Jenny Milchman: The Usual Silence
Series Debut
It’s been awhile since Jenny Milchman had a new book out (The Second Mother, 2020) but her brand of feminist, almost gentle, thrillers are always appealing and difficult to put down once you’ve started reading one. Her new book is the launch of a series featuring Dr. Arles Shepherd, a therapist who, as the book opens, is in disgrace. She’s been fired from her job as she appears to have huge gaps in her memory, one of which happened during a session with a client.
Arles also has an ailing stepfather suffering from dementia, and when she visits, it’s clear there’s some kind of bad emotional backstory, and that he’s hung on to a family property that belongs to her. She plans to take over the property and turn it into a therapeutic immersive camp for families. It’s also clear she’s had a long obsession with a certain photograph, and she’s just found the identity of the person in the photo. Part of the reason for her therapy camp is the woman in the photo, who happens to have an autistic son. She’s a perfect fit for the camp.
