Drowning in Silence
Drowning in Silence
Åsa LeijonA haunting and atmospheric debut dealing with the aftermath of a disappearance, set deep in the isolated Swedish countryside, where secrets are taken to the grave.
It’s been almost a year since Jannica, the wildly popular daughter of Otto and Mona, disappeared without a trace. Before, she was an integral part of school-yard cliques, jealous gossip and sweet nothings whispered by adoring boyfriends, but now her name is only uttered in hushed whispers: what kind of girl was she really, how come she was seen asking uncomfortable questions, and, who might have hurt her?
Only Minna, Jannica’s wild and fearless baby sister, suspects what happened to Jannica, but she is also looking for answers as to why. As their bereft parents have stopped seeing, hearing and noticing anything other than their own grief, only the sparrowhawk keeps a silent watch above her as she scuttles around the countryside to peer in through the windows of cabins and houses, listening in to conversations that are not meant for little girls.
But, beware of disturbing the peace in the closed community that claims it knows nothing, and where shameful secrets are kept not for years, but for generations.
DROWNING IN SILENCE is a psychologically acute literary debut novel which took the author 10 years to write. A natural addition to the
Swedish rural noir tradition, with the darkness of Stina Jackson’s The Silver Road and the interwoven lives of Elizabeth Strout’s close-knit community, Åsa Leijon paints a picture of the Swedish countryside and its dark underbelly with precise and deft brushstrokes as we delve deeper into finding the truths behind decades of booming silence.
