The Silent Period

The elegant and witty latest from Manfredi (The Empire of Dirt) sees an unfulfilled young woman commit to silence. Narrator Cristina Martino, 28, lives in Turin, Italy, with her parents and works at a local public library after failing to launch a career in archaeology. Struck by a desire for “purity and perfection,” she deletes all her social media accounts and gets off Tinder. Later, she resolves to stop speaking. She wryly recounts in her narration how she came to the decision after reading a study about suicide attempts, which prompted her to reflect that she has “always lacked the motive, more than the will,” to kill herself. She begins dating a handsome man named Dani, whom she met through a childhood friend, Silvia, but remains silent during their time together, causing Dani to comically carry on both sides of their conversations and claim, in her voice, that she’s gone silent because she feels “inadequate.” As Cristina’s silence stretches on, she alienates herself from those closest to her, including her family and Silvia, and relies on her flying scorpion fish for companionship. Cristina’s voice is arrestingly raw, and Manfredi sketches a convincing character portrait that builds to an intriguing inquiry into the nature of human connections and self-expression. This leaves readers with much to chew on. (Feb.)