A deeply unsettling psychological thriller for fans of Sophie Hannah, Sarah Hilary and Nicci French…
Silent is the Forest is a newly translated novel published in ebook format by Manilla in September 2016.
Manilla is the joint initiative of Bonnier Zaffre, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing in the UK, and Ullstein Verlag in Germany.
Written by Gisa Klönne, a German writer living in Cologne, I was interested to see how her work would translate into English.
Read on for my thoughts….
Book Blurb:
The silent forest hides many secrets…
When a badly decomposed body is discovered in a forest, Judith Krieger, a police detective from Cologne, is assigned to the case.
For years burdened by a terrible memory, Judith knows that this is her last chance to recover her famed abilities. Chain smoking and suffering from chronic fatigue, she gets started with the investigation…
But Judith makes mistakes, and is forced to blur the boundaries between work and her own past.
With everything at stake – her job and even her identity – she needs to solve this case, but is she still the cop she once was?
Silent is the Forest is the first in a series of novels about Detective Judith Krieger.
Judith Krieger is a young police woman traumatized by an event that happened some years previously. Her world is falling apart. Everything in her life is out of control. Her boss has been lenient with her thus far but his patience is running out.
When a badly decomposed body is found hidden away in a forest, Judith has one last chance to redeem herself.
Her love life is in tatters and Judith is exhausted. She needs all her courage and endurance to see this case through.
As Judith is to discover, the forest holds many secrets. Home to a yoga retreat, there is a constant movement of people, causing difficulties for the investigators to complete their tasks.
Judith was an experienced and very successful detective. She had held the respect of all her colleagues within the police force. Most of those she would have crossed paths with knew she was not to be trifled with. But times have changed. Judith no longer trusts her gut. She is acting careless and forgetful. Her boss and partner are concerned not just for Judith but for the whole investigation.
Silent is the Forest is a complex read. There are numerous characters with rather unusual names. Maybe this is where I had difficulty connecting with the book. I found myself having to back check on many occasions and I have to be honest I almost stopped reading at page 100!! I did though persist to the end and was glad I did.
I have read many translated books and I always hope that a part of the story does not get lost in translation. In the case of this book I think it did… Maybe in German the book comes across better.
The story-line attracted me to the book but it was the layout, the jumping between a multitude of characters and the complexity of the characters intertwining stories that resulted in my rather deflated feeling about the book.
I have no doubt there are plenty who will think differently and I would like to thank Bonnier Zaffre for giving me the opportunity to read Silent is the Forest.
It’s always good to step out of one’s comfort zone occasionally, hence my attraction to the translated book.
It opens a world of different writing to me, to which I am very thankful.
Meet the Author:
Gisa Klönne (born 1964) lives as a writer in Cologne.
Her series around the self-confident Commissioner Judith Krieger has so far sold more than half a million copies, has been translated into several languages and has received many awards, including the Friedrich Glauser Crime Prize.
Before she was lucky enough to earn her living as a writer, Klönne studied English, German literature, politics and theater, film and television sciences, and worked as a secretary, an operatic woman, a breeder, and a feminist research project at the university.
She volunteered at an environmental magazine, worked as a chief editor and freelance journalist, and as a lecturer in the training and further education of journalists.
I think it is a real art to translation. the balanced between making it accessible and yet keeping the feel of the original writing. It sounds as though this was a very “busy” kind of plot that made it just that much harder to enjoy
I think that’s an excellent description Tina….”busy”. While I potentially think I could have liked the book, it was just badly set out in changeover of characters in a chapter. You had to go back & see who was talking…. Pity really! Less characters may have made it easier…..Apparently a very popular writer in Germany. I have to assume translation is an issue with it unless someone tells me different.. Thanks for your feedback Tina. Always so appreciated. x
Welcome to German Literature Month and thank you for this review. I’ve added you to the blogroll and your review to the contributions imdex over at germanlitmonth.blogspot.co.uk, where you’ll find lots of ideas for further reading, if you so wish.
I wonder if part of the problem was the e-book format? I’m a novice e-reader I admit, but I have noticed that I don’t retain information when e-reading and often want to double-check things. But I can’t do that as easily with an e-book as with a physical book.
Hi Lizzy. Thank you for your feedback. TBH I did think that one of my issues with the book may have been the ebook format but having not read any of Gisa Klönne’s books before it’s hard to compare. My issue was with the volume of characters and also the transition of one character’s story to the next. Conversations switched between characters without any differentiation/break….it became a matter of checking to see who was talking. Maybe on paper this may be clearer. Maybe in German it may be clearer. I have read a number of translated books, not loads, and this was my first German one. It’s not an issue I’ve encountered before. With regard to ebooks I’m admittedly more of a PB girl so there’s no love lost there but I understand the necessity of them. Can I ask have you read any Gisa Klönne books in German/English? I would love to hear your thoughts…. BTW it’s really really lovely to hear from you 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to read my review. x
Thank you for participating in German Literature Month. Although I read in German, I haven’t read any of her novels yet.
I may be wrong but I have a feeling the issues you mention would be pretty much the same in German. I’m not too tempted to pick her up as I’m poilt for choice. There are too many German crime writers available. If you’d like to try another one – I enjoyed Petra Hammesfahr and Charlotte Link.
Thank you for your feedback Caroline. I think that’s always a difficulty with translations. If the book doesn’t turn out as expected is it the translation or the plotline??? Thank you for your recommendations. Much appreciated. x