The Quality of Silence
by Rosamund Lupton
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The gripping, moving story of a mother and daughter's quest to uncover a dark secret in the Alaskan wilderness, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sister and AfterwardsThrillingly suspenseful and atmospheric, The Quality of Silence is the story of Yasmin, a beautiful astrophysicist, and her precocious deaf daughter, Ruby, who arrive in a remote part of Alaska to be told that Ruby's father, Matt, has been the victim of a catastrophic accident. Unable to accept his death as truth, show more Yasmin and Ruby set out into the hostile winter of the Alaskan tundra in search of answers. But as a storm closes in, Yasmin realizes that a very human danger may be keeping pace with them. And with no one else on the road to help, they must keep moving, alone and terrified, through an endless Alaskan night. show less
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This one started off a trifle slow, but thoroughly peaked my interest 50 pages in and then I could not put the damn thing down. I thought it was just a suspense novel, but it turned out to be so much more than that, although I don't want to divulge too much and ruin the twist at the end.
Yasmin and her ten year old deaf daughter have just flown from England to Alaska to meet her husband and when they arrive they are giving awful news. The small village that Matt was staying at to film the wildlife has burnt down killing everyone it including her husband. Unable to believe the news she is convinced she must go to Norther Alaska and find her husband because the state troopers won't search for him since they believe he is dead. Armed with show more only her guts and her wildly smart and mature ten year old, they convince a trucker headed north to let them tag along for several hundred miles. When he is taken ill and rushed to a hospital, Yasmin uses her engineering degree to drive the rig up the ice highways to search for Matt. She soon realizes that it's not just her and her daughter on the road, someone is following her. What is trying to stay hidden out in this barren hellishly cold landscape? Is her husband even still alive?
It's chilling (literally, you get cold while reading this; the descriptions of the weather conditions are spot on), riveting, and you can't help but rooting for the mother daughter duo even in face of the horrible odds. A masterful book and I look forward to reading more by this author.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in return for my honest, unbiased opinion. show less
Yasmin and her ten year old deaf daughter have just flown from England to Alaska to meet her husband and when they arrive they are giving awful news. The small village that Matt was staying at to film the wildlife has burnt down killing everyone it including her husband. Unable to believe the news she is convinced she must go to Norther Alaska and find her husband because the state troopers won't search for him since they believe he is dead. Armed with show more only her guts and her wildly smart and mature ten year old, they convince a trucker headed north to let them tag along for several hundred miles. When he is taken ill and rushed to a hospital, Yasmin uses her engineering degree to drive the rig up the ice highways to search for Matt. She soon realizes that it's not just her and her daughter on the road, someone is following her. What is trying to stay hidden out in this barren hellishly cold landscape? Is her husband even still alive?
It's chilling (literally, you get cold while reading this; the descriptions of the weather conditions are spot on), riveting, and you can't help but rooting for the mother daughter duo even in face of the horrible odds. A masterful book and I look forward to reading more by this author.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in return for my honest, unbiased opinion. show less
I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher through Early Reviewers. And I'm glad I did. This novel manages to be a tender story about family, a rip-roaring wilderness adventure, and an eco-thriller set in in the high arctic.
Yasmin, an English astrophysicist, has had a falling out with her husband, who has been working in Alaska on a wildlife film. When she takes their eleven-year-old daughter Ruby to Fairbanks to have it out with Matt, he fails to pick them up at the airport. Instead, the police break the news to her that the village he has been staying in has been destroyed in a catastrophe. They aren't quite sure what caused it, but a huge fire enveloped the community and there are no survivors. The bodies are too burnt show more to identify, but they are sure Matt is among them. She refuses to believe that he's dead and decides to go look for him. With Ruby, who really owns this story.
