After the Silence: a twisty page-turner of deadly secrets and an unsolved murder investigation

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Her debut novel, Only Ever Yours, was published in 2014 and won her The Bookseller‘s YA Book Prize 2015. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

Imbued with a strong sense of polemical urgency, her novels have addressed the hot-button issues of the day with brio and fearlessness, but lately the young-adult genre has struggled to contain the ambition of her work — and with this new novel the separation is complete. On the day of Henry and Keelin Kinsella’s wild party at their big house a violent storm engulfed the island of Inisrun, cutting it off from the mainland. Either there was the constant use of the native tongue or Keelin drifting off into fairyland, as she so often did. The islanders believe they know who killed her, but it was never proven and the murderer walks free.

The characterisation is wonderful and it tackles the issues of domestic abuse and controlling relationships with such sensitivity. The night they host a party for Keelin’s birthday, a huge storm hits Inisrún and ensures that no one can enter or leave the island.

A tour de force from a spectacular storyteller, it will have you gripped from the first page to the last, but it will stay with you long after that as well. Our protagonist Keelin Kinsella has a troubled past, having fled an abusive husband with her young son Alan in tow. Her every relationship seems toxic and abusive, whether by outright violence or more insidious coercive control. I could tell that he wasn’t the lovely, caring husband that he was making himself out to be, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. The book goes back and forth from the months just prior to the murder, the filmmakers interviewing islanders and those connected with the case, and the present day as Keelin sees it.

Highly recommended if you enjoyed the West Cork podcast, or if you love books about family secrets, or books that make you sit up and want to take action. I felt immersed in the Island setting and the secrets that I had to unravel and not just the who but the why, and all the threads that led to that point. Misty Hill was the artists’ retreat centre that the Kinsella family built on the island of Inisrún,’ she said, reaching for the bottle of water that was by her feet. Later, as the family gathers to watch the final documentary cut, nervously awaiting the fall-out on Twitter, Henry observes, 'It's the era we’re living in, you see. Louise O’Neill has turned her hand to many different genres; young adult, contemporary fiction and now a psychological thriller.

Keelin strikes up an unlikely friendship with one of the filmmakers, and does everything in her power to protect Henry and Alex from the consequences of the true events of that night. You feel this book rather than enjoy it -which is true of every Louise O'Neill book I have read (the first two.

I felt so sorry for Keelin though, she had clearly been through a lot in her life, and she was obviously still desperately trying to cope with it all, but failing to do so. In a society where even women had to leave government positions on marriage (inference being that you were looked after by a husband) control passed along to men and showed it was institutionalised across society. This book starts out as what could be a standard whodunit, but turns into a psychological and dark read. Her daughter would pause ever so slightly, giving Henry the opportunity to interject, lavishing praise upon the girl for her sense of civic responsibility.