In the sequel to Beneath the Bruises, this searing novel explores the effects of secondhand domestic violence on children.

Silent Cry is the story of K’wan Taylor, the now fourteen-year-old son of Syreeta and Randall Taylor from Beneath the Bruises, who withstood his father’s sporadic outbursts and berating tirades by wishing, praying, and hoping his father would disappear. He and his brother spent years watching their father abuse their mother and navigating a home that felt more like a prison. Though never subjected to the abuse firsthand, the secondhand abuse—the yelling, the silent treatments, the muffled cries, the walking on eggshells, took a toll on their psyches. Feeling helpless and hopeless, K’wan spent most of his young life burdened with the pressure of believing he had to protect his mother from his father’s abuse, but not knowing how.

K’wan makes his way to a residential treatment facility for adolescent males, where he begins, slowly, to heal his wounds. It is in his silence that he shares insights and relives painful memories of growing up in a home of violence, revealing his anger toward his father that spiraled into a deep hatred and consumed most of his thoughts.

Silent Cry is a compelling, thoughtful look at how children, particularly boys, are shaped by domestic violence.