Whispers

In Whispers, her stunning new novel, Belva Plain shows she has no equal as a chronicler of twentieth-century American life. Here she creates one of the most realistic portraits of a marriage in recent fiction, a tale of the nineties told with shocking authenticity. In it we are privy to the secret life of one outwardly perfect family, we hear the whispers about what goes on behind their closed doors, and we experience the triumph that comes when one person dares to tell the truth.
It can happen in the best of families - even the Fergusons. When Lynn and Robert first meet, she is a bright, open-faced twenty-year-old; he is handsome, a little older, a charming young executive who is already rising fast in one of America's top corporations. From the start, they are deeply in love, thrilled by the discovery of their mutual desire. It is only on their honeymoon that the gold begins to tarnish when Robert's anger erupts into a physical attack, one Lynn blames on herself, for, after all, Robert is the love of her life. With a lovely home in an exclusive Connecticut community, the Fergusons are living the ultimate American Dream - a picture-perfect marriage, two beautiful children, parties at the country club, and wonderful friends. Yet Lynn, a devoted mother and model corporate wife, has never been able to piece together all the parts of her husband's past - his failed first marriage, and the son he never discusses. Somewhere in those mysterious years may be the key to understanding the violence that is tearing her family apart. But not even to their closest friends can Lynn bear to reveal what is really going on in the Ferguson household, the lies she has been telling, the pain she sees in her children's eyes, and the family secrets that are about to explode in a shattering and unforgettable climax.
Written with extraordinary sensitivity and intelligence, whispers brings Belva Plain to a new level as an author. Holding a mirror up to modern life, she has written an inspiring and compelling story about a family's heartbreak, a woman's courage - and about a subject too long discussed only in whispers.