A review by crizzle
Days in the History of Silence by Merethe Lindstrom

2.0

I chose to read this in my (now 3 year) quest to whittle down my to-read shelf. It’s translated from Norwegian and the narrator is kind of a big weirdo. Her retired physician husband no longer speaks, but before he went mute (and senile?) he suddenly could not stop talking about his experience as a boy living silently hidden away with his family during WWII. This was a secret they never told their three daughters, that he’s a Jew, nor his traumatic experiences or missing/killed family. I am endlessly peeved at Eva, his wife, for discouraging him from talking about it with their children before he lost his chance to speak at all. But then, she had her own secret from them - the baby boy she had as a teenager and gave away as an emotionally neglected 6 month old. Then the whole business with the housekeeper-turned-friend, Marija, and the couple not being able to tell their angry daughters the real reason why they let her go - they found out she’s anti-Semitic and of course, Simon is a secret Jew. That was the most interesting part for me: the relationship with Marija and figuring out the secret of why she was let go. Anyway, I’m sure there are so many deep conversations to be had on this book and the different levels of silence but I just feel kind of “meh” about it.