The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan
A book review for young readers
The Raging Quiet is set in an unspecified time and place similar to the Celtic fringes of rural Britain in the late Middle Ages. Sixteen-year-old Marnie belongs to a family of farmers who must work several days a week on the lord's lands instead of their own fields. When her father falls ill and can no longer work, she agrees to marry one of the lord's sons, a widower more than twice her age, so her large family can keep their house. Her husband brings her to a dilapidated seaside cottage in a village a day's wagon ride away. Mysteriously, he claims it's worth more than all the lands attached to his family's manor house.
Marnie doesn't like married life. The ignorant, suspicious villagers don't like Marnie. Often alone, Marnie befriends an odd boy about her own age who sometimes seems lost in his own inner world and other times howls and moans in an eerie, frightening way. The villagers sometimes tie him to a whipping post to lash out the devil they believe inhabits him. Intelligent, unconventional Marnie figures out his secret: he can't hear. Both of them go through remarkable transformations during the course of the novel, though not without hardship, struggle, and pain both emotional and physical.
The Raging Quiet is beautifully written in lyrical language. Readers may see some of the plot twists coming, but there are plenty of surprises, too, to keep them wondering what will happen next. (1999; 266 pages; recommended for ages 12 and up. An American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults" selection.)