What do readers think of The Silent Period by Francesca Manfredi? Write your own review.

This book is for readers interested in introspective stories exploring the very use of language. Language is part of what makes us human and allows us to have relationships and to find our places in the world. But words can be empty, and can hurt us. The Silent Period goes deep into what happens when a person chooses silence as a way to authenticity.

A young woman begins by giving up social media and then progresses to giving up speaking and choosing a life of silence. Ironically, social media has a lot to say about this. The writing, and Cristina's transformation is the focus here. It will stay with you long after the last page.

A very different topic. The characters were well developed. I could visualize them. Yet I struggled with Christina. Maybe that is the point and why she chooses silence is never clear to me. Does it need to be clear to the reader? The Evangelization section made more sense to me than the writing about what was going on in Christina's mind. Okay it didn't click for me. I'm sure this topic/genre will interest other readers.

My initial thoughts were that this story was about a quirky self-absorbed (though aren't we all to a certain extent?) young woman, and I didn't think I would enjoy it. As her story continued, however, and her relationships with friends, lovers, and family were developed, I realized that this was a young woman who was perhaps (likely) descending into schizophrenia (just my opinion!) and really got into the novel.

I feel the story would have been improved by winding the chapters from Part 2 throughout the entire book, rather all together at the end. I also would've liked to learn more about at least one of her 'followers'. In spite of that criticism, I enjoyed Cristina's story and continue to think about her.

I gave this book 3.5 stars. I was captivated by the concept of what the FMC was doing. I never thought that I had understood her motives, until I read Part 2. That is where the book lost me a bit. It was helpful to understand what happened in the story from another character's perspective, but that portion of the book needed to be broken up more than it was.

I had a tough time getting through the noise of the main character’s constant self doubts and issues about being criticized for her voiced opinions. I found it needlessly wordy and not engaging. The observations about her chosen lifestyle from her lovers and family were more interesting. Loved the cover.

This book brought up so many interesting topics and questions. If you like My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, I think this book with appeal to you. If you do not like books with little dialogue, this book is not for you.

I loved the ideas and happy I read the book, but the pacing felt a bit off to me and it felt like some of the ideas could be condensed down.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. There were some very slow moments, but then it would pick back up to regain my interest.

The idea of the book was very interesting to me. For that reason, I would recommend it to book clubs.

This is one of the best translations I've read. Oklap's Italian to English is nuanced and seamless. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the story itself as much as the translation.

In the story, twenty-eight year old Cristina longs for solitude and silence. After quitting social media, she is still tired of sharing information about herself with others, even verbally, so she decides to stop talking for good. She carefully plans her silence by explaining to her best friend, making up a story about laryngitis to her boss at work, scaring off her boyfriend, and preparing her parents.

It's an interesting premise, but unfortunately, I found it mostly dull and depressing. I was never truly clear on Cristina's why. Maybe if I could relate more to that I would have connected more. Told through Christina's POV, long passages of banal narration of her actions, thoughts as she putters around her apartment, and observations of those around her create a flat narrative arc. She accomplishes her goal of displeasing others, becoming invisible and silent. To those who care about her, she seems to be self annihilating.

I would add Silent Period to a growing list of books about women who self-destruct, who transform into weaker versions of themselves. I would recommend it to those who enjoyed My Year of Rest and Relaxation and The Coin.