The Weight Of Silence | Heather Gudenkauf

On a hot August morning in Iowa, two little girls are found missing from their beds. Martin Gregory awakes to find his daughters bed completely empty, in a panic he searches the house thinking she just woke early and went down stairs to watch television. Coming to the conclusion that his daughter is nowhere in the house he wakes his wife Fielda and calls the police. Fielda suggests they check Calli's house, but when they arrive they discover that Calli is missing as well.


Seven year old Calli Clark has not spoken a word in nearly three years. When Calli was just four years old, she witnessed her pregnant mother, Antonia, fall down the stairs and lose her baby. Since that tragic day Calli has been a selective mute. At first her mother tried to get her to speak but she wouldn't, eventually her mother just figured she would speak when she was ready. Her father Griff on the other hand, was not so kind. Griff Clark was an alcoholic with a mean streak. When he got drunk he would pick on Calli for not speaking, he went as far as making fun of her, calling her a retard and putting her down. Calli knew to stay away from him when she could, she knew what he was capable of even at seven years old.

Petra Gregory, a sweet seven year old girl, is Calli's best friend and neighbor. However, they didn't become friends by living next door to each other , they met in school after Petra learned Calli did not speak. Curious she went to Calli's lunch table and sat down next to her and began to talk to her, the two formed a friendship over a peanut butter fluff sandwich. With Petra around, Calli doesn't need to utter a word, she knows what Calli wants to say and therefore is her voice in the world. No one understands their special friendship but the girls don't really care, they have each other and that's all that matters.


The Weight of Silence is a novel full of suspense and secrets. It is told in alternating viewpoints by each person involved in the story, it is so well written however that it never becomes confusing. The story has a very nice flow to it and chapter after chapter you will just want more. Gudenkauf has written a debut novel that has a thumping heart beat. I didn't want to put it down, it was addicting and intriguing. There is so much to think about in this novel. Gudenkauf really touches on a few important issues in society today. From the effects of alcoholism and abuse, to the abduction of these two sweet little girls. These are real issues that need more attention.


Every forty seconds a child is abducted in the United States. Every forty seconds Forty-nine percent of cases a family member is involved, twenty-seven percent are by an acquaintance, twenty-four percent are by a stranger. In eighty percent of abductions by strangers, the first contact between the child and the abductor occurs within a quarter mile of the child's home. Most potential abductors grab their victims on the street or try to lure them into their vehicles. About seventy-four percent of the victims of nonfamily child abduction are girls. Seventy-four percent of abducted children who are ultimately murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction. One in five children ten to seventeen years old receive unwanted sexual solicitations online.

child abduction facts