The Silent Treatment is a powerful and emotional debut which draws you in to deceptively deep waters. It’s about Frank and Maggie, their forty year marriage and the events which lead them to not speaking to one another for 6 months. It opens with the attempted suicide of Maggie, and it is whilst Frank is sitting bewildered and bereft at her hospital bedside whilst she lies unconscious that he begins to speak to her. He takes us back in the time to the moment he saw her in the garden of a pub, to the day they first went, to their wedding and then onward to their marriage and to the ebbs and flows, highs and lows.

The reason why they haven’t spoken for half a year is the mystery at the heart of this novel. We see their marriage through Frank’s eyes and his love and adoration for Maggie is clear. She captivates him. She is sparky, full of energy and life but has crashing lows. Their marriage is tested by some of the most terrible challenges which life can throw at you, but they survive. Gradually though you start to realise that something really awful is going to test them.

Frank and Maggie’s marriage is wonderfully and sensitively depicted. Marriage is hard work and isn’t something that just falls in your lap as a fully formed thing, The things which test them are things which many couples experience and I found some of these instances incredibly moving and delicately handled. It really shines a light on the importance of communication and honesty in a relationship and the small ways that we can show each other we care.

The majority of the book is from Frank’s point of view meaning that for vast swathes of the novel we never really know what Maggie is thinking or feeling. At first I took this at face value, Frank and Maggie have been together for forty years – if there is anybody who would really know Maggie, it would be Frank. But, is this the case? Does anybody really ever fully know their spouse? Frank’s shock at Maggie’s suicide attempt is clear; he really didn’t see it coming. What was going on inside her head? Six months of silence has meant that their bond is frayed, but his love for her continues.

Maggie’s voice is clear and she and Frank are two engrossing and captivating characters. I loved meeting them and watch them build their lives together. I couldn’t imagine them without each other, they seemed to be a couple that just fit, despite their problems and challenges. I was intrigued by the events that led up to the opening pages of the novel I’m not sure I was quite ready for the reveal.

Abbie Greaves has written a beautiful and poetic novel about love, relationships and marriage. There are some passages in this book which made me stop and pause; they’re so delicately written yet pack such an emotional punch. This is an accomplished and powerful debut and I look forward to reading more from Abbie Greaves.

Wow what a powerful story. Loved the way it was written with Franks thoughts and actions then Maggie thought about what was going on....the insite to what had happened prior and why life had turned bad for them
Really well written, keep me reading to the end, very powerful story about the relationship between them and their daughter. 
As i was reading it i kept willing things for them to be okay, i felt compassion for them, and kept willing Frank to open up to his wife and make things better for them . 
A must read

A slow burner which start as a domestic tale, then delves into deeper lifestyle difficulties. This was quite believable and unfolded with worrying insights. The plot drew me in with its everyday family detail. A life told by both partners, in an easy to read fashion. There is a dark twist full of tension. Which had me in edge. A true insight into difficulties with parenting. I read this in one siting. 
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication date in exchange for a fair review

This novel stole my heart - it's absolutely incredible!

The writing is utterly captivating, lose yourself in the journey of Frank & Maggie's relationship. I simply could not put it down. 

Buried secrets, misunderstandings and underneath it all a true all-consuming love you really believe in, these authentic characters will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. 

A fantastic debut, I can't wait to see what Greaves comes up with next. This worthy title deserves a spot on everyone's shelf! 

Ps. Do grab some tissues before you curl with it, its sure to break your heart it definitely did mine.

Thanks to Anne Cater & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and Netgalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for a unbiased review of these works.

This book hit me hard, it was utterly heartbreaking, I felt for both frank and maggie and I loved been taken on the journey of ther life and marriage, a lesson to be learned to never leave things unsaid

The Silent Treatment is the debut novel by Abbie Greaves and when I read the description about a couple who had stopped talking to each other for six months I was intrigued.  When Anne Cater of Random Things Tours asked me if I would like to join the blogtour I immediately said “yes please”.

The Silent Treatment is a story of Frank and Maggie, married for forty years when a tragedy occurs resulting in Frank withdrawing from Maggie which forces her to take a final and drastic step.

This is a beautifully written character story narrated by both main characters, taking the reader back to the moment they met at University and bringing them to the present day.  Frank, a socially awkward and quiet man, is forced to open his heart and secrets to Maggie in a desperate bid to save their marriage and her life.

This book has so many levels and delves into relationships, marriage, parenthood, failure, communication, love, loyalty and guilt.  My heart was broken in places and lifted in others, the characters were so real to me that I could feel Maggie’s pain and Frank’s guilt so profoundly.

Highly recommended.

The Silent Treatment is the fantastic debut novel by Abbie Greaves, and if this novel is a marker point for the rest of her work. Then I will definitely be putting them on my wish list. 