The problem the author poses for readers is to suspend disbelief that an intelligent, well-educated woman would be so pigheaded and sure of herself that she would insist on taking her child to a remote part of the high arctic in the middle of winter to find a husband who the authorities are certain has perished. Though very few people would do that, the real challenge is accepting that a smart and loving mother would risk her daughter's life on this quest. She doesn't know anyone in Fairbanks who could take care of Ruby while she goes on this mission, so they go together, aided by a kind truck driver who hasn't been told the whole story. Yasmin has an emotional blind spot that keeps her from weighing the challenge she takes up rationally. Ruby just wants to find her dad. Though the question of why a smart woman would act this recklessly never quite left me throughout the novel, Lupton is up to this engineering feat of coaxing me across her disbelief-suspension bridge as Yasmin and Ruby head north.*
It probably helps that half of the novel is in Ruby's expressive voice (that expressiveness not diminished by the fact that she's deaf - she has plenty to say, but strongly prefers signing to the vocal speech her mother promotes, hoping to give her daughter a better crack at life; Ruby's sure she handle life without it, thanks very much). She's young enough to believe that both her mother and father can overcome all the obstacles, and she's great company, besides. Likewise, I loved the way the author presents the beauty of an austere wilderness threatened by our rush to extract ancient carbon from the land, heedless of the damage it does.
I also appreciated the way this story, which involves big trucks, extreme weather, ice roads, and fierce physical determination, is told so much from the perspective of a woman and a girl who are trying to make their family whole. It's a rip-roaring adventure with an environmental theme that is full of feeling and absent of the individualistic posturing of so many adventure-thriller stories. Because the author writes about emotions so compellingly, not relying on special effects to drive us forward, I sometimes felt myself looking over the suspension bridge (don't look down!) but nevertheless enjoyed this story tremendously, in large part because the setting, characters, and writing style are all so strong. Lupton is a compelling and gifted writer; I'm happy to cut a little slack if she's willing to take some narrative risks for a story this absorbing.
*There was one other bit of grit in my reading: the Alaskans I've known always use the word "snowmachine" instead of "snowmobile" so my inner red pen kept trying to copyedit. In fact, I looked it up and apparently snowmobile is increasingly used in Alaska so stet all that. show less
Yasmin, an English astrophysicist, has had a falling out with her husband, who has been working in Alaska on a wildlife film. When she takes their eleven-year-old daughter Ruby to Fairbanks to have it out with Matt, he fails to pick them up at the airport. Instead, the police break the news to her that the village he has been staying in has been destroyed in a catastrophe. They aren't quite sure what caused it, but a huge fire enveloped the community and there are no survivors. The bodies are too burnt show more to identify, but they are sure Matt is among them. She refuses to believe that he's dead and decides to go look for him. With Ruby, who really owns this story.
The problem the author poses for readers is to suspend disbelief that an intelligent, well-educated woman would be so pigheaded and sure of herself that she would insist on taking her child to a remote part of the high arctic in the middle of winter to find a husband who the authorities are certain has perished. Though very few people would do that, the real challenge is accepting that a smart and loving mother would risk her daughter's life on this quest. She doesn't know anyone in Fairbanks who could take care of Ruby while she goes on this mission, so they go together, aided by a kind truck driver who hasn't been told the whole story. Yasmin has an emotional blind spot that keeps her from weighing the challenge she takes up rationally. Ruby just wants to find her dad. Though the question of why a smart woman would act this recklessly never quite left me throughout the novel, Lupton is up to this engineering feat of coaxing me across her disbelief-suspension bridge as Yasmin and Ruby head north.*
It probably helps that half of the novel is in Ruby's expressive voice (that expressiveness not diminished by the fact that she's deaf - she has plenty to say, but strongly prefers signing to the vocal speech her mother promotes, hoping to give her daughter a better crack at life; Ruby's sure she handle life without it, thanks very much). She's young enough to believe that both her mother and father can overcome all the obstacles, and she's great company, besides. Likewise, I loved the way the author presents the beauty of an austere wilderness threatened by our rush to extract ancient carbon from the land, heedless of the damage it does.
