Silence
- What do you think, doctor?
I know that voice.
- It will remain critical for a few more days.
A strange voice. I am in a long tunnel. It is cold. At the back, a warm, white light shines. I cannot get that far. I feel the warmth of the light up to here. I have to go there. I have to.
- She always wants to get up. That's why we had to tie her up. That will change.
Alex ties my wrists and ankles to the bed. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting anything to do with it.
Elien is fourteen. Her mother is chronically ill, her father a respectable bank clerk and a talented amateur photographer. No one suspects that Elien is being abused by her father. She guards her secret anxiously. She only gives signals to her boyfriend Koen. Yet she doesn't really tell him what's wrong either.
Desperate, Elien runs away from home. In a fit of desperation, she throws herself under a truck and ends up in hospital, seriously injured.
Will her father now also escape the dance? And will her relationship with Koen ever be good?
'Silence is a gripping story about incest and abuse. The book doesn't mince words. It confronts us with the terrible facts that sometimes take place behind beautiful facades. Yet there is also a lot of warmth and love in the book. It is therefore recommended for everyone: readers, care providers, victims.'
Fransesca Vanthielen, godmother of the non-profit organization Childcry.