Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year

Shortlist 2024

When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips

When We Were Silent

By Fiona McPhillips

“I’m not here for prestige. I’m here for revenge.”

Lou Manson is an outsider when she joins the final-year class at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school.

Beyond the granite pillars and the wrought-iron gates is a world of wealth, privilege and potential.

But Highfield is also hiding a dark secret – and Lou is here to expose it.

When she befriends the beautiful and talented Shauna Power, her plans are thrown into turmoil. Speaking out against the school would mean betraying Shauna, and Lou soon discovers that the Highfield elite will go to any lengths to protect their own reputation . . .

. . . Even when the consequences are fatal.

Thirty years later, Lou is called to testify in a new lawsuit against Highfield. But telling the truth means confronting her past.

And there is one story she swore she’d never tell . . .

About Fiona McPhillips...

Fiona McPhillips is an Irish journalist, author, and screenwriter, and an editor at The Forge literary magazine. When We Were Silent, the runner-up for the 2021 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger, is her first novel. Fiona lives in Dublin with her three kids, two cats, and a dog.

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