Daughter of Silence (1961) is a crime novel by Australian author Morris West.[1]

Daughter of Silence
First edition
AuthorMorris West
LanguageEnglish
GenreCrime fiction
PublisherHeinemann
Publication date
1961
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages274 pp
Preceded byThe Naked Country 
Followed byThe Shoes of the Fisherman 

Plot outline

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In mid-summer in a Tuscan village a twenty-four-year-old woman shoots the town's mayor dead in revenge for the death of her mother during the war. The subsequent trial brings out secrets both personal and political.

Critical reception

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Joyce Halstead in The Australian Women's Weekly was impressed with the work: "Excellent writing in an attractive novel which uses all the gimmicks for modern reader success - an Italian setting, a court scene with a beautiful young woman on trial for murder, and intricately woven love affairs...The whole resolves itself fairly expectedly and tritely - but the intellectual arguments, convincing dialogue, emotional undertones, and competently wrought plot make it a very satisfying story."[2]

Broadway play

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Daughter of Silence
Written byMorris West
Based onDaughter of Silence
by Morris West
Date premieredNovember 30, 1961 (1961-11-30)

Daughter of Silence was adapted as a Broadway play in 1961 with Janet Margolin who received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.[3]

This play was performed at the Music Box Theatre, New York, in September 1961. It was directed by Vincent J. Donehue. It ran for 36 performances.[4]

See also

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Notes

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  • Dedication: For Hilda
  • Epigraph: Alta vendetta d'alto silenzio e figlia/ Noble vengeance is the daughter of deep silence./ (Alfieri: La Congiura de' Pazzi, Act 1. Sc. 1.)

References

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  1. ^ Austlit - Daughter of Silence by Morris West
  2. ^ "Your Bookshelf" by Joyce Halstead, The Australian Women's Weekly, 10 January 1962, p14
  3. ^ Daughter of Silence at Playbill
  4. ^ A Letter from New York: The Current Theatrical Season Miguel A. Bernad Philippine Studies Vol. 10, No. 2 (April 1962), pp. 304-312 (9 pages)
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