The narrator of Deep Blue Silence is a woman obsessed with discovering the truth. Maddie, an artist living in London, is working towards a major exhibition using family glass that was broken by her mother Faith many years earlier. Faith has never talked about the incident, nor about her own family.

Maddie delves into her past, unlocking the silence, while moving into her future as she discovers that she is pregnant. The longish passages about the pregnancy - of suspicions, feelings, doubts and tests - may easily be skimmed by those who feel they add little to the story - but the central theme of preoccupation with the work of art and confrontation with her mother's past is interesting enough to make this an enjoyable read.