'December' Elizabeth H. Winthrop

A book from The Richard and Judy book club 2009  which tells the story of 9 year old Isabelle who hasn't spoken in nine months.  The book joins her family in December at their weekend home in the country, when both of her parents are starting to despair at Isabelle's self-imposed silence.  Their daughter has seen four psychiatrists, none of whom could help and her New York private school who initially alerted them to Isabelle's silence has declared that it will not take her back in the new term unless she has started speaking again.  Told in turn through the eyes of all three members of the family, we learn of the parents' guilt that they have in some way caused the silence and are shown their reactions to the silence.  The mother's despair that although she has given up work, she can still not make Isabelle speak and the father's feelings of inaptitude as he becomes increasingly frustrated that although he was once close to his daughter, he no longer knows how to relate to her, are described in a heartbreaking and well written manner.  We initially interact with Isabelle only through her parents and their interpretation of both her silence and the art she produces , which they only see if she accidently leaves a notebook lying or doodles on a restaurant placemat, but halfway through the book we are allowed to see Isabelle's thoughts and reasoning for ourselves.  This was an enjoyable read and not dissimilar to Jodi Picoult's writing style and topics and the silence could represent any coping mechanism that is used by a pre-teen who is bewildered at the world around them.  Winthrop's clear but highly observational writing style allows the reader to identify with each character in turn and helps bring to life what could have been a fairly run of the mill family drama.  Would recommend this author to any Picoult fans.