Published by 3P Publishing on July 6, 2018
Amazon UK
Goodreads
Voices surround Anna as she lies on her hospital bed, but she cannot answer them. Her voice has been taken, along with her mobility and her sight. She can hear the nurses chattering and her family that come to visit. Her mum cries a lot and her dad struggles to deal with what he sees. Life used to be good for Anna, but life can change in a heartbeat, as she knows so well.
And then there are the people we think we know. When the smile hides the anger. When the beauty hides the beast.
Only Anna knows the truth, but Anna cannot speak.
Today it is my stop on the tour for Silencing Anna, this book sounds quite terrifying if I am being honest! lol. So what am I sharing today, an excerpt from the book if you dare to read it! And to be honest the front cover is also quite haunting! Check it out below…
GET IN THE BACK
“Put your phone down Anna.”
“I beg your pardon?” I said, astounded.
“I said, put your phone down. You are only playing on it to annoy me.”
“No, I’m not, stop telling me what I think,” I retorted.
“You have two choices Anna, either you put the phone down, or you get in the back like the child you are, or I’ll take the phone off you and throw it out of the bloody window.”
“That’s three choices James,” I said sarcastically, rage swirling in my chest.
“That is it,” James said menacingly, grabbing my hand and trying to get my phone. We were on the motorway by now, and the car was swerving dangerously across the lanes as we grappled with one another. James got hold of the skin on my arm and twisted it painfully with his nails.
“Give me the sodding phone!” he demanded, opening the window of the car.
“No!” I shouted. “Stop it, you crazy bastard!”
“How dare you call me names, you evil cow.”
The car continued to swerve all over the road, and I began to feel scared.
“Get in the back then if you won’t give me your phone.”
“Watch the road!” I screamed.
“GET IN THE BACK! NOW!” he ordered.
“No! Stop it! Why are you doing this?”
“Because you are acting like a child Anna and children sit in the back. Get in the back,” he said again, pulling the sleeve of my top roughly and unfastening my seatbelt.
“Stop it! STOP IT! WATCH THE ROAD!”
“GET. IN. THE. BACK,” he ordered again. “The front seat is for adults.”
I fastened my seatbelt again and stared back out of the window. My breathing was fast and jittery.
“Get in the back Anna, or I will take my hands off the wheel of this car and put my foot down.”
He was playing on my fear of the road. I knew that accidents happened, that people were killed, and he knew that since losing Dylan, I had become more nervous, more vigilant when I drove and that was probably why he made such a big deal about doing all of the driving.
“Get in the back Anna,” he ordered again, and so I unfastened my seatbelt and began to climb through to the back, bitter humiliation choking me. He grabbed me roughly and pushed me through the two front seats and as I passed him I slapped the back of his head. I knew that I shouldn’t have done it, but I felt so humiliated at submitting to his orders that I just lashed out at him.
We drove along in silence for a few minutes and then he began to speak.
“I’m getting sick of your violent outbursts. You are obviously totally screwed up. It’s probably something to do with grief after lover boy died, but I swear if you take one more of your moods out on me I will knock your teeth into your throat.”
I said nothing. I was so angry that I couldn’t speak and all my concentration was going into controlling my breathing. James turned the radio off and then began to make a call. The phone was on hands-free so I could hear both sides of the conversation.
“Hello darling!” June said brightly.
“Mum,” James said, his voice cracking slightly.
“James are you okay?” she asked, concerned.
“Not really, mum, Anna has just hit me, and it’s not the first time that this has happened.”
“Oh my goodness, are you okay? Oh my word, what on earth is going on?”
“We were arguing, and she just lashed out at me. I just thought I’d let you know mum; I might have to come and stay with you and dad. I can’t go through all this again.”
“Okay darling, keep in touch, I hope you are okay. I am so shocked James; I was sure she was such a nice girl.”
I sat with my mouth open in shock. Had James really just told a tale about me to his mum? Were we five years old again? I dialled June’s number, and she answered quickly.
“Anna,” she said coldly. “What is going on?”
“June I just want you to know that the story that James has just told you isn’t strictly true.”
“Why, what happened?”
“Look I am not going to start telling tales. You don’t need to know what has just happened, but we didn’t only have an argument where I lashed out.”
“Anna, did you or did you not hit James?”
“I did June.”
“Well, in that case, you are very much in the wrong. There is never any excuse for hitting another person, no matter what they have just said to you and I am afraid that I have lost all regard that I once held for you. Goodbye Anna.”
And with that, she hung up.
This is shit. I thought again. Really complete shit. I looked out of the window, wishing that I was somewhere else. What had happened to my life? I remembered the road trips that Dylan and I used to take: the car was usually filled with laughter, a nice atmosphere, good music that we both wanted to listen to. As though reading my thoughts, James flicked the radio back on and turned it up. I leant my forehead against the glass of the window and watched the countryside speeding by.
Jessica Rachow says
My post for this is tomorrow! I read it. A haunting tale, indeed. Your post is beautiful!
Zoe says
I didn’t get the chance to fit it in to read but the excerpt I got sounded so good! I can’t wait to read your review! Ahh thank you 🙂