Maggie and Frank have not spoken a word to each other in six months. They have been happily married for forty years. And, are still living under the same roof, eating meals together and sharing the same bed. But, they don't speak. What is the reason behind The Silent Treatment. 

This story takes us on a journey to discover how this seemingly normal married couple stopped communicating with each other. It's obvious from the opening chapter that they still love each other. But, we know there is an underlying secret or mystery to be solved. It all comes to a head for Maggie when she overdoses and is rushed to hospital.

We pick up the story with Frank by her bedside and he starts recalling their lives together. The second half of the story is told from Maggie's recollections that she has written down for Frank in a planner he finds in the office. 

Maggie and Frank's story is a beautiful tale of love. Two complete opposites coming together and building a life together. Along the way there is heartache and hardships. Like any relationship, and we see how Maggie and Frank deal with these in their way. What we discover from seeing both points of view is that some secrets are held from both sides. Culminating in the reason they both stopped communicating. 

I must mention Daisy. She may not have been a central character. She was just the nurse that was caring for Maggie in hospital. However, I felt that her character was kind of the moral compass or the pivotal character in The Silent Treatment. She gently persuaded Frank to open up to Maggie, saying that communicating and talking to her would be the best form of recovery for her. 

Ironically with a title like The Silent Treatment this story emphasises on the importance of communicating within a relationship. A beautifully written story, that will charm you with its characters and message.

The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves takes us on a journey through the lives of Frank and Maggie. Why did they stop speaking six months ago? A long, and obviously happy marriage, albeit  with a bit of a hiccough when their only child struggles to cope, it’s difficult to see what has caused the hiatus in communication. 
This is a very well written story of joy and heartbreak with jobs, chores, friends, tight finances but always with an underpinning of fun, laughter and love.....until there doesn’t seem to be any of that left. Abbie unravels the mysteries through a dual storyline which reveals Frank’s view, alongside Maggie’s reality, to bring us to a somewhat tragic conclusion yet with some hope. I loved this book but, as a parent, it did break my heart a little bit. Definitely recommend

Thanks you NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book.

I had high hopes for the book and the story had a lot of promise - but it didn't live up to that for me unfortunately, daughter was too 2 dimensional and more like a caricature than a real person. However, the main problem personally was the huge big secret that the story hung on was such damp squib, it just was an anticlimax for me.

When we meet Professor Frank Hobbs and his wife, Maggie, Frank is playing chess against his computer, although not very successfully. Maggie, on the other hand, has just taken some pills - eight of them, in fact - and before long she will collapse. When Frank rings the emergency services in Oxford he has a bit of a problem. He has to admit that he and Maggie haven't actually spoken for a while. How long? Well, it's about six months since he spoke to Maggie and he can't really say if it's likely that Maggie has tried to take her own life.

In Intensive Care, the full force of what has happened hits Frank. He cannot bear to lose Maggie. In fact, he really can't believe that he's been lucky enough to have her as his wife for forty years. He knows that his not speaking to Maggie has been entirely his fault, but he has a secret and he knows that if Maggie knew that secret then she would leave him. In his own mind, he decided that it was better to have Maggie with him, even if they didn't communicate, rather than not have her there at all. But it seems that the only way to try to bring Maggie back from her coma is to talk to her, so Frank decides that he must tell his story.

But Maggie has been hiding something too. She's never stopped loving Frank, and when they stopped talking she decided that she would give him six months and then she would take action. A week before the six months is up she starts to write her story because she can't believe that she's been lucky enough to have Frank all these years and she feels that she owes him an explanation for what she's done. We hear the two stories in tandem.

After fifteen years of marriage, Frank and Maggie had a baby. She was called Eleanor and Eleanor was where the problem began.

Sometimes you pick up a book and you're pulled into the story. Maggie's bright and bubbly and Frank - well, Frank's probably best described as 'hapless'. He's very clever but there's a distinct lack of self-confidence and he doesn't read people well. Not talking to someone you love for six months seems like an extreme way of dealing with a problem, but when you know Frank you can understand that in his mind it was completely logical. But what was Frank's secret, the secret that was so terrible that Maggie would leave him and why does Maggie feel that taking her own life is the best option?

The writing is superb: there's a clarity and a deceptive simplicity which hides great skill and the plotting is skillful. I really couldn't believe that there would be anything which could make two people act as they did but as you read you realise that this was the obvious way for a man and a woman who loved each other as much as Frank and Maggie.

If you take one thing from this book it will be the importance of communication, the need to leave nothing unsaid, to risk what might happen when you tell the truth. You will also know that you've encountered a superb writer and I really can't wait to see what Abbie Greaves writes next. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag see a review copy.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

this one gripped me in such a way that i had to read to the end...

its about a normal family frank and his wife maggie who have spent the last 6 months not talking to each other...and why...why did frank stop talking to his wife...

this story is heartbreaking to read..on so many levels, dont want to give to much away..

but its told with franks version and maggies version of the whys...gripping stuff...

another author to keep an eye out for

Frank has not spoken a word to his wife in 6 months, so will Maggie trying to take her own life spur Frank on to reveal what he has not been able to say for all of this time?

