Customer Reviews

This Heavy Silence

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dottie Connell has a farm in Ohio that she wants to keep. Thanks to an unscrupulous uncle, she's finding it difficult to do so. A little girl named Mattie (the daughter of her friend Zela) is practically dropped in her lap-a little girl with an inheritance. This story isn't just about whether or not Dottie keeps the farm or Mattie. It's about the power of redemption and the tiny steps a woman takes toward that. This is the type of story that gets into your bones and makes you want to tell someone else about it. It's poignant, well plotted, and populated with richly drawn characters. The lyrical language and carefully chosen imagery stay with you long after you close this book. You might love or hate Dottie Connell. But you'll never forget her or Nicole Mazzarella--an author you'll want to see more of. Mazzarella gets under Dottie's skin, showing us every fear, foible, or façade. She makes you care about Dottie, Mattie, Stanley, Retha, Morris, and all of the other characters in this very realistic slice of farm life during the 60s and 70s.

Mazzarella knows how to write without insulting the intelligence of the reader. She's a brilliant author. It was a challenge to keep believing that this story was fiction. Her characters are like me - and like my friends and my neighbors - and nothing is pat or trite - people making dumb decisions bringing about painful consequences but moving by the grace of God to slow reconciliation. This is one author who has abley told the truth via fiction. It inspired me to tears - a first. One of Mazzarella's sentences "Clean was more convincing without a smell."clearly shows her ability to be simple and profound ----Fiction is more convincing without fluff.

I couldn't put it down! An honest examination of the choices we make and the consequences of those choices. Mazzarella examines a universal truth, that we often make decisions out of fear rather than love. She investigates the reality that we are often held captive by our own trepidations, rather than breaking free from fear and living out of love. Mazzarella's exploration of love and the corrosion of love when saturated with pride is one of the most convicting fiction novels I have ever read. This is a must read!

I bought this book after I met the author at a book fair and heard that it was set in and around my hometown. I was pleasantly surprised to find a captivating story sensitively written. Even though the main character is a cold woman, she is imbued with a humanity that impels you to care about her. With measured and accurate detail, the author breathes life into the farm, the towns, and the people that shape our heroine's existence. The writing style has a clarity and loveliness that is refreshing. Most importantly, the characters in this novel actually have souls, which I find lacking in most contemporary fiction. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to reading more from this new author!

I loved the book! Mazzarella does a great job creating this characters and making them believable. The stories ending was perfect.

I bought this book after Christianity Today chose it as one of the best Christian books of the year. I was very disappointed. The main character, Dottie, is unsympathetic. She is a cold, hard woman who loves a farm more than any person in her life. She makes a series of selfish decisions and then reaps the consequences. She makes a few pathetic attempts at redemption toward the end of the book, but it almost seems like an afterthought by the author. The book left me annoyed for wasting the time reading it. Really, by the middle of the book, I could care less what happened to Dottie and felt badly for the people she had hurt along the way.