Review of "The Silent Lady" by Catherine Cookson

Here we have a Victorian melodrama to enjoy. It all begins with appearance of a woman, Irene, in the offices of a London attorney. She is shabbily dressed and obviously ill. She would have ordinarily been turned away, but when she gave her name, the attorney invites her into his office immediately. It is there that he finds out that Irene cannot talk.

The story then backs up to where Irene has been. She was thrown out on the streets and rescued by an endearing woman who lives in an old house that was left to her by the former owner whom she had nursed during his last years. The house needs repairs and the yards are a mess. Throughout the book, various people keep being taken in by this kind woman. She also takes in a group of homeless Irisihmen who help her make something of the house and yard so that they can befriend more homeless needy men. Irene can't talk and is terrified by men. She begins to relate to the kindly landlady and the Irishmen over time. They cannot imagine what horrors lie in Irene's past.

The ending is all sweetness and light. The characters all become people the reader would want to know. As the terrors of Irene's past emerge, she finds the love and attention of all she has met to be the best thing and most caring time of her life.