OF SILENCE AND SLOW TIME

France, August 1914: war has begun, soldiers are marching and years of bloody massacre are lurking on the horizon.

In German-occupied France the locals are adjusting to the unnerving presence of their invaders, slowly learning to always be on their guard. Twelve-year-old Amèlie is without speech and so exists under the radar of the German troops. When she stumbles upon a wounded English soldier in the woods she knows she must help him. She is completely unaware of the impact James will have on her family and the danger he represents.

James disappears in 1915. Seventeen years later, Andrew, his son, yearns to know the truth behind his father’s role in the war. Andrew goes to Arras and attempts to uncover the hidden secrets of his father’s wartime past. But with James’ death buried underneath the shadow of history and obscured by lies, Andrew is facing a hard challenge. He desperately seeks help that the locals are reluctant to give. Will he be able to battle against the local townspeople and unearth the mystery of his father’s past?

Praise for Catherine Bruton:

‘Of Silence and Slow Time is a very good read, full of emotional shocks and tremors, an ill-fated love story packed with suspense and intrigue, set against the vivid backdrop of a small French village during the First World War’ - Kate Pullinger

Catherine Bruton was born in Cheshire and graduated with a first class degree in English Literature from St Hugh’s College, Oxford, in 1994. She has spent time working in Africa as a teacher and for an educational development charity and she has taught English literature and drama at St Paul’s Girls’ School. She is now a mother and lives with her husband and son in south-east London. Of Silence and Slow Time is her first novel.