the story, I find myself confused and a bit disappointed. We waited for this big reveal that didn't seem, by the end, entirely surprising, so I'm not sure that the suspense was matched entirely. I also am confused by whether the daughter had anxiety and depression as described, or whether it was PTSD from being raped. The two illnesses are not interchangeable and upon first read, I felt it insensitive that they were likened to one another, and that no one realized the pain she felt wasn't inevitable and was in fact a result of being raped, which no one did anything about and we never really learned all that much about. It felt like that piece had a big impact on Eleanor, and should've been discussed more. Perhaps if we had had her perspective too? It was still a good read.

The Silent Treatment tells the story of a 40-year marriage between Maggie and Frank. For 6 months, Frank hasn't spoken. Not one word. One day Frank finds Maggie collapsed in the kitchen, sleeping pills all around her. What follows is an intense look into their marriage and what led them both to this point.

📚What I Appreciated About This Book: The Silent Treatment is well-written, and truly delves into the emotions and backgrounds of these 2 characters. They are richly described people, and their experiences are ones that I felt were expressed with kindness, compassion and truth.

📚What Did Not Work For Me: I do not have anything negative to say about this book. I will say that I don't think I was emotionally prepared for this book, and that perhaps I wasn't in the right mindset for it. I was looking forward to a funny story about a troubled marriage; this book is so much more than that. It is heartbreaking.
Warnings: suicide, self harm, grief and loss, sexual assault.

I have reviewed this book for the New York Journal of Books where it will be posted on their site the evening before the release date.


"The Silent Treatment" by Abbie Greaves
Harper
April 7, 2020
10-0062978772
Women's Psychological Fiction.


Professor Frank Hobbs never thought he'd find love, that is until he met Maggie. Working on his Ph.D. at Oxford, he takes a break and spots the vivacious young woman at the Rose & Crown, knowing from the beginning she is the one for him. At age 26, Frank is somewhat socially inept, yet Maggie fascinates him. While at the pub, he remembers:

"How, when my glasses steamed up, I knew exactly how far in front of me you were because there was something about you that felt programmed into me. I knew then that you were it, that you were my Forever Girl. I wouldn't have said it that then, though. I didn't want to scare you away. But I knew that what I have always known. You were my Forever Girl, Mags."

As shy as he is, Frank watches her leave without getting her phone number or asking her out. She consumes his every waking thought, and he fears he'll never see her again, but when his obsession with her causes him to become ill and in need of a doctor, he is surprised to find Maggie works as a nurse in the physician's office. Finally, mustering up the courage to ask her out, he is overjoyed. No two could be more in love than Frank and Maggie, and when she reports she is pregnant, Frank's heart soars. He pleads with her to marry him, and when she accepts Frank believes there couldn't be a happier man on the planet.

The newlyweds are blissfully happy until Maggie miscarries. Long ago, she had confided in Frank about her unhappy childhood and her mother's disregard for her. She hoped by having a baby she would show it all the love she never got and be a perfect mom to her. Though this loss upsets Frank, he is more than content to have just Maggie while she falls into depression wondering if they'll ever be blessed.

Fifteen years pass and the unexplainable happens. Maggie conceives. She and Frank are ecstatic though they try not to get their hopes up. But when she gives birth to a healthy baby girl, they name Eleanor, both feel their lives are complete. No parents could love a child more than they love Ellie. She is their whole focus, and they are fascinated by her intelligence and precociousness. So involved are they in her that they rarely let her socialize with other children. By the time she is old enough to enter school, they don't want to be apart from her. Would they be considered smothering? Others think so, but they live for their child. And, it seems Ellie believes they were all she needed. as well.

Things go well as Ellie matures; she is smart and with getting exceptional grades, has a bright future ahead of her. But one night when she is 16, she comes home after being out with some friends and her whole demeanor is changed. She suddenly is sullen and locks herself into her room, not wanting to be with her parents. Maggie and Frank are stymied as to what they should do. Is this just a passing phase? Is she showing signs of a normal, somewhat rebellious teenager? Their angst grows as they worry about her but decide to let her work it out on her own when she refuses to confide in them.

