"The Daughter of Silence" tells the story of a newborn with Down syndrome whose birth—following that of her twin brother—is hidden from her mother by the physician father who delivers her. The infant is immediately placed in the care of a nurse present at the birth, but instead of taking her to the institution the father has arranged, the nurse keeps her and raises her as her own daughter. The novel's power lies above all in this secret, which casts its shadow over the family's fate. The plot is distinctive; that the child has Down syndrome is perhaps secondary to the larger story. The writing is certainly compelling.
Stefano Mauri, who selected it for Garzanti (see Vita, 1/6/07), is the father of a young man with Down syndrome and says he found in this book an "important" novel in the sense of one "read by many"—because this can represent a step forward toward integration. Anna Contardi, director of the AIPD (Italian Association of People with Down Syndrome), also welcomes the fact that a person with Down syndrome is the protagonist of a novel. Although the book is reasonably realistic in its depictions of the syndrome itself, readers may feel somewhat unconvinced by the unreality of the narrative and by the ease with which the author addresses experiences not directly lived.
Cristina Tersigni, 2007