In her late forties, after a noisy upbringing as one of six children, and adulthood as a vocal feminist and mother, Sara Maitland found herself living alone in the country, and, to her surprise, she fell in love with silence. In this fascinating, intelligent book, in a wonderfully confiding, direct and witty voice, Maitland describes how she set out to explore this new love, spending periods of silence in the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. She finds her own experiences, both euphoric and dark, mirrored in the accounts of others who have experienced silence – from explorers and mystics to long distance sailors. And she delves deep into the rich cultural history of silence, exploring its significance in fairytale and myth, its importance to the Western and Eastern religious traditions, its use in psychoanalysis and artistic expression, and contemporary society’s increasing fear of it. Maitland’s journey into silence has held surprises and setbacks, but mainly a deepening happiness. She recently built herself a hermitage on an isolated moor in Galloway, and the book culminates with her experiences of silence in this new home.