I also appreciated the way this story, which involves big trucks, extreme weather, ice roads, and fierce physical determination, is told so much from the perspective of a woman and a girl who are trying to make their family whole. It's a rip-roaring adventure with an environmental theme that is full of feeling and absent of the individualistic posturing of so many adventure-thriller stories. Because the author writes about emotions so compellingly, not relying on special effects to drive us forward, I sometimes felt myself looking over the suspension bridge (don't look down!) but nevertheless enjoyed this story tremendously, in large part because the setting, characters, and writing style are all so strong. Lupton is a compelling and gifted writer; I'm happy to cut a little slack if she's willing to take some narrative risks for a story this absorbing.
*There was one other bit of grit in my reading: the Alaskans I've known always use the word "snowmachine" instead of "snowmobile" so my inner red pen kept trying to copyedit. In fact, I looked it up and apparently snowmobile is increasingly used in Alaska so stet all that. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.This is a fascinating, if somewhat implausible, story of Yasmin and her deaf 10 year old daughter, Ruby. Yasmin's husband, Matt, is a wildlife photographer who has travelled to Alaska to work during the winter months. Yasmin and Ruby had arranged to meet Matt there but when they arrive Matt is missing, presumed dead. Neither his wife nor daughter believe that he is dead and they set off on an incredible journey across the bleak landscape to try and find him.
Despite the fact that it is quite an implausible storyline, I loved this book. The backdrop of Alaska, particularly during a storm, is stunning and enthralling and I quite often found myself having to stop reading to marvel at it. Yasmin and Ruby are both strong females and I did show more admire Yasmin for her actions and Ruby's deafness adds another element to the story in her particular vulnerability. There is a real suspenseful element to the book, with a malevolent presence that is out there threatening them in their quest, and the bleak backdrop only adds to it.
It's clear that Rosamund Lupton has done a great deal of research and it really helped me to try and imagine how it must have felt for the characters. This is my first of her books but I'm looking forward to reading her earlier work now. show less
Despite the fact that it is quite an implausible storyline, I loved this book. The backdrop of Alaska, particularly during a storm, is stunning and enthralling and I quite often found myself having to stop reading to marvel at it. Yasmin and Ruby are both strong females and I did show more admire Yasmin for her actions and Ruby's deafness adds another element to the story in her particular vulnerability. There is a real suspenseful element to the book, with a malevolent presence that is out there threatening them in their quest, and the bleak backdrop only adds to it.
It's clear that Rosamund Lupton has done a great deal of research and it really helped me to try and imagine how it must have felt for the characters. This is my first of her books but I'm looking forward to reading her earlier work now. show less
There were many parts of this book that were excellent. The descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness were skillfully done evoking both its danger and beauty. Information about the animals and people who survive in this harsh environment was fascinating. The relationship between the deaf child Ruby and her mother Yasmin was touching and evolved appealingly as the story progressed. The information on what deafness might be like for a child and for those who want to help and protect her was quite interesting and informative. The story of Yasmin's and Ruby's trip through this wilderness was often gripping and frightening. And the idea that we need to take care of this fragile earth is one everyone should pay attention to.
Yet with all this show more going for it the book fell short for me. I wish the author had chosen a better way to integrate the various aspects of the story into a more compelling narrative. The author did not make me believe that Yasmin's love for her husband would cause her to blindly head out into a dangerous wilderness with her beloved child searching for a husband who most likely was dead. This idea carried through for the first half of the book and kept intruding into my thoughts. It is only when Yasmin is truly in the grip of danger from the environment and the possibility of being followed that I could immerse myself in the story. show less
Yet with all this show more going for it the book fell short for me. I wish the author had chosen a better way to integrate the various aspects of the story into a more compelling narrative. The author did not make me believe that Yasmin's love for her husband would cause her to blindly head out into a dangerous wilderness with her beloved child searching for a husband who most likely was dead. This idea carried through for the first half of the book and kept intruding into my thoughts. It is only when Yasmin is truly in the grip of danger from the environment and the possibility of being followed that I could immerse myself in the story. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Imagine you've married your college sweetheart. You have a beautiful daughter and she is incredibly smart. You're an astrophysicist and your husband is a wildlife biologist and film-maker. Now imagine your husband has left the United Kingdom to film in northern Alaska. You and your daughter have traveled thousands of miles to spend the winter holidays in Alaska with him. You arrive only to be told that your husband is dead in a freak accident. This is the foundation for The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton.
