Book Review: When We Were Silent | Fiona McPhillips

When I was invited to participate in the blog tour for Fiona McPhillips’ debut novel, When We Were Silent, they had me at “dark academia” and “Ireland”. I knew this was sure to be a hit for me, but I didn’t anticipate how much I’d love this thought-provoking and suspenseful novel about an elite private school where long-buried secrets are threatened to be exposed.

What is When We Were Silent about?

Louise Manson is the newest student at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Behind its granite walls are high-arched alcoves, an oak-lined library…and the dark secret Lou has come to expose.

Lou’s working-class status makes her the consummate outsider, until she is befriended by some of her beautiful and wealthy classmates. But after Lou attempts to bring the school’s secret to light, her time at Highfield ends with a lifeless body sprawled at her feet.

Thirty years later, Lou gets a shocking phone call. A high-profile lawyer is bringing a lawsuit against the school—and he needs Lou to testify. Lou will have to confront her past and discover, once and for all, what really happened at Highfield. Powerful and compelling, When We Were Silent is a thrilling story of exploitation, privilege, and retribution. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

What did I think?

This was a powerful book. I felt nearly overwhelmed by the way the story unfolded and the themes McPhillips explored. This is a complex novel written with delicate prose and a surprisingly emotional plot. In the world of Dark Academia, When We Were Silent is a unique and profound entry into a genre filled with great works.

Set at Dublin’s most exclusive private school, Highfield Manor, the beautifully drawn setting with tall pillars, lilacs, intricate gates, well-manicured grounds, and a dimly lit library full of well-worn books hides a dark undercurrent. It’s hard to believe that somewhere so beautiful and historic could be riddled with secrets, but appearances are deceiving.

Lou Manson arrives at Highfield Manor as a scholarship student. Coming from a humble background, Lou is quite different from her wealthy and privileged peers. Lou struggles to find her place among the students, often snubbed and disregarded by those who look down their noses at her. The times they are kind to her are often part of their power struggle with the other top students in the class. Lou does find a friend in Shauna, whose sunny smile hides deep-seeded pain.

It’s impossible to attend Highfield Manor and not know who Maurice McQueen is. A PE teacher and the head of the prestigious swimming club at Highfield Manor, he’s already produced to Olympic athletes and is hoping to coach a third. He also wants to recruit Lou to the swim club, though she does her best to get out of it. Lou has a different reason for attending Highfield Manor—she is seeking justice for her friend Tina, who tragically died.

Several decades after Lou’s time at Highfield Manor, she is working as a literature professor and raising a teenage daughter. When Shauna’s brother reaches out asking Lou to testify in an abuse case linked to Highfield Manor, Lou resists, fearing that everything she’s worked to bury in her past will resurface. Facing her past and the consequences it will bring may mean saving the students from an abuser, if she’s able to let herself go back there.

Dark, intense, and haunting. This is a thought-provoking and gripping story that draws the reader in and doesn’t let up until the final pages. Tina’s suicide looms over the story from the beginning. Lou is seeking justice for what happened to Tina, planning to expose the authority figure who abused her. In the present, Lou is struggling with her teenage daughter who wants to join the very same swim club that Lou tried to avoid. The stories mirror each other at times, and diverge at others.

An emotional, shocking, and suspenseful novel about privilege, justice, power, and class.

If you like When We Were Silent, what should you read next?

About the Audiobook

About the Author

Fiona McPhillips is an award-winning Irish journalist, author, and screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Manchester Review, Hobart and Barren Magazine, among others and she is an editor at The Forge literary magazine.

When We Were Silent, the runner-up for the 2021 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger, is her debut novel. Fiona lives in Dublin with her three kids, two cats, and a dog.

Fiona is represented by Rachel Neely at Mushens Entertainment.

Thank you to Flatiron books for my copy. Opinions are my own.