Painter Of Silence by Georgina Harding

Georgina Harding's third novel is set in Romania in the early Fifties.

Working as a nurse, Safta comes face to face with a man from her past.

Augustin and Safta grew up together in a manor in the countryside - she the daughter of the house, he the son of the cook.

There are things that Augustin needs to share with Safta about his experiences during the Second World War, but he was born deaf and is mute.

He turns to the form of communication he and his childhood friend relied on years earlier and slowly starts to draw his memories.

This is an unassuming novel that is beautifully written, but the very considered way the story is told also makes it rather slow-paced and lacking in intrigue at times.

However, as Augustin's drawings become bolder towards the end of the novel, the story becomes more and more enthralling.

6/10
(Review by Stephanie Murray)