The Silent Treatment is an emotional look at the love and marriage of Frank and Maggie. The story begins with Maggie taking an overdose of sleeping pills and Frank finding her some time later.
From the Publisher: “By all appearances, Frank and Maggie share a happy, loving marriage. But for the past six months, they have not spoken. Not a sentence, not a single word. Maggie isn’t sure what, exactly, provoked Frank’s silence, though she has a few ideas. Day after day, they have eaten meals together and slept in the same bed in an increasingly uncomfortable silence that has become, for Maggie, deafening.
Then Frank finds Maggie collapsed in the kitchen, unconscious, an empty package of sleeping pills on the table. Rushed to the hospital, she is placed in a medically induced coma while the doctors assess the damage.
If she regains consciousness, Maggie may never be the same. Though he is overwhelmed at the thought of losing his wife, will Frank be able to find his voice once again—and explain his withdrawal—or is it too late?”
The two had not spoken to each other for the past six months despite living and sleeping together. When Maggie is ventilated and sedated, Maggie’s nurse Daisy encourages Frank to talk to Maggie and to tell their story.
Frank recalls the story of the two of them and speaks this to Maggie over the next several days. He is then sent home and reads a series of journal entries intended as a final letter from Maggie.
The Silent Treatment is moving and at times heartbreaking. It speaks to the things that are left unsaid in many relationships as well as to a love that is enduring. It broaches with sensitivity the complexity of mental health and addiction and the impact it leaves on family and friends. It is a book that will be memorable to me in the years to come.
Thanks to Edelweiss and William Morrow for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here. This book publishes on April 7.
My rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5.