Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Deaf since the age of five, Mina has had to fight for everything she has, including her place at an Austrian university to study physics. She has never felt accepted—until she meets fellow student Siggy, and her heart stops at the kindness in his bright blue eyes.
But Mina’s world comes crashing down when the SS arrive at her door and escort her to Berlin. She’s terrified it’s because of her disability—she’s heard the awful rumours about the Nazi euthanasia program. So relief washes over her when she’s told as one of Germany’s brightest minds, she’s been recruited to work for the government.
Soon, this relief turns to horror when Mina learns why she’s truly here: they want her to build the atomic bomb that will win Germany the war. Mina knows if she refuses they will kill her. But if she does as they say, she could be responsible for the death of millions.
With Siggy’s help, Mina vows to do everything she can to sabotage the project. Will they save the world from a devastating catastrophe? Or will everything they’ve risked be in vain?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of When the World Went Silent to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
When the World Went Silent is easily the best book that Ellie Midwood has written in some time. I flew through it in two sittings so completely engrossed and gripped was I by the story that was unfolding. Who’d have thought science and physics would have held my attention and have me reading the pages as quickly as possible to see what was going to happen next? But that’s exactly what happened. Although this is a work of fiction it’s based on true facts and the story that developed was fascinating with a female heroine who had such unwavering resolve, an unbroken spirit and such a gutsy attitude. Mina became a character whom I couldn’t get enough of as she is sucked deeper and deeper into the German’s world as they race to create an atomic bomb which could change the face of the world forever if they succeeded.
A shocking, hard hitting and very descriptive and visual prologue has the reader sitting up and paying attention instantly and from this point on my interest never wavered. As the story progressed this prologue connected back very well to the work that Mina was under taking highlighting the consequences of said work if they could make it come to fruition. Nuclear physics and its role in the war was not a topic I had given any previous thought to whilst reading historical fiction but here it was stimulating and thought provoking and really broadened my horizons and opinions when it came to World War Two and how it was won.
There was a danger that the book could have become bogged down in scientific terms and explanations and to be honest I initially thought this is way too complicated for my liking and that the majority of it would go over my head. Thankfully this didn’t turn out to be the case at all and that’s some feat from the author. Clearly she had undertaken meticulous research and to write said information is a way that was accessible to the reader was a great achievement. I feel as if I have had a challenging and exhilarating science lesson but instead of sitting in a classroom I was taken right to the heart of the German research and in doing so I discovered an competent and impressive young woman who ‘in a world gone mad, the pursuit of truth, the defence of the defenceless, is the greatest act of rebellion’.
It was so refreshing to have a female character so different from the norm. For Mina was only five when complications from the measles left her deaf. She is extremely clever and bright and obsessed with maths and the sciences and has long excelled at school resulting in her being given work to do beyond her age level. But now her beloved home country of Austria has been overtaken by the Germans and Mina is viewed as a undesirable and a scourge on society. ’The Germans came and she turned into an undesirable overnight, a handicapped girl, the dark stain on the immaculate genetical imprint of the Ayran race’. She can no longer attend school and must be home-schooled. She wants to prove that she is more than just a deaf girl and she does this time and time again showing how gutsy, spunky and talented she is.
There is a small subplot near to the beginning of the book which at the time of reading I thought was this necessary to have included it in the story? But upon reflection it was essential and paved the way for what was to come. It also taught Mina an important lesson regarding how Jews were treated during the war and it fuelled her fire even further. Mina can’t hear things but she feels them and sees them with her eyes. She is highly principled and quietly obstinate and these qualities see her enrolled in university where she keeps her disability a secret. Here is where her talents are observed by the Germans. She meets Siggy a fellow student and they strike up a friendship. I loved how this aspect of the storyline was completely downplayed and very much understated. It needed to be as this was not the kind of book given over to gushing moments or a will they won’t they scenario as there were far more important issues and problems to deal with. Yet still it was subtly there in the background and I appreciated it’s inclusion.
Such brilliance and a quick and sharp mind when it comes to maths and physic means Mina is taken from her university in Austria and brought to Berlin to work with The Uranium Club. She is very much a women in the midst of a man’s world but this doesn’t stop her in her tracks at all. Instead, it’s like she has come home and is doing what she had always wanted to do and that is to be a scientist. But things take on a different meaning when she discovers what the scientists are actually working towards. They are attempting to build the atomic bomb that will ultimately help Germany win the war. The more Mina researches and the deeper into the experimentation the club delve the more Mina understands that if this bomb were to be created the effects would be deadly and horrific. ‘The die is cast, and with each new discovery, they’re approaching something that shall forever change the very life on earth’.
Here is where the tension really ramps up as there is a desperate race to hinder the progress of the reactor prototype. Mina is astute she knows that the Americans are hard at work probably creating their own bomb but if she can stall the Germans in their tracks she feels she will have done something to help humanity. For humanity is whom Mina is always thinking of and through her research and observations she knows that the consequences will be catastrophic if the Germans build the bomb first. ’Science has been turned into a tool of annihilation instead of hope’. Huge responsibilities lie on her shoulders but my admiration for Mina just grew and grew the further I read and you completely forget that she even had a disability so strong was she in her beliefs and actions. ‘They may not be in the physical trenches, but their invisible war, is no less dangerous and, perhaps even more detrimental to the fate of mankind’.
To use the word enjoyable for When the World Went Silent would be wrong but that’s what I am going to say. I didn’t feel like leaving when the story ended and I was completely consumed by it. This was such an important topic to write about and as you read it you are aware of the eventual outcome in terms of world history and also thinking this is still very much relevant to today and perhaps even more so. Mina is an outstanding character full of grit, resilience and courage who takes you on an exhilarating and dangerous journey exploring a riveting time in history. Ellie Midwood has done herself proud with this book and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
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