Review of When the Noise Fades by Chris Yiangou

 Review of When the Noise Fades by Chris Yiangou

In When the Noise Fades, Claire has five weeks to clear her mother’s seaside house before it is sold. As she sorts through dishes, photographs and old school papers, she finds herself taking stock of more than the family’s possessions. Her daughter has just left for university, her marriage has ended, and an old friend has returned to town. The work of emptying the house gives her time to notice what has changed in each of those relationships.

Chris Yiangou is especially good at showing how ordinary objects hold different meanings for different people. A serving dish brings back years of Christmas dinners for Claire, while her mother sees a chipped dish she no longer needs. A box of Sophie’s childhood keepsakes prompts affection, laughter and a difficult recognition: Sophie cannot carry every memory her mother wants to preserve. These scenes feel observant without becoming overly sentimental.

The conversations are another strength. Claire’s practical, sharp-tongued mother has a life beyond the role Claire knows her in. Her renewed friendship with Rachel reveals how little either woman could see of the other’s life from a distance. A quiet conversation with Claire’s former husband is particularly affecting because neither of them tries to make their shared past simple.

This is a gentle, deliberately paced novella. Readers looking for dramatic twists may find it too quiet; its movement comes through small changes in what Claire says, keeps, gives away and allows other people to do for themselves. By the end, those changes have earned their weight. When the Noise Fades is a thoughtful story about family, memory and finding room for a life that is still unfolding.

Goodreads Review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8993305945


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