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The Security of Silence begins in the late nineteenth century and continues through the early decades of the twentieth century. It is the story of Emilie Elizabeth Louise Bartholomae who grew up in a small southern German village. Her childhood was idyllic until the death of her father changes the family circumstances of privilege and economic security to uncertainty and fear for the future. The onset of World War I and its tragic aftermath for both the country and Batholomae family makes Emilie feel uncertain and threatened by the onrush of events and circumstances over which she feels she little or no control. She marries a man who is many years her senior but who has become a successful businessman in spite of losing his voice from a war wound. She soon discovers her husband has the tendencies of a sexual predator. She remains silent and thereby denies the reality of his behavior. She believes it is the result of his wound. |