The Silent Treatment was a surprising heart-breaking read for me. I was expecting a thriller type story – a dark and hidden family secret to be revealed but instead we got the story of a relationship; it’s origins, the marriage and the trials of parenthood. The book deals with some very hard-hitting issues (which I can’t really mention for spoilers) which are dealt with in a confident and sensitive way by author Abbie Greaves. Maggie and Frank are really well-detailed characters; we start out getting the relationship early years story from Frank’s perspective and then the latter half of the book switched between Maggie and Frank as narrators. It’s a sad story and one that is very well told – we get invested in these characters and we feel empathy for their sorrow.

My only criticism would be that as a plot it can be a bit contrived and convenient at times. There is a diary read at one point that takes far too long in the timeline to read, whereas if I was the character reading it, I would take an hour or two and read it all in one go. The diary also doesn’t feel like it’s written by the person who is supposed to have written it – it doesn’t really have the right narrative voice and the ‘tasks’ she asks Frank to do just seems very unrealistic. 

Overall, The Silent Treatment is a heart-breaking read but perhaps one it’s best not to look at too closely. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK – Century and Cornerstone for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well written but just not for me. I just couldn't connect to the characters, I'm not sure why but it didn't resonate.
There are some upsetting issues dealt with, so was surprised that I wasn't blubbering.

I think this novel has one of the best editorial commentaries (blurbs) that I have read for a long time. Straight away you know that at the very heart of this novel is a devastating family crisis, and this is the type of story that I really like to read and enjoy. I thought the actual story was even better than that though and I know it will stay with me for a very long time. 
The story revolves around Frank, his wife Maggie and their only child Eleanor, a surprise arrival after years of trying for a family, so very much a treasured daughter, like all ‘miracle babies’ are. The main voices belong to the devoted, husband and wife team. Frank’s narration is told in his thoughts, actions, anecdotes, memories and his words to his wife. Maggie’s most important words, certainly those that move the story forward, are revealed in her journal and read by Frank following a truly traumatic event which temporarily separates the couple. These two main characters are lovely people, both intelligent and worldly wise. They are caring, kind and committed to each other and Eleanor. Their individual stories are so poignant and really thought provoking. I am really impressed by this beautifully written and envisaged debut novel. This new author oozes with talent and her storyline is so well planned it kept me on the edge of me chair and hooked me from the very first few pages. The entire story filled me with compassion and worry about their future. I felt anxious for them and rooted for their story to deliver them richly deserved happiness.
I loved the theme of deeply buried secrets, so often the source of misunderstandings and regret. So the big question is ‘What Happened?’ and now I have to tell you that you must read the story yourselves. I highly recommend this novel as very readable, especially if your interest is tweaked by this review. I will certainly be on the lookout for future novels written by Abbie Greaves.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Cornerstone Digital through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you so much for my copy. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. It’s an exceptionally good read and a 4.5* review from me. I’d personally class it as an unmissable page-turner.

I loved the hook for this book so much but once I started reading I felt a little cheated. The 6 months without speaking were largely sidelined and seemed an unlikely response once the reason was finally revealed. I'm not sure, therefore, that it was quite the book for me after all although it was well written and I'm sure will be very well received by other readers..

I liked the way time worked in this book, and seeing how the two timelines met was interesting. I did never fall completely under the spell of the characters but it was a good read.

Overall an enjoyable read, slow at times and rather frustrating for me towards the characters and their inability to communicate. However, I did begin to understand the reasons for this as the story developed.

This is a beautiful book, well written and moving. It is so unusual to read a book about a mature relationship, not a couple who are dewy eyed and starting out but who have spent forty years together and now face a crisis that may end in tragedy.

Frank and Maggie each have secrets that they keep in part not to hurt the other but also because of the fear of losing the other. Frank's secret leads to a six month silence and the story eventually leads us to that secret. Maggie's secrets come out later and we learn of their lives together as we take the journey to what has brought them to where they are now.

I absolutely loved this book and would happily recommend it to just about anyone. I will be recommending it to friends.

Gripping with a touch of frustration at that carrot constantly being dangled before me. While mundane, the story  portraits the complexity of life and especially the possibility of this story being yours or mine. I am a bit conflicted because as I've said, I didn't think much of the story itself,  yet I end up shedding a tear or two because I've seen myself in Maggie and Frank's shoes.

This is an emotional read so well written I sat up half the night as I needed to finish it. How many families have suffered like this , I knew what was coming and hoped I was wrong, the bedside waiting and talking had me in tears many times. I was wrong in my assumption and felt it was worse than I had feared . This is heartbreaking and healing on many levels. Let’s make everyday count or we may live to regret it.