It's 1994 and Sam Malin is in her final year at a small school in the north of Ireland and is determined to escape her life in whatever way she can - via music, drugs, and a dysfunctional  relationship with Naoise, ten years her senior. Her life is chaotic, and not helped with a distant father at home, and memories of a mother who mysteriously walked out on them.

Peace Process

I was just a couple of years older than Sam so I enjoyed the musical references, especially to her beloved Kurt Cobain. What was also familiar was the stuttering peace process and it brought back a memory that I hadn’t thought of in years. I remember going to school on the bus, and the driver having to maneoeuver around a booby trapped car explosion that had happened that same morning, killing the occupant, which we didn't know at the time.  A couple of minutes later when we’re passing and who knows? But it says something about how you get used to these things that I was more worried about missing the start of my exams. You just worked your life around the conflict and hoped the two wouldn’t intersect.

I could also relate to the small town in ‘the quiet whispers never stop’  - everyone knowing your business, escaping the mundanity of it in whichever way you could, especially through drink and music. The claustrophobia and the sense that ‘the quiet whispers would never stop’ because people have long memories in small towns. There’s such a strong sense of place in it and that’s down to the strength of the writing.

The north

Olivia Fitzsimmons definately has a way with the vernacular - the book couldn’t be anywhere else but the north. Nuala, the absent mother, is the other voice in the story - a woman who Sam barely remembers, as she walked out on them when she was only five. The book is quite cleverly constructed, with sometimes alternating chapters between mother and daughter, who are more alike than Sam realises. Nuala was also desperate for freedom, and she also found escapism in a similar way.

Both women have distinctive voices, and the author is great at imbuing the pain and frustration they feel, especially Sam, as she careers towards disaster. Her story is particular raw and heartfelt, and definitely captures the freewheeling chaos of youth. 

Summary

‘The quiet whispers never stop’ is not always an easy read and there is a darkness to parts of it, but you do get pulled into the story and the characters are all too real. This is a really strong debut and I’ll be looking out for future releases by Olivia Fitzsimmons.

Thanks to Netgalley and John Murray for the Advanced Reader Copy.

The quiet whispers never stop by Olivia Fitzsimmons

Published by John Murray - April 14, 2022

320 pages

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