The Silence Project is a fictional novel which follows a cult narrative. Rachel Morris, Emilia's mother, moves out of the family home to a tent at the bottom of the garden on Emilia's 13th birthday and from this point on decides to never speak another word again. She proceeds to start a community on the premise of various political agendas, that quickly develops into a cult and expands internationally. When Rachel believes her message hasn't been heard, she decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to be permanently silenced in death and burns herself alive in protest, along with thousands of her followers worldwide in a mass suicide known as the Event.
This book is written from Emilia's perspective on her life growing up, and the aftermath of the Event. The book has the addition of multimedia; including emails, news articles and most importantly the journals kept by her mother during her silence.
I completely connected with Emilia and even more so after she begins her own path in life, still deeply impacted by her mother's actions. I think the other significant characters to the plot are so well-developed, Carole Hailey really brought this story to life it felt at some points like I was reading true events. It is a heavily political book, which leaves the reader sincerely giving thought to the hard-hitting issues that are raised. I would actually recommend content warnings at the beginning of the book because there are some triggers that are not mentioned in the book description.
This is an incredibly captivating book and I'm shocked that it is Carole Hailey's debut novel, it is a definite success. I would be eager to read more titles by this author in the future.
4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Atlantic Books and Carole Hailey for sending an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.