Synopsis:
Author Jade Westmore believes she has finally found love for a lifetime with her husband of one month, Wells. He’s a charming, successful, and recently divorced architect, and the grandson of Hollywood royalty, actress Viviette Westmore. There’s just one caveat. Behind the gates of the elysian estate that belonged to his grandmother, hidden from street view in the caretaker’s cottage, lives Wells’ first wife, Sylvie.
Three years ago, Sylvie suffered a catastrophic injury. She hasn’t uttered a sound since. None of the world-renowned physicians, psychologists, or other specialists consulted have been able to elicit so much as a word from the silent woman . . . until now.
On an ordinary Tuesday morning while Wells is away — despite instructions to never disturb the fragile woman — Jade is enlisted to help when Sylvie’s caregiver is suddenly called away. To her first meeting with Sylvie, Jade brings a beautiful bouquet of white Casablanca lilies, not expecting anything in return. She’s shocked when Sylvie tears a sheet of paper off a small notepad upon which she scrawls a single word in shaky black ink.
“Run.”
Review:
Minka Kent is a graduate of Iowa State University who counts Gillian Flynn, Chevy Stevens, and Caroline Kepnes amongst the authors whose work has most influenced her. Her debut psychological thriller, The Memory Watcher, was an immediate bestseller. She followed that up with The Thinnest Air, as well as The Watcher Girl, Unmissing, When I Was You, The Perfect Roommate, and The Stillwater Girls. Gone Again is scheduled for release in 2023. Her work has also been featured in People Magazine as well as The New York Post. As Winter Renshaw she also publishes contemporary romance novels. The thirty-something wife and mother loves escaping from her home to warmer climates and baking sweet treats (often, she confesses) for her family.
Kent says that inspiration for her fictional tales often stems from her love of exploring “what happens when larger-than-life characters are placed in fascinating situations.” She examines that theme to great effect in The Silent Woman.
Through a first-person narrative, author Jade Westmore describes her initial meeting with her new husband, Wells. He was anxious to authorize a biography of his late grandmother, Viviette Westmore, a renowned actress, but hadn’t been impressed by any of the writing samples he perused. Until he happened upon one of Jade’s books in an airport bookstore. A week later, they met for dinner to discuss the potential project and “hit it off.” Jade already possessed a wealth of knowledge about Viviette, which impressed Wells. And she was immediately attracted to him. As a result of that first meeting, Jade got everything she dreamed of. A contract to pen Viviette’s biography (containing a stipulation that Wells can terminate the project at any time before the manuscript is submitting to the publisher for editing), a six-figure advance, a husband, and a new home. When the story opens, Jade and Wells have been married just one month and Jade has taken up residence with Wells in Westhaven, Viviette’s stately home. With the exception of the remodeled kitchen, everything is as Viviette left it and all of her belongings remain in the house. Jade has been given access to her journals, as well, in order to complete the research necessary to draft her book. Wells hopes to one day transform the estate into a museum in tribute to his grandmother’s work, legacy, and the Golden Age of Hollywood. For now, Jade is hoping Westhaven will eventually feel like her home. “Most days I still feel like a visitor. Or a vacationer.”
Westhaven has another resident. Sylvie, Wells’ first wife, resides in a cottage on-grounds where she receives round-the-clock care. Sylvie was a beautiful philanthropist who was adopted as a teenager by a wealthy family. “She was as broken as she was beautiful. Obsessed with saving the world one unwanted soul at a time.” But three years ago, Wells discovered her face-down in the pool. She had a gaping wound on the side of her head and was not breathing. Although he began lifesaving measures before paramedics arrived on scene, Sylvie apparently suffered an anoxic brain injury due to oxygen deprivation and has not communicated since that night. Wells consulted with world-class specialists, but Sylvie remains in a near-catatonic state. Rather than institutionalize her, he brought her back to Westhaven and shoulders the costs of her care. He did, however, divorce her, making him free to marry again.
Jade was, of course aware of the unconventional arrangement when she agreed to marry Wells, as well as the fact that Wells was initially deemed a suspect by the police, who were never able to establish precisely how Sylvie ended up in the pool. Or whether her injuries were accidentally or intentionally inflicted. In fact, one of the conditions of their marriage is that Jade is to play no role in Sylvie’s care and maintenance. Because her physicians are not sure how much of the world around her Sylvie is able to comprehend. She has overheard Wells use words like “manic, catatonic, physical outbursts, lethargic, unstable, mood stabilizers, appetite stimulants” in conversation with Sylvie’s caregivers. Also, Wells wants to avoid burdening Jade with any responsibilities concerning Sylvie. Thus, Jade is to keep her distance and never enter the cottage in which Sylvie now lives.
