When We Were Silent

(Paperback)

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Description

A major upmarket thriller launch- a woman finally gets the chance to speak out against her elite Dublin school, exposing a culture of silence, corruption and abuse of power. "I'm not here for prestige. I'm here for revenge." Lou Manson is an outsider when she joins the final-year class at Highfield Manor, Dublin's most exclusive private school. Beyond the granite pillars and the wrought-iron gates is a world of wealth, privilege and potential. But Highfield is also hiding a dark secret - and Lou is here to expose it. When Lou befriends the beautiful and talented Shauna Power, her plans are thrown into turmoil. Speaking out against the school would mean betraying Shauna, and Lou soon discovers that the Highfield elite will go to any lengths to protect their own reputation...even when the consequences are fatal. Thirty years later, Lou is called to testify in a new lawsuit against Highfield. But telling the truth means confronting her past - and there is one story she swore she'd never tell...

Reviews

With a dark and poetic pen, Fiona McPhillips snakes through the waters of a tony private school, peeling away secrets in tiny waves until they crash into a powerful ending. This book absolutely nails what it feels like to be young, female, powerless, and dead set on redemption. A wonderful, relevant, and beautifully written debut. * Julia Heaberlin, bestselling author of WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN THE DARK *
Taut, compelling, powerful and devastatingly relevant. A sensational debut * Louise O'Neill, bestselling author of IDOL *
I raced through this spellbinding, gripping thriller about scandal and secrets at a prestigious girls school. Its gripping, shocking and enraging, a story of lost youth, redemption and the power of speaking out, and its so beautifully written * Cressida McLaughlin *

Author Bio

Fiona McPhillips is an Irish journalist, author, and screenwriter. She is an editor at The Forge literary magazine and her own work has appeared in The Manchester Review, Hobart and Barren Magazine, among others. When We Were Silent, the runner-up for the 2021 Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, is her debut novel. Fiona lives in Dublin with her three kids, two cats and a dog.