Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand (audiobook)

I have found a new author that I really enjoy, and that I’m sure my FLICKS Book and Movie Club would also enjoy. In Silver Girl, Elin Hilderbrand has written a moving story of friendship through the changes and hardships of life. If you enjoy novels by some of my and my book club’s favorite authors such as Jennifer Weiner, Kristin Hannah, and Jodi Picoult, I think you would really enjoy Hilderbrand as well. This is my first book by Hilderbrand, but it definitely will not be my last!


In a story ripped from headlines, Meredith Martin Delinn has discovered that her husband Freddy has been running a giant investment scheme and has ripped his clients off of all of their money. Freddy has single-handedly brought the American economy down to its knees, and for it has been thrown into jail for the rest of his life. Suddenly without money, her husband, and separated by her sons due to current criminal investigations, Meredith finds herself alone and hated by friends, the press, and all of Freddy’s investors. Luckily, Meredith has one estranged best friend, Constance “Connie” Flute that she can call.

Connie has recently lost her husband to cancer and has become estranged from her daughter. She lives a lonely life and is ready to welcome Meredith back into it. She worries about the fact that Meredith is under a criminal investigation, and things turn sinister as someone starts to vandalize Connie’s home. Will Connie and Meredith be able to repair their friendship? Will they be able to move on with their lives after love lost? Who is stalking Meredith? There are a lot of great story threads in this novel that kept me riveted.

I love how this novel gave the entire story of both women’s lives and the history of their friendship. It was a deep complex look, just like the greatest of friendships. I also liked the many mysteries imbedded in the story, especially the stalking of Meredith, what caused their friendship rift, where did Freddy hide his money, and what caused the rift between Connie and her daughter. It made it a great story to listen to the audiobook as I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next as well as the resolution to all of these mysteries. The novel does an excellent job of tying up all of the threads of the narrative for a great conclusion.

The characters were all fantastic, particularly Meredith and Connie. They were full three-dimensional characters with problems and worries of their own. Meredith was not painted as a just a victim of her husband damsel in distress. She had been duped, but she was able to help solve the mystery and take her future into her own hands. Connie was able to battle alcoholism and to put her love for her deceased husband aside in order to move on with life. I particularly liked when Connie was going to go on a date and had the same worries as a teenager although she was in her 50’s.

I also enjoyed the shout-outs to Jane Austen in the book. Meredith goes to a bookstore and purchases Persuasion, the only Austen she had not read. I thought to myself, you are in for a treat, it is a fabulous novel.

I find it interesting how the Bernie Madoff scandal has made it firmly into our culture. I read and really enjoyed Tangled Webs by James B. Stewart this past spring which includes an analysis of the scandal. Next up on my audiobook list is The End of Normal by Stephanie Madoff Mack, a memoir by Bernie Madoff’s daughter-in-law. I find it all intriguing, but what do you think – too much Madoff? Or did the impact on our society as well as the intrigue of a man whose selfish greed ruled him too intriguing of an idea for a writer to resist?

I thought it was interesting in this novel that Meredith was shunned by everyone and guilty by association, although she had no clue that Freddy was a liar and a cheat. It was almost a Salem witch trial feel where everyone was so against her, which was sad to read, but so true of the way our society works at times.

Silver Girl was told through the point of view of both Meredith and Connie. The audiobook did an excellent job of putting voices to both of these narratives by having two different readers, Janet Metzger and Marianne Fraulo. I think they both did an excellent job narrating the story. I also thought it was a perfect book to listen too as I stated before due to the great plotlines and mysteries.

Silver Girl is the 11th book I’ve listened to this year as part of The Audiobook Challenge 2011.

Book Source: Review Copy from Hachette Book Group. Thank-you!