Published in 2025
480 pages
Carole Hailey’s first novel, The Silence Project, was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Christopher Bland Prize. It was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick, a #1 Kindle Bestseller, a Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month and a Booksellers Association Indie Book of the month, selected by a panel of independent booksellers.
Carole completed the six-month Guardian/UEA novel writing course taught by Bernardine Evaristo, following which she abandoned a career in law to undertake an MA in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths. Her MA was followed by a PhD in Creative Writing at Swansea University, which she completed in 2020. She was also a London Library Emerging Writer 2020/21.
Carole lives in Wales with her husband and two dogs and can be found on Instagram @carolehaileyx
What is this book about?
If you hurt me, I’ll hurt you. Not right away of course, because where’s the fun in that?
When an empty passenger plane mysteriously crashes in the Lake District, journalist Carly Atherton is determined to get to the truth of what happened – the love of her life was one of the two pilots on board.
But when she contacts the family of the other pilot, the conflicting memories of his wife and his sister draw her into a story far darker than she could possibly have imagined.
As Carly delves into the dynamics of a seemingly ordinary family, she realises that the bonds that shape us can also tear us apart – and that sometimes there are monsters living among us, hiding in plain sight…
