The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson. These are stories from the past, but they are still echoing now, in the present. As I write this, Russian forces are using rape as a weapon of war against Ukrainian women; deported mothers are being separated from their children in the US; border walls are being built and fortified at an unprecedented rate across the globe (there are currently seventy-four in existence). But this much is clear: when walls are built, people will find a way over or under them; when families are separated, they do everything in their power to be reunited; and when women are victims, they find the courage to speak up, to band together, to survive.
The Times bestseller The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson is historical fiction based in Berlin in both 1961 and during the Second World War. Lisette lives in East Berlin but her new-born baby is being treated in a hospital in West Berlin. Under doctor's orders, she goes home to rest, leaving her baby in their care. But overnight the border between East and West closes, slicing the city – and the world – in two. Lisette is struck mute by despair, but this isn’t the first time she has lost her voice. Decades earlier Lisette experienced unimaginable horrors in war-torn Berlin – events that still haunt her. Now in 1961, with a city in chaos and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone who tries to cross the border, Lisette’s situation is desperate once more. Witnessing her mother’s suffering, Lisette’s teenage daughter Elly hatches a daring plan to escape East Berlin, find her baby brother, and bring him home...
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Born in Sweden, to a family of writers and readers, Josie Ferguson moved to Scotland when she was two. She returned to Sweden in her twenties, where she completed a vocational degree in Clinical Psychology (MSc). Upon graduating, she moved to London to pursue a career in publishing, something she had dreamed about since delving into fictional worlds as a child, hidden under the duvet with a torch.
She later moved to Asia in search of an adventure and a bit more sun. She currently works as a freelance book editor in Singapore, where she lives with her husband and two young children. While training to become a clinical psychologist, Josie learned about the complexity of human nature, something she explores as a writer. She believes books about the past can change the future and she aspires to write as many as possible. The Silence in Between is her debut.
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