Author: Eliza Henry Jones
ISBN: 978-1-4607-5036-0
RRP: $29.99
In The Quiet is a touching debut by young Australian author Eliza Henry Jones. It is original, engaging and emotional, and told from a unique perspective.
The story is told by Cate Carlton, a recently deceased wife and mother of three who has been able to remain near her much loved family. For 280 pages we see her family through her eyes; watching them grieve, remember and slowly begin to heal. We also see her remember so that slowly all of the pieces come together for us to get to know the family and the life they shared before the tragedy that was Cate’s death.
The unique writing style made the flow a little disjointed and jumpy which was perfect for this story; it’s what it needed but I found the lack of chapters really frustrating. I couldn’t play just one more chapter and I found it really difficult to decide where to put the book down – not that I ever really wanted to.
Cate worries about her family, originally I think she lingers to ensure they are going to be okay but then worries that she will lose herself if she doesn’t stay with them.
In the beginning Cate doesn’t know how she died, so we can’t know how she died. I got the feeling it must have been quite quick for there to be no inkling of what may have happened and I wasn’t sure whether it would end up coming to light.
The story focuses on Cate and her immediate family but also those who are very close to them, those I would call the family they chose, and Cate’s sister and mother.
In the Quiet explores the unseen side of one of the lines everyone hears after they lose someone close to them. They are always watching over you, well Cate was definitely watching over them and wishing there was something she could do to ease their pain, some way she could make them reach out to each other.
The Carltons live on a rural horse property, and without Cate there doing her share things are becoming a little hard for everyone else to manage. Some chores it’s because they were her jobs, she was the only one that did them and it would feel wrong to be doing them, and others because no-one really had the motivation to do them.
Most of the extra characters we meet have come out to the farm to lend a hand, Laura the neighbour helps with the horses, Cate’s sister Bea comes in to do whatever she can and Bass’s friend Steve comes round just to see that Bass is hanging in there.
Cate’s unique perspective allows her to see what’s happening now, remember what has come before and look at things from a completely new angle and discover things that had been right there in front of her from the beginning; and as we share Cate’s perspective we learn of all these things with her.
Everybody grieves differently and everyone heals differently and that was addressed beautifully. I think the most heartbreaking element for me was the lack of proper communication. They were all there for one another but never actually sat down and really talked about what was happening or how they were coping.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone. It is a well written and compelling debut tackling love, loss and healing head on but also in much more subtle ways with other characters as well. I think this was a risky perspective to write from and it could have created issues for the storyline but it was handled beautifully. Eliza Henry Jones is definitely going to be an author to look out for.
20 of our lucky readers are going to be reading In The Quiet as well so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
In the Quiet is book #37 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2015.
You can find Eliza on Facebook, Twitter and her Website.
In the Quiet is available now through Harper Collins, Bookworld, Angus & Robertson and where all good books are sold.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Just applied to review this book – my fingers are crossed – it sounds like a great story 🙂
During this bleak weather I am always looking for books to read.
It would be great to read and review the book “In The Quiet” by author Eliza Henry Jones. It does sounds like an very a engaging and quite an emotional book to read.
Oh I hope I get selected for this. What an interesting slant on a story line. It has got me thinking ……
In the Quiet, the debut novel for Eliza Henry Jones, gently explores the aftermath of a sudden death in the family from a different perspective. Cate, wife, mother of 3, doesn’t remember how she died, she knows she is dead but finds it strange to “know that but to not know how it happened.” And so the scene is set for Cate to watch and listen as her husband and children deal with their grief in their own separate ways and slowly heal.
Rather than written in chapters, the story is written as a series of short vignettes that flit between things Cate is watching happening with her family now and memories of her early life. Over the course of the story we find out how she meets her husband, Bas, their early days together, arrival of the children, twin boys Rafferty and Cameron and then their daughter Jessa. Slowly we discover how other characters in the story fit together, Beatrice, Laura, Sylvia, Henry, the silver eyed man. Along the way we get teasers, inklings, of what happened, how, why, Cate died. We watch an ordinary family struggle with what has occurred, yet unable or unwilling to communicate their innermost feelings with each other and we feel Cate’s frustration at this inability.
As time moved on I found the characters moved from almost shadowy images seen by Cate into developed characters in their own right and with that we see the characters, particularly Bas and the children begin to heal and move forward.
I particularly liked about this story that it dealt with what for many is a difficult topic, death, without being overly emotional or maudlin. It acknowledged and normalised the different ways people grieve and their reactions to the death of someone close. The characters were all normal everyday people and, aside from the story being from Cate’s perspective, there was nothing mystical about it. By telling the story from Cate’s perspective I felt that it removed the overwhelming rawness of grief while providing an insight into the grieving process.
While initially I found the disjointedness of the story a little disconcerting I soon found myself engrossed in the characters and their development. This is a beautiful book which I enjoyed immensely.
In the Quiet…this book was a totally different read to others. I found the writing from the perspective of Cate who had died was an interesting concept. It worked.
The way the family dealt with their loss was heartbreaking. I know each deals with tragedy their own way and the anger and guilt they feel.
The lack of communication between the family is so evident.
A bittersweet story that is a great read that draws you into the family, their story and the way they deal with the reality of loosing their wife, mother, sister and friend.
