The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson review – love in a fractured city

“The exact number of German women raped during the dying days of world war two is unknown, but it is possibly as high as 2 million,” writes Swedish-born Josie Ferguson about the inspiration behind her assured debut.

Shortlisted for the Waterstones debut prize 2024, The Silence in Between explores the devastating impact of sexual violence during conflict and weaves together the stories of a mother and daughter. In Berlin in 1945, Lisette and her mother, Rita, anxiously await the arrival of the Soviet soldiers. In 1961 Lisette lives in the same apartment in East Berlin with her husband and 15-year-old daughter, Elly. Lisette’s newborn, Axel, is being treated in a hospital in the west side of the city when the border is sealed overnight and further travel prohibited – anyone who attempts to cross risks being shot. Lisette is desperate to be reunited with her baby while Elly, in an effort to win the love of her distant mother, resolves to make the perilous journey across the divided city and bring home her brother.

The title alludes to Mozart’s claim that ‘music is not in the notes but in the silence in between’

The plot may sound far-fetched but the border’s abrupt closure fractured many families. As a mother herself, Ferguson was moved by Sigrid Paul’s true story , published in the Guardian in 2009, about the four years she spent apart from her child.

Music and silence are powerful motifs. Lisette is ashamed of her quiet acceptance while witnessing the deportation of Jews from Berlin: “Evil demanded little of me – it merely asked me to remain silent, to do nothing.” The title, meanwhile, alludes to Mozart’s claim that “music is not in the notes but in the silence in between”. Elly can read an individual’s personality by “the melodies surrounding them”, but Lisette’s love of piano is stifled during occupation, and trauma leaves her temporarily mute.

While the ending is a little neat, The Silence in Between is a haunting and compassionate account of war’s legacy, the atrocities inflicted on ordinary German women and their extraordinary resilience.

• The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson is published by Doubleday (£16.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply