Features

Ashley Audrain, author of The Whispers

The Loverlys’ young son is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night. His mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the Parks, the Loverlys' best friends; the Goldsmiths, who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability and watch their neighbors go about their busy lives. The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of the women in each family as they are forced to face the secrets within the walls of their own homes, and the uncomfortable truths that connect them all to one another.

Read more »

The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

September 2023

A couple of years ago, I read Ashley Audrain’s debut novel, THE PUSH, and joked that I never will look at little pink mittens the same way again. I read THE WHISPERS over our summer holiday break, and once again she has nailed the young mother domestic thriller. It’s set in an upscale neighborhood where there are oversized new houses that were teardowns, as well as original homes that are smaller-sized, all on the same block. Harlow Street is the kind of place where you know your neighbors and socialize with them, then talk about them.

Read more »