First Novel Weighed Down By Self Importance
The Weight of Silence is a first novel that reads like a first novel. Although the premise of the story is an interesting one--two little girls go into the woods one morning and only one comes out...and she can't talk--the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The dialog is clunky and awkward, and the voices of the alternating narratives are not distinct enough from one another. Heather Gudenkauf shows promise, but needs practice and judicious editing before she'll be there as a writer.
