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Debut novelist Carole Hailey talks to Zoe about her writing journey. She gave up a career in law to become a full-time writer, and studied under Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo. It was working with her on this writing course that changed her life, got her an agent and eventually led to her writing 'The Silence Project'.

The Silence Project has been described as speculative fiction, feminist fiction and dystopian fiction, and Carole welcomes all of these tags.

Her debut novel centres around Emilia Morris, whose mother Rachel moves into a tent at the bottom of their garden on her thirteenth birthday. From that day on, she never says another word. Inspired by her vow of silence, other women join her and together they build the Community. Eight years later, Rachel and thousands of her followers around the world burn themselves to death.

In the aftermath of what comes to be known as the Event, the Community’s global influence quickly grows. As a result, the whole world has an opinion about Rachel – whether they see her as a callous monster or a heroic martyr – but Emilia has never voiced hers publicly. Until now.

When she publishes her own account of her mother’s life in a memoir called The Silence Project, Emilia also decides to reveal just how sinister the Community has become. In the process, she steps out of Rachel’s shadow once and for all, so that her own voice may finally be heard.