Yasmin had a troubled childhood, but channeled her frustrations into her school work and has become an astrophysicist. She dated Matt in college, and even though she never truly believed he loved or saw her for who she truly is, show more she married him. Their daughter, Ruby, is deaf and an extremely intelligent child that is mainstreamed into the regular school system at Yasmin's insistence. Yasmin doesn't want her daughter to ever feel like an outsider without a voice and strongly encourages Ruby to use her verbal skills. Ruby is quite insistent that by using sign language she is actually using her voice, just not the voice her mother wants her to use. Matt wants Ruby to be happy and fully supports her use of sign language. Yasmin, Matt, and Ruby are quite the happy family until Matt goes off to Alaska and appears to fall for a woman there. Yasmin is incensed and hurt. She also knows that she has to confront Matt face-to-face, not on a phone or via Skype. After arriving in Alaska, Yasmin is told that Matt is dead. Neither Yasmin nor Ruby is willing to accept this proclamation. Yasmin only recourse is to head north and find Matt. She tries to find transportation to take them to northern Alaska and ultimately persuades an independent trucker to give them a ride north. When the trucker suffers a stroke, Yasmin commandeers his truck to continue their trek. She has to fight the elements, namely a massive storm coming in and below freezing temperatures, as well as driving in unfamiliar territory and a massive vehicle for the first time. If that wasn't bad enough, it appears that someone is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure Yasmin and Ruby don't make it to their destination. Can Yasmin and Ruby beat the clock, the weather, and their nemesis to make it north? Will they ever find out what has happened to Matt?
I found The Quality of Silence to be a fast-paced, engrossing, and enjoyable read. There were parts of the story that strained credulity, such as Yasmin being able to drive a tractor trailer with a massive load in unfamiliar territory during the middle of a snowstorm in frigid temperatures. But once I let that go (people can do amazing things in trying situations), I was able to fully enjoy the story. There are good guys, not-so-good guys, and really bad guys in this story. Unfortunately, the bad guys seem to be wearing gray hats most of the time so it is unclear who's bad and who's not (one of the many things that I liked about the story). Ruby is probably my favorite character. She's quite comfortable with her deafness and proud that she's different. One of her differences is her synesthesia or ability to see and taste words. Ruby provides us with brief definitions of words based on what words see and taste like to her and these are interspersed throughout the story. Ms. Lupton provides some wonderful assistive devices for Ruby and these come in quite handy over the course of the story (read it and you'll understand). The Quality of Silence is a taut psychological thriller that provides as many twists and turns as the road leading Yasmin and Ruby to northern Alaska. The wintry environs of Alaska provide a beautiful if somewhat hostile background for the story and is just as important as the primary characters. If you enjoy reading psychological thrillers or are seeking something a little different to read, then I strongly urge you to grab a copy of The Quality of Silence. show less
Yasmin had a troubled childhood, but channeled her frustrations into her school work and has become an astrophysicist. She dated Matt in college, and even though she never truly believed he loved or saw her for who she truly is, show more she married him. Their daughter, Ruby, is deaf and an extremely intelligent child that is mainstreamed into the regular school system at Yasmin's insistence. Yasmin doesn't want her daughter to ever feel like an outsider without a voice and strongly encourages Ruby to use her verbal skills. Ruby is quite insistent that by using sign language she is actually using her voice, just not the voice her mother wants her to use. Matt wants Ruby to be happy and fully supports her use of sign language. Yasmin, Matt, and Ruby are quite the happy family until Matt goes off to Alaska and appears to fall for a woman there. Yasmin is incensed and hurt. She also knows that she has to confront Matt face-to-face, not on a phone or via Skype. After arriving in Alaska, Yasmin is told that Matt is dead. Neither Yasmin nor Ruby is willing to accept this proclamation. Yasmin only recourse is to head north and find Matt. She tries to find transportation to take them to northern Alaska and ultimately persuades an independent trucker to give them a ride north. When the trucker suffers a stroke, Yasmin commandeers his truck to continue their trek. She has to fight the elements, namely a massive storm coming in and below freezing temperatures, as well as driving in unfamiliar territory and a massive vehicle for the first time. If that wasn't bad enough, it appears that someone is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure Yasmin and Ruby don't make it to their destination. Can Yasmin and Ruby beat the clock, the weather, and their nemesis to make it north? Will they ever find out what has happened to Matt?
