Painter of Silence
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Iasi, Romania, the early 1950s. A nameless man is found on the steps of a hospital. Deaf and mute, he is unable to communicate until a young nurse called Safta brings paper and pencils with which he can draw. Slowly, painstakingly, memories appear on the page.
The memories are Safta’s also. For the man is Augustin, son of the cook at the manor house which was Safta’s family home. Born six months apart, they grew up with a connection that bypassed words. But while Augustin’s world remained the same size Safta’s expanded to embrace languages, society – and a fleeting love, one long, hot summer.
But then came war, and in its wake a brutal Stalinist regime, and nothing would remain the same.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
This book has been nominated because the subject matter is historical and unusual. This book is written in lyrical, beautiful, intense prose which captures in the extraordinary view of an unusual outsider, who is witness to a tragic time in Romania’s history.