It was strange to find there were no set boundary of Chapters in the book and the way the story bounced around all fitted together.
It was interesting to discover little clues along the way to how Cate did die but it still was a surprise (not saying due to spoiling the outcome), but I am glad in a way it happened the way it did, being quick (when you read the book, you will understand).
I would recommend this book to read.
I loved loved LOVED this book! It is so different to anything else I have ever read.
It begins “I don’t know how I died. That’s strange, isn’t it?” And from there I was hooked.
Cate has died, and although she knows she is dead, she can still see and hear her young family & close friends in snippets of time, but she is unsure how long has passed between her glimpses of how they are dealing with her death.
She watches as the family has to take on her job on their farm of training horses, and she sees those close to her grieve, and she too grieves at the pain they are going through. As time passes, she has to watch how they slowly manage to accept life without her, and how they must move on. But their pain runs deep, and they have scars from her death. Each person handles this differently, but it separates them, as their hurt is too painful for them to talk about or to share.
The children grow older, move through their school years and Cate feels the anguish of not being there for them. She watches her husband Bass struggle with life without her – her clothes, her belongings, her pillowslips are all a constant reminder of his wife. It is a heart wrenching read, but also compelling. The author shows such insight into death and how people handle it (or how they don’t) and some of the issues that arise from this.
The book is written in a series of flashbacks, and then current events, each piece from half a page to 2 pages long. I found that this added to the story, as sometimes that’s how memories work – something we see or do jolts us back to thinking about an event in our past. We learn of Cate’s childhood, her marriage to Bass, and the birth of their children. But we still don’t know how Cate died.
There are some thought provoking lines from Cate – “I miss being alive” and “My life has ended and I am still here” and “normally it would have been me, but since I died it has been Bass” and “I wonder if he’s thinking of me” and “I want to know how I died.”
Cate’s death isn’t revealed until right at the end of the book. And it is done in a way that fits in with the rest of the story.
I would highly recommend this book – it is a very different story line. I found it easy to read – but hard to put down! It is the author Eliza Henry Jones first book and it is so well written. Incredible to think also that the author is just 25 years old.
“Books smell like Dreams” – I love that line.
Thank you Beauty & Lace, and HarperCollins Publishers for choosing me to be one of your reviewers for In The Quiet.
In the quiet is an amazing read! I cant believe it is a first novel. It has a lovely flow to it and the way it is written makes the reader get right into the heart of the story, to feel that they are actually there, imagining what is happening, floating above them all and seeing the events unfold. It is a beautiful book, and a reality check for the reader, a tear jerker at times but sometimes you smile thru the happiness too. A completely different perspective, great imagination ( or perhaps this is how the writer could/has dealt with grief at some point). I think this book and story would be a fantastic gift to someone who is grieving and would be able to believe and hope that the person they love is watching them and even be reread so man times. This will be on my shelf of favourites/ do no forget about books. Truly humbled by this book. Many thanks for the opportunity to read. Katrina
“In the Quiet” was a truly extraordinary book. I was taken off guard by how moving it was; sad and yet uplifting at the same time.
At the centre of the book is a dilemma we all face. We want to think that when we die, we’ll be mourned, we’ll be missed, people will be sad; but we also want to think that our family will be okay. Is it possible for these two desires to be reconciled?
The book is narrated by Cate Carlton. She’s recently died, far too young, but finds herself able to watch her family. It’s an effective technique, because although Cate can watch, she has virtually no capacity to reflect on what she’s seeing. So we see current events, and some of Cate’s memories, but much of the emotion is left open to the reader’s interpretation. It is impressive how emotionally laden the novel is under these circumstances.
More importantly, those emotions ring true. Anyone who’s ever been in a long term relationship, or been a parent, or a friend, will recognise many of the small moments here. There’s a perceptiveness and truthfulness that makes these relationships familiar, but also makes you care acutely about the characters.
Although Cate is most concerned with her family – her two sons and her daughter, and her husband Bass – she also views her more extended “family” – good friend Laura and her nephew Henry, Bass’ friend Steve, and her own mother. Cate’s death has affected them all, and how they cope will in turn affect her husband and children.
It is hard to fully express how wonderful this book is. Yes, it is sad, especially as we come to realise how well Cate was loved, and how big a hole her death has left. Most readers will be struck by how difficult it is for teenagers to be left without a mother, and will hurt for them. And Bass’ silent agony and uncertainty about how to help his children will also resonate. However, it also shows us how resilient people can be, and how great a capacity for love and caring they have. There’s also many demonstrations of the different ways people show and express love.
I’m glad I read this. Due to a major medical problem, I’ve recently faced the prospect of leaving my husband with three small children to raise. If my family were to come to the point Cate’s family comes to, and I knew it, I think I could rest peacefully. “In the Quiet” is one of those novels that will linger in the memory for a long time.
‘In The Quiet’ is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of the process of grief a family undertakes after the death of a loved one. We experience the story through Cate, the mother and wife of the Carlton family, and throughout the novel we are trying to piece together the cause of her death whilst also observing the grief and changes in dynamics that her family goes through and how they eventually are able to begin moving on.
This book was so addictive and would be a great one to take on holiday as it’s a real page turner especially as you find out more and more about the family and the events that unfold. I highly recommend this book and have already loaned it to my mum because I know she will love it!!!