Price of Silence by Camilla Trinchieri

From the Publisher

"The Price of Silence is a suspenseful and moving family drama that will leave you wondering where the truth lies."-Harlan Coben, author of The Woods

"[Camilla] Trinchieri . . . shrewdly mixes up forward-moving court scenes with flashbacks showing how seemingly simple decisions go terribly awry."-The Baltimore Sun

"The Price of Silence is an absolute jewel-a dark tale, intricately woven. . . . It's an intelligent novel-written with great skill and ingeniously plotted."-Linda Fairstein, author of Bad Blood

"The Price of Silence is a chilling and memorable tale of hearts in turmoil, rendered with grace and intensity by an author who understands secrets and the devastation they can wreak."-Richmond Times-Dispatch

"The Price of Silence is a gripping, deftly told tale of loss, love, longing, and betrayal. The characters are complex and compelling, rendered with an artist's eye for telling detail, and the story resonates long after one turns the final page."-Judith Kelman, author of The First Stone

"Prolific as Trella Crespi and Camilla T. Crespi, Trinchieri here debuts most auspiciously as herself."-Kirkus Reviews (starred)

As Emma Perotti's trial for murder begins, her family recalls how young An-ling Huang walked into her classroom and her family's life, dredging up memories of the daughter they lost years ago. Now An-ling is dead. What happened?

Camilla Trinchieri was born in Prague to an Italian diplomat father and American mother. She has an MFA in writing from Columbia University. As Trella Crespi and Camilla T. Crespi, she has published seven mysteries. She livesin New York City.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of this taut psychological thriller from Trinchieri (The Trouble with a Bad Fit and other mysteries under the names Camilla T. Crespi and Trella Crespi), Emma Perotti, an ESL teacher in Manhattan, enfolds one of her students, An-ling Huang, into her family, despite her husband Tom's distrust of the young Chinese woman. Emma is driven in part by the guilt she feels for the infant daughter she accidentally ran over and killed years before-a secret unknown to Tom, the child's father, and Emma's teenage son, Josh. As the bond between the women grows, Emma's marriage stalls. She moves into a loft with An-ling, but the arrangement sours as Emma prepares to return home and An-ling seduces Josh. When An-ling is found dead, Emma is charged with her murder. Though Emma's sudden obsession with An-ling and the family's final redemption both feel slightly forced, the novel is a gripping, intelligent read. Particularly compelling are its subtle insights into the nature of family, foreignness and the lies we tell ourselves and others even when our intentions are good. (June)

Kirkus Reviews

Dark secrets trigger the bizarre murder of a young foreign student. Emma Perotti, an ESL teacher at Columbia, stands trial for the murder of her former student An-Ling Huang, a young Chinese artist, allegedly by spraying insulation foam into the mouth of the unconscious An-Ling, pregnant at the time of her death. Snippets of the trial are interspersed with the first-person memories of Emma, her husband Tom and her teenage son Josh. E-mails from An-Ling complete the puzzle, which Trinchieri tantalizingly doles out a piece at a time, along with hints of the lingering family trauma provoked by the death of Emma's very young daughter Amy. When Emma first meets An-Ling, the girl's halting speech, shy manner and intense admiration makes her a favorite student of Emma's. When the class ends, they lose touch. But after Emma runs into the girl, much harder and more mature, at a club in the East Village, they forge a new relationship, more a friendship than before, although An-Ling still refers to Emma as Lady Teacher. Then abruptly, An-Ling, eschewing her Chinese accent, reveals that she is actually Tom's daughter and has been deliberately stalking the family. Even more unsettling is the moment Josh and Tom interrupt Emma and An-Ling in the middle of a lengthy kiss. Prolific as Trella Crespi and Camilla T. Crespi (The Trouble with a Hot Summer, 1997, etc.), Trinchieri here debuts most auspiciously as herself.

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