The cold permeates my reading as the descriptions are so vivid. Alaska in winter, when daylight is only a memory, and the cold and dark are extreme.
ToThe cold permeates my reading as the descriptions are so vivid. Alaska in winter, when daylight is only a memory, and the cold and dark are extreme.
Told mainly from the point of view of ten-year old Ruby, the narrative relates her thoughts and fears. Mostly, the fear that they will not be able to find her beloved father. Because Ruby is deaf, she interprets her surroundings, and the things and people in it, in a different way than a hearing person would. This adds an added dimension to the story. Interspersed throughout are Yasmin's memories of her own youth, her mother's death, and her memories of when she met her husband, Matt. Yasmin's chats with Ruby during this momentous voyage results in her getting to really know her daughter.
Meanwhile, the mother and daughter brave great physical dangers, both from the brutal weather conditions, and, from someone who does not want them to travel north in the event that they discover something unethical and reprehensible.
The title was perfect for the novel. The quality of silence being something unique to both deaf people, and in the remote, brutally cold Alaskan tundra.
The read was by turns tense, harrowing, and poignant. Despite the novel being at times implausible (with a city-born astrophysicist driving a forty-ton, eighteen wheeler on a desolate Alaskan ice road) this was a well executed cautionary tale of what happens when greed surpasses moral integrity and ethics.
This is the first time I've read Rosamund Lupton's work, and "The Quality of Silence" serves as a good endorsement for me to read more. It is a suspense-filled novel with themes of environmental ethics, misguided patriotism, familial loss, and loving tenacity.
3.5 stars rounded up for Amazon and NetGalley - rounded down for Goodreads (where the star values are slightly different)...more
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