["Music and Silence" is an] ambitious, troubling novel set in London and dealing pointedly with so many grand themes that it comes across rather unfocused and shallow for all the attempt at depth. Still, Anne Redmon's second book is a brave portrayal of two pathetic women and a religious fanatic who struggle to accomplish many things…. The plotting is a pleasure to follow; and, if one can bear up under the self-searching, self-contradicting, self-flagellating monologues of the principal characters, Ms. Redmon's language at times reaches such rhythmic, melodic beauty as to make one hear as music her words upon the page.