Silence is a Sense

A transfixing and beautifully rendered novel about a refugee’s escape from civil war—and the healing power of community.

A young woman sits in her apartment, watching the small daily dramas of her neighbors across the way. She is an outsider, a mute voyeur, safe behind her windows, and she sees it all—the sex, the fights, the happy and unhappy families. Journeying from her war-torn Syrian homeland to this unnamed British city has traumatized her into silence, and her only connection to the world is the magazine column she writes under the pseudonym “the Voiceless,” where she tries to explain the refugee experience without sensationalizing it—or revealing anything about herself. Gradually, though, the boundaries of her world expand. She ventures to the corner store, to a bookstore and a laundromat, and to a gathering at a nearby mosque. And it isn’t long before she finds herself involved in her neighbors’ lives. When an anti-Muslim hate crime rattles the neighborhood, she has to make a choice: Will she remain a voiceless observer, or become an active participant in a community that, despite her best efforts, is quickly becoming her own?

Layla AlAmmar, a Kuwaiti American writer and student of Arab literature, delivers here a brilliant and affecting story about memory, revolution, loss, and safety. Most of all, and with melodic prose, Silence Is a Sense reminds us just how fundamental human connection is to survival.

Book club questions for Silence is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

The main character spends most of her time watching her neighbors through the window. Why do you think she does this? What does she hope to gain?

Why do you think the main character is particularly reluctant to participate in the community at the mosque?

The book uses multiple devices to relay the narrative, from article excerpts to medical reports to tweets and emails to short stories. Why do you think the author chose to do this? What effect does it have on your reading experience?

Why do you think the main character chose to leave her family rather than escape to Egypt with them?

The novel makes frequent use of memory and dreams alongside present-day events. What did you think of this narrative style? How did it serve the story? What do you think the novel has to say about the ways we remember things?

Discuss the three chapters in the book, which are titled “The Eye.” What are these scenes attempting to convey? What do you make of them? Why do you think they are relayed in such a way?

The main character knows that Matt is the one who vandalized the mosque. How do you feel about her decision not to report him?

Literature features prominently in Silence Is a Sense, with the main character referencing Edgar Allan Poe and The Secret Garden as well as a number of Arabic-language writers and poets, including Mahmoud Darwish and Ghada al-Samman. What role do you feel literature plays in our lives during times of adversity? Were you previously aware of the Arab writers? Are you curious to explore their work?

The main character is strongly resistant to joining Adam’s protests at first and even belittles them. Why do you think that is?

What scene or event gripped you the most? Why and how did it resonate with you?

At one point, when reflecting on a terrorist attack at London Bridge, the main character notes, “I suppose there is a critical threshold after which numbers cease to have any meaning and people stop being ‘real.’” Discuss the implications of this statement.

The main character’s boyfriend, Khalid, plays a large role in her memories. What do you think of this relationship? How did it end? What do you think happened to him?

Silence is a Sense Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Silence is a Sense discussion questions

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Algonquin books.