A Town With No Noise follows Samara (Sam) and J., a young couple as they travel to J.'s hometown Upton Bay. Upton Bay has been turned into a tourist destination with theaters and wineries to tour. However, beneath the facade lies the mistreatment of immigrant workers and potential dark secrets from J.'s own family. Returning home, Sam's world has been shaken as she also learns her family's long kept secret.

This was a super interesting read and not one that I would normally pick up. It very much focuses on the scars left behind after the German invasion of Norway, and how that trauma has affected the following generations. Granted, I didn't know a ton about the invasion of Norway prior to reading this book but I finished this with curiosity on the subject and will be doing my own research--I took some notes of the resources provided in the novel as well. It also shines a light on some very tough subjects such as the treatment of immigrants, the preservation of tough history, and rampant antisemitism and racism not just in the past but within modern society--with the current political climate though I think these are themes that really resonated with me and are important to see written.

My only major complaint are the footnotes that are provided. The novel is split into two parts and in part two I think the footnotes are very educational and offer additional resources for you to look at outside of the novel. However in part one they aren't entirely needed, if that makes sense. The footnotes in part one offer little tidbits of the scenario or the characters that you probably wouldn't have thought about--and honestly don't really need to know.

For instance, when Sam and J. enter Upton Bay in the first chapter, Sam sees different colored flags in the vineyard and chocks it up to it being a deterrent for birds. But then the footnote would come in and say "She was wrong. The flags are used to determine which species of grape is which" which is fine information... but honestly I don't see why it's needed as I think it might be easier to explain it in the actual text. Part one is filled with footnotes similar to this.

Besides that it was easy to read and was well-written. It flowed sort of like an academic journal and kept my attention the entire time. Super interesting and informative read and I would honestly come back and revisit this someday knowing the full story. 3.75 stars.