Time of Silence

Time of Silence (Tiempo de silencio) is a 1962 novel by the Spanish writer Luis Martín-Santos.

Plot
The novel is about the medical student Pedro, who studies cancer in mice, and his interactions with people in Madrid. An assistant wants to sell the mice illegally. Pedro's lower-class landlady tries to marry off her granddaughter. Pedro has an intellectual friend who achieves very little. Pedro becomes ensnared in a deadly drama when he performs an abortion on a girl who ends up dead. The girl's boyfriend then murders Pedro's fiancee.

Reception
Kirkus Reviews wrote that the novel suffers from too much intellectualism, but that the depiction of Madrid gives it "a degree of power".

Adaptation
The novel was the basis for the 1986 film Tiempo de Silencio.