Thank you for the opportunity to review this title prior to publication. While the subject matter is difficult, and it is not the right time for me to read this book in its entirety, I did take the chance to read some of the passages. Kim Echlin is a tremendously skilled author and one I do not hesitate to recommend. This title looks promising and I will not hesitate to handsell it when stores reopen (next week?)

Kim Echlin creates a protagonist who can navigate, in fiction, real events during and after the Yugoslav Wars in Speak, Silence. An old love of travel journalist Gota Dobson connects her to a group of remarkable women who are trying to get justice for the women of Foča, located in a still disputed part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The women of Foča were kidnapped and subjected to repeated rape and torture during the war. Now, years later, some of these women will testify against the man who ordered their victimization as part of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Gota, at first, struck me as an odd choice as a narrator for this book. Why not one of the women who is testifying? Or one of their lawyers? Or someone closer to the crimes being adjudicated in the tribunal? Gota is Canadian. She is only sort of connected to the tribunal because she fell in love with a Bosnian man—who is in love with one of the lead witnesses. Gota’s desire to be close to Kosmos brings her into Edina’s orbit, just as she and her lawyer are deciding who will (and who can) testify at the tribunal. It wasn’t until I got near the end of the book that I figured out a reason for having someone only tangentially connected to the Yugoslav Wars be the narrator. Gota is an every-woman who also has a talent for eloquently writing about her observations. Being an every-women means that we can easily put ourselves in Gota’s shoes, as she witnesses to the witnesses at the tribunals.

Speak, Silence is a hard book to read but, I think, an important one—especially in a time where #MeToo is still working towards justice for women who’ve experienced sexual harassment and assault. We live in a world where rape is very rarely punished, especially when it’s been weaponized during war. Women (and men) who have been raped are too often left to stay silent to avoid social shame, who’ve been told that being raped might be their fault, and who might have to see the people who brutalized them walking around unpunished. Not only does Speak, Silence ask us to confront all of this, it also leaves us with the question of what justice even looks like. Even if the women win their case and the defendant is convicted, how can there be reparations?

SPEAK, SILENCE by Kim Echlin is story about women.
Gota Dobson is a Canadian journalist who travels to Sarajevo to write about a film festival.
She hopes to find Kosmos her lover from her first visit to Europe years earlier. Not only does Gota reunite with Kosmos she is introduced to Edina the woman he loves.
Edina is a lawyer still in mourning the death of her husband. She spurns Kosmos’ love but accepts his friendship.
Edina wants to prosecute the men who sexually abused and imprisoned the women during the war.
A bond begins to form between the two women. Gota goes to The Hague where the trial to prosecute on of the accused men is taking place.
SPEAK, SILENCE is a powerful novel based on real life events.
The descriptions of the abuse these women suffered were vivid and heart wrenching. The bravery these women displayed by testifying was phenomenal. They courageously made the choice to speak the truth about the cruelty and torture they suffered at the hands of the men in charge during the war.
Kim Echlin shares a powerful message in SPEAK, SILENCE. Women can no longer be viewed as the spoils of war. The abuse they suffer is truly a crime against humanity.
The writing is excellent. More than once I had to set the book aside to catch my breath or to shed a few tears. It is a must read.
Publishing next year, SPEAK, SILENCE should appear on many “best of the year” 2021 lists. It is already on mine.
I would like to thank Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read an advanced ebook edition of SPEAK, SILENCE.

Absolutely beautiful writing. This was the first book I read by Kim Echlin, but now I want to read her others! I did find it hard to follow the story at times because I felt like things skipped around abruptly and I lost sense of timeline if the stories. I loved the references to historical events.