Silent Period

Francesca Manfredi

Book cover for Silent Period
Image for variant 9781324106098
Book cover for Silent Period
Image for variant 9781324106098

Silent Period

Silent Period

Francesca Manfredi

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Description

Cristina Martino is twenty-eight and adrift. Underemployed at a university library in Turin, Italy, she still lives at home with her parents, in the shadow of her successful, married elder sister, Elena. One night, listlessly scrolling through Instagram, Cristina decides to delete her social media profiles.

What is at first a digital detox becomes an act of self-effacement: Cristina deprives herself of words, then gestures, then disappears altogether, sparking a growing "silent revolution." When Elena tries to find her, she discovers a world much quieter and stranger than anyone ever imagined. A slender novel of big ideas, The Silent Period probes at solitude--whether chosen or suffered, salvific or fatal--and our need for genuine connection.

Critical Reviews

Full of humor, compassion, and longing... This novel is a pleasure to read. Wry, and as uncompromising as its heroine.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Elegant and witty... Arrestingly raw... A convincing character portrait that builds into an intriguing inquiry into the nature of human connection and self-expression.-- "Publishers Weekly"

The Silent Period gracefully eviscerates the artifice encasing contemporary communication [with] a crystalline comic edge.--Emmeline Clein, author of Dead Weight

Written in sparse, hypnotic prose that delivers a quiet scream, The Silent Period is a novel that lingers. Fresh, poignant, and compelling.--Virginia Feito, author of Victorian Psycho

Publishing Information

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Pub date: 2026-02-24
Length: 256 pages

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