The Voices of Silence
Category: ReviewAuthor: Bel MooneyGenres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, ThrillerIn 1989 Romania it’s unthinkable to criticize the country’s leader. Flora Popescu can’t imagine a revolution, but suddenly daily life brings frightening changes. Some changes seem connected to a new classmate who dresses and eats better than his poor classmates. As Flora’s world crumbles around her, she learns that her father’s in danger and only she can save him from the secret police.The Voices of Silence, for me, was a great book. Though I may have some bias. The story described Flora Popescu’s and her family’s life just before and into the revolution that over threw the communist Romanian government in December of 1989. Having Romanian heritage, I visited and went to summer schools in communist Romania. In addition to seeing it first hand, family friends and relatives told me of the severe difficulties in enduring day-to-day life during those times. They told of the secrecy that all families kept from their neighbors and many of their close friends. They told of the scarcity of most foods, we in the US take for granted as being available. Bel Mooney captures the times and sentiments exactly as they happened, giving the reader the feeling of being there and living through those tumultuous times. If you want a historically accurate representation of those times, along with the suspense of young Flora’s efforts to save her father from the Securitate (Secret Police), read The Voices of Silence.