Except that one morning, Sylvie’s nurse is suddenly called away to attend to an emergency and until another can be dispatched, Sylvie is alone in the cottage. The nurse has been unable to reach Wells, who is away on business, by telephone. So Jade agrees to remain with Sylvie for a short while and dispense her medications with breakfast. “I shut my eyes draw in a long, slow breath, and convince myself that helping her is the right thing to do, that no matter what happens, Wells will understand. He’ll be grateful, I’m sure.”
However, the women’s first meeting is jarring. With a wildness in her eyes, Sylvia grabs Jade’s wrist and examines the wedding ring on her finger. She appears to be trying to speak. Jade recognizes that her offer to help was a mistake, but the replacement nurse has, thankfully, arrived. Before Jade can escape, however, she is shocked to her core as she watches Sylvie tear a piece of paper from a small notepad, pick up a pen, and scribble something on it before pressing the page into Jade’s hand. Knowing that she is going to have to inform Wells about the morning’s events, she rushes back to the main house and looks at the three letters scrawled on the paper in shaky black ink: R – U – N.
“Run . . . Her? Or me? From whom? And why?”
Jade soon meets Portia, her next-door neighbor. Craving companionship, the women begin spending time together, getting acquainted. Portia is the mother of a teenage son, Olly, and infant Lily. She is the fourth wife of Lee Soldano, a fifty-year-old entertainment lawyer who never wanted children, but is compete smitten with Lily. Portia likes to drink wine and is very chatty. She openly shares details with Jade about Wells, Sylvie, and their marriage. Which proves problematic and perplexing for Jade because Portia’s recollections differ dramatically from the way Wells described their marriage. And Portia paints a portrait of Wells as a husband that is dramatically divergent from the man Jade fell in love with.
Jade has already figured out that Sylvie is far from catatonic and is, contrary to Wells’ representations, capable of communicating. And armed with the stories related by Portia, Jade begins investigating. She has to know what Sylvie tried to tell her . . . and why.
The Silent Woman is an imaginative, fast-paced mystery at the center of which are two women who loved and married the same man. Jade is intelligent, intuitive, and skilled at conducting research. Her investigative efforts are, at times, thwarted, forcing her to devise alternate means to determine if her almost saint-like husband and fairy tale marriage are both, in fact, too good to be true. Admirably, she does not shy away from uncomfortable realities. Rather, the story zips along at a steady pace as she pursues clues to the truth about Wells’ history, his relationship with Sylvie, and what really happened on that fateful night three years ago when Sylvie’s life changed forever. Those portions of the story are related in a first-person narrative from Sylvie, giving them authenticity and context. Admirably, Jade is a woman who knows she made have made a mistake and is willing to take responsibility for her choices, as well as hold others accountable for their actions, even if that means dismantling the life she has only begun creating with Wells. “I should’ve known fairy tales only exist in fiction books and imaginations,” she laments.
Kent holds readers’ interest by deftly timing critical revelations that propel the story forward and cleverly makes nearly every character except Jade a suspect who may have harbored a motive to harm Sylvie. That includes the charming Wells, who may or may not actually be slippery, devious, and obsessed with controlling the women in his life. Or his mother, Mary Claire, with whom he has always had a difficult relationship. She relinquished custody to her mother, Viviette, the vain and narcissistic star who desperately needed fame and validation. She explains to Jade, “My mother sheltered Wells from the real world, from anything that could remotely disappoint him. . . . For herself, no question.” Still, Mary Claire acknowledges that Viviette gave Wells everything she could not: stability, discipline, devotion, and advantages. “He feels like I abandoned him, when really I saved him from me. The last thing he needed was my influence in his life.” Even the friendly, over-sharing Portia falls under a cloud of suspicion as a result of Kent’s capable storytelling. As does the sullen Olly.
Kent keeps readers guessing about what heppend to Sylvie and why, accelerating the pace of the narratives as Jade pulls the pieces of Kent’s smartly constructed puzzle together, and appreciates that her sleuthing has placed her and others in danger. But, to her credit, she will neither remain a silent woman herself nor permit any other woman’s voice to be silenced. Because Jade is likable and sympathetic — after all, who doesn’t want to live in a fairy tale if it’s not actually too good to be true? — readers will cheer for her and hope that her bravery does not result in her demise . . . or that of any other female character. The Silent Woman is an enjoyable, engrossing thriller.
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