"House of Silence" by Sarah Barthel

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If we could give half stars, I would have rated this book 3.5. "House of Silence" by Sarah Barthel has a great cover and interesting synopsis. Set in Oak Park, Illinois in 1875, Isabelle Larkin is the daughter of a wealthy family whose mother is more concerned with social status than the fate of her daughter. Isabelle's best friend Lucy is in a similar situation as her family believes her beau, that she intends to marry, is beneath her.

Isabelle is engaged to Gregory Gallagher who appears to be the "perfect" man. He is handsome, from a prominent family and has lofty political ambitions. However, he is not who he appears to be as Isabelle hears him arguing with a servant at their engagement party and then sees him commit a terrible crime.

She attempts to convince her mother of his duplicity, but when her efforts at honesty don't work, she fakes a mental breakdown in which she cannot speak. She is shortly sent to Bellevue sanitarium where she befriends Mary Todd Lincoln. The setting and introduction of Mary Todd Lincoln are two of the things that intrigued me enough to read this book.

While at the sanitarium, she investigates Gregory and she and her best friend finally find out the truth.

"House of Silence" would be a great beach/car read. The first part of the book drags a bit. The book would have been more interesting if there were more details of daily life in the sanitarium at that time and more of Mrs. Lincoln, her condition and background.