I found The Quality of Silence to be a fast-paced, engrossing, and enjoyable read. There were parts of the story that strained credulity, such as Yasmin being able to drive a tractor trailer with a massive load in unfamiliar territory during the middle of a snowstorm in frigid temperatures. But once I let that go (people can do amazing things in trying situations), I was able to fully enjoy the story. There are good guys, not-so-good guys, and really bad guys in this story. Unfortunately, the bad guys seem to be wearing gray hats most of the time so it is unclear who's bad and who's not (one of the many things that I liked about the story). Ruby is probably my favorite character. She's quite comfortable with her deafness and proud that she's different. One of her differences is her synesthesia or ability to see and taste words. Ruby provides us with brief definitions of words based on what words see and taste like to her and these are interspersed throughout the story. Ms. Lupton provides some wonderful assistive devices for Ruby and these come in quite handy over the course of the story (read it and you'll understand). The Quality of Silence is a taut psychological thriller that provides as many twists and turns as the road leading Yasmin and Ruby to northern Alaska. The wintry environs of Alaska provide a beautiful if somewhat hostile background for the story and is just as important as the primary characters. If you enjoy reading psychological thrillers or are seeking something a little different to read, then I strongly urge you to grab a copy of The Quality of Silence. show less
Rosamund Lupton fashions a taut thriller out of almost nothing— no sound, no light, no warmth, no life. Clearly, the star of this performance is its setting in the frozen northern reaches of Alaska during winter. It is always dark, temperatures plummet to minus 55 F, hurricane speed winds occur, her characters are isolated and communicate via sign language and computer, and the action takes place along a treacherous ice road that crosses the Brooks Range into the tundra above the Arctic Circle.
Unfortunately, her plot asks her readers to suspend far too much disbelief to make this a totally satisfying read. Yasmin Alfredson is a plucky British astrophysicist who inexplicably refuses to accept the conclusion of police that her husband, show more Matt, has perished in a fire that wiped out the entire population of the remote Inuit village of Anaktue. Instead, she sets out along with her profoundly deaf daughter, Ruby, on a harrowing journey into the frozen North driving an 18-wheeler with a house on its trailer. Where she acquired that skill is left to the imagination. If this isn’t enough to challenge credulity, Lupton exposes her two protagonists to constant snow and an Arctic hurricane that even seasoned truckers refuse to risk. All of this occurs while the two are being trailed by some malevolent person who manifests only as a set of blue lights in her rear view mirror.
In addition to Yasmin, the second protagonist is the precocious 10 year-old, Ruby, who is deaf but seems comfortable with her disability. She cleverly uses modern technology and old-fashioned sign language to communicate with her mother. Lupton, herself being deaf in one ear, displays considerable empathy for Ruby, but this often manifests as a displaced pride in her affliction. As a character, Ruby often displays a tendency to be far too cutesy, expressing pleasure with expressions like “coolio” and “awesome sauce.” These may be common terms in Lupton’s world but are never heard from contemporary 10 year-olds.
Although minor, Matt’s character also strains credulity. He is supposed to be a wildlife photographer who has limited experience above the Arctic Circle, yet demonstrates amazing survival skills that would make Bear Grylls proud.
To her credits, Lupton exhibits masterful pacing building tension in her narrative that keeps the reader engaged. However, she superficially touches on far too many themes. Perhaps the best is the environmental risks associated with fracking. Other, less well-developed themes include: parental relationships with disabled children, the limits of human endurance, challenges in modern marriages, and the culture of native peoples. show less
Unfortunately, her plot asks her readers to suspend far too much disbelief to make this a totally satisfying read. Yasmin Alfredson is a plucky British astrophysicist who inexplicably refuses to accept the conclusion of police that her husband, show more Matt, has perished in a fire that wiped out the entire population of the remote Inuit village of Anaktue. Instead, she sets out along with her profoundly deaf daughter, Ruby, on a harrowing journey into the frozen North driving an 18-wheeler with a house on its trailer. Where she acquired that skill is left to the imagination. If this isn’t enough to challenge credulity, Lupton exposes her two protagonists to constant snow and an Arctic hurricane that even seasoned truckers refuse to risk. All of this occurs while the two are being trailed by some malevolent person who manifests only as a set of blue lights in her rear view mirror.