The years fly by Ellie remains brooding and distant, and when she is ready to attend university, they believe she'll revert to her happy and outgoing self. But this does not happen, and she becomes even more estranged. Meanwhile, they grieve over the loss they're feeling without her around, and things become tense between husband and wife. For six months, Frank does not speak to Maggie. Is he blaming her for Ellie's downfall? Maggie did everything she could to be a warm and loving mother. Has she lost Frank now, too?

The narrative above turns into the backstory as Frank visits Maggie in the hospital after she tries to take her own life. Married for more than 40 years, Frank, now in his late sixties and retired, spends all his time playing chess on the computer while Maggie tends to household chores. When the smoke alarm rouses him from his computer-induced stupor, he heads downstairs to find Maggie on the kitchen floor, an empty pill case by her side. In a panic, Frank calls for assistance to have her hospitalized, where she is placed in intensive care, barely alive. The doctor informs him of her dire situation, but Frank insists they do everything to save her.

Maggie's nurse, Daisy recommends Frank speak to her, though she is in an induced coma:

"'You can speak to her, you know,' Daisy says. 'It's so quiet in here, often people feel scared to speak aloud. But you have to push through that. Let your wife hear your voice.'"

Shamed and concerned, Frank knows he must confess to Maggie why he hasn't spoken to her in such a long time. But he cannot talk to her if Daisy or other personnel are around. He stays with her around the clock chatting about their earlier years, reminiscing about Ellie's childhood and what a wonderful life they have had together. But he's still too hesitant to confide the real reason why he stopped talking.

Meanwhile, hours pass, and with no change in her condition, it is recommended they take Maggie off life support. This is something Frank refuses to do. He will not let his beloved wife go. So, they focus on stabilizing Maggie and trying to waken her slowly, while monitoring her constantly for the next 24 hours with no visitors allowed. Daisy insists he go home and get some sleep. While there, he has the need to relive Maggie's last moments, and he discovers the planner he bought for her in Paris soon after Ellie was born. Frank never looked through it before thinking she only used it for notes and lists of household matters. Now, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he opens the book seeing his name in her handwriting.

"Frank.

"Those five letters should bring relief, but in reality, all Frank feels is panic. He has spent the best part of half a year dwelling on what he has to say. In the churning cesspit of his mind he had managed to forget that maybe, just maybe, Maggie had something to say too.

"Something every bit as urgent."

Maggie's journaling commences with what she refers to as "Seven Days to Go" as the title of the page. As Frank reads through her script, he is filled with remorse and pain. When he gets to "One Day to Go," Frank is afraid to continue reading. How long has Maggie held these thoughts and feelings inside her? Why couldn't they be open and honest with each other rather than pushing each other away? Will this be the end?

A debut novel, "The Silent Treatment" is thought-provoking and truly heartbreaking. Though love thrives in this family, it's not enough as the failures, in-depth perspective into the human psyche, and intense sorrow offer much to contemplate.

25 // “I am stuck by how much there is to say, how much I should have said, and yet how very little feels appropriate. And how do you start to talk again, when you stopped so long ago?”

THE SILENT TREATMENT opens with a man who has not spoken a single word in six months struggling to call emergency services for his wife, who then ends up in a coma. the rest of the book is devoted to uncovering what prompted this man’s silent treatment and what unfolded in this couple’s marriage in the decades prior.

at the beginning of the book when the husband is at his wife’s bedside talking to her while she’s in the coma, I admit I thought the book was going to take a cheesy turn and get boring while he droned on about his failings as a husband. I was so pleasantly surprised to discover that reading his perspective on their entire marriage was fascinating and beautiful while also heartbreaking. I was so surprised by many of the twists their story took. I really enjoyed this one! 4/5 ⭐️ out on April 7.

