The Bringing Them Home report was the outcome of a national inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. The report was tabled in Federal Parliament in May 1997. Over 600 Aboriginal people who had been removed as children, or who were the children of people who had been removed, were interviewed for the report. The report recommended that official apologies be made, acknowledging responsibility for the laws, policies and practices of forced removals.

In 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a national apology to Australia’s Stolen Generation. As yet, no apology has been made to Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by the British government.

Notes

1. Geoffrey Robertson, ‘We should say sorry too’, Guardian, 13th February 2008

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2. ‘Bringing Them Home, National Inquiry into Torres Straits Islander Children and their Families’, Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, p. 25

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3. ‘Bringing Them Home, National Inquiry into Torres Straits Islander Children and their Families’, Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, p. 28

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A note about language

The language used throughout this novel reflects the language of the period in which the novel is set and the views of some characters for whom racist attitudes were ingrained. Some of this language is not considered appropriate today, but is given in its historical context.

Acknowledgements

I sometimes look back and wonder how I managed to write this book. For most of the years it took me to write it, I was juggling a day job with bringing up young children. I was also learning how to write, which any author knows is a dispiriting experience, the words on the page never matching the brilliant thing we hold in our head. The answer is, I drew on the support around me, and there was a lot of it. I couldn’t have kept going without the people who helped and encouraged me, and I’m enormously grateful to them all.

In particular, I want to thank the friends, family and colleagues who read the early drafts and gave kind and helpful feedback, even when those drafts were slightly dreadful. Thanks to Sheila Pallier, Charlotte Spencer, Catherine Rose, Nicki Bowman, Ed Elias, Emily Elias, Tilly Wright, Sam Dodd, Kit Hui and the Faber Academy gang, Claire Spencer and of course my most steadfast writing buddy Francesca Jakobi. My thanks go out also to the talented teachers I was lucky to work with: Marian Husband, Edward Docx, Debi Alper, Emma Darwin, Esther Freud and Stephen Carver.

Huge thanks to my multi-talented agent Nicola Barr, who helped me to hone my story into the book I was trying to write all along, and took it out into the world with such energy. Many thanks also to Amelia Hodgson and the rest of the team at The Bent Agency for their ongoing support.

Thank you to my brilliant editors, Suzie Dooré in the UK and Kate Nintzel in the US, for their belief in The Silence and their considerable skill in bringing out its potential. Thanks to Ore Agbaje Williams, Rachel Quinn, Simeon Greenaway, Vedika Khanna, Ploy Siripant, Liate Stehlik, Jennifer Hart, Gena Lanzi, Molly Waxman, Jeanie Lee and the rest of the team at HarperCollins for their part in designing, producing and raising the profile of the book. Many thanks also to Caroline Ast of Belfond and to Ilaria Marzi of Harper Italia, for the wonderful French and Italian editions.