In addition to Yasmin, the second protagonist is the precocious 10 year-old, Ruby, who is deaf but seems comfortable with her disability. She cleverly uses modern technology and old-fashioned sign language to communicate with her mother. Lupton, herself being deaf in one ear, displays considerable empathy for Ruby, but this often manifests as a displaced pride in her affliction. As a character, Ruby often displays a tendency to be far too cutesy, expressing pleasure with expressions like “coolio” and “awesome sauce.” These may be common terms in Lupton’s world but are never heard from contemporary 10 year-olds.
Although minor, Matt’s character also strains credulity. He is supposed to be a wildlife photographer who has limited experience above the Arctic Circle, yet demonstrates amazing survival skills that would make Bear Grylls proud.
To her credits, Lupton exhibits masterful pacing building tension in her narrative that keeps the reader engaged. However, she superficially touches on far too many themes. Perhaps the best is the environmental risks associated with fracking. Other, less well-developed themes include: parental relationships with disabled children, the limits of human endurance, challenges in modern marriages, and the culture of native peoples. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.A wild ride through the ice roads of Alaska. The plot is far-fetched, but it is a fun adventure. The stars of this book are the brutal setting and a bright ten-year-old girl named Ruby, who is totally deaf.
After several months of separation, wildlife photographer Matt is supposed to be traveling from a remote Inupiaq village to Fairbanks, Alaska to reunite with his wife Yasmin and his daughter Ruby. Yasmin and Ruby are anxious to see him, but he never arrives. The authorities inform Yasmin that he is presumed dead in a catastrophic fire that destroyed the village he was staying in; there were no survivors. Yasmin refuses to believe that he is dead, despite the evidence she is presented with. When the police refuse to search for him, she show more decides that she is going to find him by any means necessary. Yasmin and Ruby head out on a dangerous road trip through the Arctic Circle to Anaktue, hoping to find Matt before he can succumb to the brutal conditions. Not only do they have the cruel, unforgiving terrain and weather to contend with, but there is a sinister pair of headlights following in the distance. Is it just another ice road trucker or is it someone who wants to stop Yasmin from finding Matt?
The Quality of Silence is like a 90s action movie, especially the conclusion. It is completely far-fetched from beginning to end; this is is a story about a woman who who travels through the dangerous Arctic Circle in the depths of winter, with no experience and her ten-year-old daughter as a passenger! Once I stopped over-thinking it, I enjoyed the ride. The story alternates between Yasmin's and Ruby's perspectives, with the occasional interlude from some of the supporting characters. The perspective changes are abrupt and only separated by a paragraph break. It was confusing at first, but the voices are distinct enough that it is easy to adjust. Most of the book is set in Alaska, but there are some flashbacks to the early days of Yasmin and Matt's relationship.
The setting was my favorite part! Lupton did an amazing job creating a chilly atmosphere and a hostile environment rife with danger. The cold is described as "predatory and remorseless" and the land as "not just passively hostile but actively aggressive." A large portion of the book is inside of an 18-wheeler's cabin, and I felt like I was sitting in there with them. My stomach lurched as they sped through the frozen mountainous terrain!
I never really warmed to Yasmin. She is movie-star gorgeous and an astrophysicist, with exceptional luck and skill.Yasmin's professional background is used to explain her relative success at trucking despite inexperience. Despite her supposed brilliance, the decisions she makes are baffling, even accounting for the shock of discovering that her husband is most likely dead. I was mortified that she was in a situation where leaving her ten-year-old daughter with random truckers seemed like a good idea! In the beginning of the book, Yasmin was concerned that Matt was having an affair with an Inupiaq woman and I'm still not sure why visually confirming that there was wildlife in Alaska made her immediately certain that Matt was trustworthy.
