Whispers: A Novel - Softcover

Plain, Belva

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440216745 ISBN 13: 9780440216742

Publisher: Dell, 1994

Synopsis

Robert and Lynn Ferguson are a picture-perfect couple  with two beautiful daughters and a lovely home in  an exclusive Connecticut community. Robert is on  the fast track of a major corporation. Lynn is  devoted to her family and good works. But in the  Ferguson's closed doors hide a painful secret Lynn must  keep from the world-and her children-at any  cost... Not even the Fergusons's best friends, Josie and  Bruce Lehman, know of Lynn's shame. Social worker  Josie sees her bruises distrusts the  too-ambitious, too perfect Robert, and suspects the real cause  of the children's increasingly disturbed behavior.  But not even Josie can pierce Lynn's wall of  silence, a wall that will not crumble until Lynn is  forced to face herself-and the truth-at last. Belva  Plain's searing novel of a family's heartbreak, a  woman's courage, and a subject too often talked  about only in whispers.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Subtle and intelligent." -- West Coast Review Of Books. "Impeccably done" --Booklist.

Robert and Lynn Ferguson are a picture-perfect couple with two beautiful daughters and a lovely home in an exclusive Connecticut community. Robert is on the fast track of a major corporation. Lynn is devoted to her family and good works. But in the Ferguson's closed doors hide a painful secret Lynn must keep from the world-and her children-at any cost... Not even the Fergusons's best friends, Josie and Bruce Lehman, know of Lynn's shame. Social worker Josie sees her bruises distrusts the too-ambitious, too perfect Robert, and suspects the real cause of the children's increasingly disturbed behavior. But not even Josie can pierce Lynn's wall of silence, a wall that will not crumble until Lynn is forced to face herself-and the truth-at last. Belva Plain's searing novel of a family's heartbreak, a woman's courage, and a subject too often talked about only in whispers.

"By getting under the skin of each of her diverse characters, Plain delivers a story of considerable impact." --Publisher's Weekly.

About the Author:

Belva Plain captured readers' hearts with her first novel, Evergreen, which Delacorte published more than 30 years ago. It topped the New York Times best-seller list for 41 weeks and aired as an NBC-TV miniseries. In total, more than 20 of her books have been New York Times best sellers.

Before becoming a novelist,  Belva Plain wrote short stories for many major magazines, but taking care of a husband and three children did not give her the time to concentrate on the novel she had always wanted to write. When she looked back and said she didn't have the time, she felt as though she had been making excuses. In retrospect, she said, "I didn't make the time." But, she reminded us, during the era that she was raising her family, women were supposed to concentrate only on their children. Today 30 million copies of her books are in print.

A Barnard College graduate who majored in history,  Belva Plain enjoyed a wonderful marriage of more than 40 years to Irving Plain, an ophthalmologist. Widowed for more than 25 years, Ms. Plain continued to reside in New Jersey, where she and her husband had raised their family and which was still home to her nearby children and grandchildren until her death in October 2010.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dell
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0440216745
• ISBN 13: 9780440216742
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 480