This didn’t resonate with me, perhaps because I’ve never been married. Wasn’t for me but heard lots of food reception in it.

The summary sounded interesting, but it didn't live up to my expectations. The writing was a challenge, as it felt forced at times, almost clumsy. I was never really able to connect with the characters. Overall, many parts were predictable with very little depth or character development. Thankfully, the romance angle wasn't overwhelming.

Trigger warnings: depression, suicidal thoughts

Abbie Greaves wrote The Silent Treatment in a unique way. This book is not what you think it will be so keep reading because it is so worth it.

"Because that is what love is, isn’t it? Giving without receiving. Of course, there is always the hope of receiving. Tiny, precious, fragile. You can be batted away a thousand times and still it will be there, too."

Oh my. I read this book in one sitting and it broke my heart to a million pieces. By the end, I was sobbing. I don't want to give too much away of the plot. This is basically a story about marriage and parenting. The way I felt about this story was the way I felt as I was reading [book:Normal People|41057294]. It's a book I loved unequivocally and a book that I can't see is not for everyone. There are also deeply sad and triggering subjects in the book.

'“I like that.” Your voice is barely above a whisper. “The little things that no one sees that could make the biggest change of all.”'

This book is about how relationships are hard and communication is hard, and about the little (or big) secrets to keep from each other. Sometimes to spare the other person's feelings. But so many times to ensure that the way they feel about us (and the way they see us) doesn't change. So many times it's out of fear. Out of love. Out of loneliness. Out of feeling alone and as if we are the only one. It's about how relationships can go awry and how secrets breed other secrets and how shame loves secrecy.

"If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment. If you put the same amount of shame in a Petri dish and douse it with empathy, it can’t survive," says Dr. Brene Brown And this book is exactly about that. The secrecy, silence and worry around judgement. And the impact of that on a marriage.

"it’s that try as we might, there would always be some part of Eleanor that resided in the wilds outside our reach."

It's also about parenthood. About how hard it is. About how little control we have over who our kids turn out to be, about what happens to them, about our ability to parent them. This book is deeply about the impact a kid can have on his/her parents and on their marriage.

"He is coming to realize that there is a lot about Maggie that he never fully understood, a row of blanks in the crossword of their life together that are still empty."

The writing in this story is really beautiful. Touching, poignant, heartbreaking, flowing and it grabs you and doesn't let you go until the end. Much like "Normal People" it's about how broken we all are, and how when you put two broken people together and have them love each other fiercely, they can still manage to break each other in the process. We are all flawed and we don't always know how to do the right things.

"Frank, of all people, knows how it feels to be isolated by a secret."

I loved every bit of this story and may I never get to experience many of the sorrows in the book and may i learn to ask for help, for forgiveness and may i have the courage to douse my shame with empathy when I invariably make mistakes.

Thank you to netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was both a heart-breaking and hopeful read. In the beginning, we truly don't know what could have possibly happened for this couple to stop speaking to each other completely, co-existing in a ghost of a marriage.
But as the story moves forward, and the reasons become clear one develops so much more sympathy for the characters, not excluding their sometimes less-than effective efforts to protect their hearts.

"The Silent Treatment" was a decent read, but not very memorable. I didn't really care for the writing style. It was kind of clunky, and the emotion felt forced and melodramatic for my taste. I thought the overall plot was interesting, but I kept going in and out of my ability to fully care for Frank and Maggie. I think this book might be a trigger warning for some, especially those who have suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts. I must admit that parts of this novel felt like a cheesy Lifetime movie. The ending felt predictable and safe considering the tough subject matter. I wanted more depth and intensity from the writing and the characters. A very underwhelming and disappointing read.

Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins for the digital ARC.

