Daughter of Silence

Daughter of Silence (1961) is a crime novel by Australian author Morris West.

Plot outline
In mid-summer in a Tuscan village a twenty-four-year-old woman shoots the town's mayor dead in revenge for the death of her mother during the war. The subsequent trial brings out secrets both personal and political.

Critical reception
Joyce Halstead in The Australian Women's Weekly was impressed with the work: "Excellent writing in an attractive novel which uses all the gimmicks for modern reader success - an Italian setting, a court scene with a beautiful young woman on trial for murder, and intricately woven love affairs...The whole resolves itself fairly expectedly and tritely - but the intellectual arguments, convincing dialogue, emotional undertones, and competently wrought plot make it a very satisfying story."

Broadway play
Daughter of Silence was adapted as a Broadway play in 1961 with Janet Margolin who received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

This play was performed at the Music Box Theatre, New York, in September 1961. It was directed by Vincent J. Donehue. It ran for 36 performances.