Resumo de The Silent Lady - Catherine Cookson

Edward Baindor is a cruel and sadistic man but Irene only realizes this after marrying him and bearing a son. Unable to withstand his abuse any longer, she plans an escape to America in search of Timothy Baxter and old childhood friend who helped with her upbringing. Irene had a passion for singing as Timothy had for acting and after the war, they worked together on stage in the chorus line of the musicals and shows.
Following her performance at a charity function organised by Edward?s family solicitor Alex Armstrong, Irene is surprised and delighted to find that Timothy has returned from America but Edward Baindor is furious when he storms backstage and discovers the couple in an innocent embrace. He viciously attacks them and some weeks later visit?s the offices of Alex Armstrong, disclosing plans to disown his wife and have her committed. She must never try to see Richard, their son, again.
Acting swiftly, solicitor Alex and his sister Glenda decide that Irene must leave for Eastbourne to be with her only relative. Not entirely recovered either physically or mentally from the beating and having hardly spoken one word since, she boards the train and is not seen or heard of for 27 years, despite numerous searches and advertisements.
One day, out of the blue, Irene reappears at the offices of Alex Armstrong wearing the same outlandish clothes she had on the day she left for Eastbourne, she is unrecognisable and very sick. It is at this point that the missing pieces begin to fit together, how Bella Morgan and her ?boys? found Irene freezing, hungry and sleeping rough among rotting fruit in the outbuildings and of how Bella took her in and shielded her from the outside world, in particular, men. Although Irene does not speak, Bella understands her and becomes accustomed to her bouts of seizure-type episodes when the cruelty and suffering Irene has experienced in the past emerge, only to subside with Bella?s soothing words and kindness. Only by guesswork does Bella believe that Irene was once married and is a mother. She looks upon Irene - Renee to her - as a daughter and is terrified that one day she will leave and never be found.
Bella, Irene and a few trusted friends, her ?boys?, set up in business offering shelter and food for the homeless and things run smoothly until the mention of a strange sounding name, Baindor. This opens the floodgates and without Bella?s knowledge, Irene goes in search of the son she had been forced to abandon years ago. Unable to make herself understood, Irene finds herself in a desperate situation. She is ill and very weak, but manages to find her way to where she knows someone will help her - Armstrong?s Solicitors.
Catherine Cookson brings her final novel to an emotional climax leaving the reader appeased and yet hungry to return to the story and the lives of it?s characters.

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