Release date: April 7, 2020

Frank and Maggie have been married 40 years. For the past 6 months, he hasn't spoken a word. Eventualy Maggie can't take any more silence and overdoses. She is put into a coma and to bring her back, Frank tells her the story of their lives together, eventually working his way to a confession of what made him go silent. I don't know how to rate this one. I mostly enjoyed the book, but it was also hard to read at points. Maggie's letter was emotionally difficult for me. Reading about anyone's struggles with postpartum depression hits too close to home. For various reasons, it was just a kind of emotionally charged book for me personally. Because of that, it is hard to say that I enjoyed it necessarily - who wants to relive that sort of thing? But it was good, although maybe not that believable in the sense of Frank not being able to confide in his wife of 40 years and Maggie taking his silence as a personal slight when it became very obvious by the end that she had to know the main trauma, if not the specific details, of what caused it in the first place. So I guess I'm going to go with 3.5 rounded to 4 stars on this.

I may not be the target market for this, but it was pretty good. It's a bit dark, but well written and felt pretty realistic. It's likely to evoke emotions, both positive and negative. It might be categorized as romance, but I'd label literary fiction.
'
Thanks for review copy!!

Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for a copy of this ebook to read and review. Frank and Maggie are an older couple who keep their innermost issues hidden. When Maggie takes too many sleeping pills and the doctors put her in a coma, Frank feels very bad for not speaking to Maggie for a number of months. Urged on by Daisy, one of Maggie’s nurses, he recalls their life together and tells her everything he should have told her when she was awake and lucid.

This author took on a gigantic challenge by completely writing in narrative form Frank’s point of view. Without much of any action, she still managed to keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what happened next. At least for the first half of “The Silent Treatment.” Then it got a bit tedious. And I wished any or all members of this family had gotten some counseling.

I’m sure lots of readers will enjoy it cover-to-cover. It’s just not my cup of tea.

Greaves explores the suffering of a couple whose daughter, Eleanor has destroyed her life and theirs. They have blamed each other and themselves for the sadness caused by their daughter. The novel actually begins with Maggie trying to commit suicide in her deep depression.

It is that act and the period that follows which brings them back after a silence of destructive hate and self-loathing.

I did not relate well to this book, though I certainly understand the blame that goes with the loss of a child.

Thank you Netgalley.

What is wrong with me? Don’t say “everything” I can hear you! Why didn’t I like this book so much?

I think I’m not in a wrong place, I’m at home and it’s not wrong time, it’s around 2 a.m. I finished a book and writing a review (Actually I started it but probably finish it tomorrow and post it another time line and who cares, my timing is still right!) so this is not you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time situation. This is totally you’re holding the wrong book for your taste and you cannot connect with the characters and their heavy dramatic story so the publishers can say that: the reader you’re looking for cannot be reachable at this moment. BIPPP!


I couldn’t enjoy the story but I have to admit: it’s not bad written story, too. So that makes it another Switzerland (oh I missed to ski, I don’t know how to do it but I still miss. Okay, I’m weird!)
So I know the story is so tragic about a couple who has a happy marriage but last six months something is going really wrong. They stopped talking and punishing with each other with silent treatment which is the worse way to harm your relationship than the biggest fights you may ever have. And one day, Frank finds his wife lying on the kitchen floor unconscious. He also sees empty package of sleeping pills on the table.

As they reach the hospital, doctors put her into medical induced coma to assess the damage. Maybe he never sees his wife again. I know it’s so heavy, so heartbreaking, so compelling!
So the book has two different parts: The husband’s part what he keeps to himself throughout the silence treatment and wife’s part: her big confession. Is it too late to correct their mistakes, taking back what they’d done.

I thought that book will make me cry so much and ruin my well-being because I’m really sensitive about the books written about grief, second chances, unsaid words. But unfortunately, I couldn’t relate with the characters. I read their back stories, pasts, their evolving relationship but I felt like a robot when I was doing that. Normally I’m not a heartless bitch! On the contrary, I’m cry baby when I start any emotional readings. But I think the words in this book didn’t reach my heart and characters didn’t leave any impact on me.

This is still emotional, promising reading but as I said before I’m not the right reader for this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow for sharing this ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review. I wish I could like it more.