Yasmin is also constantly on Ruby's case about using her speaking voice. I felt so uncomfortable every time she asked Ruby to "use her words." As frustrating as her requests are, Yasmin's motivations became understandable and her concerns came from a good place. Yasmin does experience quite a bit of character growth throughout the book. The time alone in the cab gives Yasmin a chance to bond with Ruby and finally listen to her "voice." Whether they find Matt or not, the arduous journey becomes a pivotal point in the mother-daughter relationship.
I didn't care whether they found Matt alive, dead, or at all, but I did care that Ruby made it out of this trip safely. She was such an awesome kid! She was so resourceful and I loved how she utilized technology, especially her eavesdropping method. She was also very articulate. She expressed the reasons why she was uncomfortable using her speaking voice with such clarity and confidence. Yasmin is constantly pressuring Ruby to integrate with the hearing world, but Ruby manages the "real world" on her own terms.
Another favorite character was Adeeb Azizi, a trucker Yasmin and Ruby meet during their journey. Adeeb and Ruby are both treated like outsiders and they form a quick bond. Yasmin gained a different perspective from watching them interact.I wish he had played a bigger role in the story and I hope the check Yasmin handed him was enough to cover the damage to his truck!
The thing that drove me crazy was the slang in Ruby's sections, especially the phrase super-coolio. The frequency with which it was interspersed in the text felt unnatural and the term seemed outdated. Maybe kids do still use that word, but I did find coolio on a recent list of 18 Slang Words That Will Make You Sound Like an Old Fart. Awesome sauce was the second most annoying term used. "Even though I can't hear the screechy sound, I get the general uggghness. But the satellite is OMG in a coolio, not screechy way…" To be fair, Ruby doesn't always express her thoughts like this but it is a distinct part of her voice.
I enjoyed the conclusion and I loved Ruby's journey over the course of the novel. In Quality of Silence, the characters discover the power of words and how a voice can come in many different forms. Ruby's parent's professions that deal with the natural world play a part in showing the smallness of humans in relation to the universe and the tricks that time plays on us. This book fostered a greater interest in Deaf culture, Alaska, Inupiaq culture, fracking and ice road trucking. I spent a long time on YouTube watching various ice road trucking shows. TERRIFYING! Recommended to anyone looking for some fun escapism and who wants to do a little bit of traveling to the Arctic Circle from the comfort of home. show less
After several months of separation, wildlife photographer Matt is supposed to be traveling from a remote Inupiaq village to Fairbanks, Alaska to reunite with his wife Yasmin and his daughter Ruby. Yasmin and Ruby are anxious to see him, but he never arrives. The authorities inform Yasmin that he is presumed dead in a catastrophic fire that destroyed the village he was staying in; there were no survivors. Yasmin refuses to believe that he is dead, despite the evidence she is presented with. When the police refuse to search for him, she show more decides that she is going to find him by any means necessary. Yasmin and Ruby head out on a dangerous road trip through the Arctic Circle to Anaktue, hoping to find Matt before he can succumb to the brutal conditions. Not only do they have the cruel, unforgiving terrain and weather to contend with, but there is a sinister pair of headlights following in the distance. Is it just another ice road trucker or is it someone who wants to stop Yasmin from finding Matt?
A memory played out in front of her, vivid in the darkness. … She'd had this sense before that time was not linear, but bending back on itself. with current emotions finding a sense of themselves in the past.
The Quality of Silence is like a 90s action movie, especially the conclusion. It is completely far-fetched from beginning to end; this is is a story about a woman who who travels through the dangerous Arctic Circle in the depths of winter, with no experience and her ten-year-old daughter as a passenger! Once I stopped over-thinking it, I enjoyed the ride. The story alternates between Yasmin's and Ruby's perspectives, with the occasional interlude from some of the supporting characters. The perspective changes are abrupt and only separated by a paragraph break. It was confusing at first, but the voices are distinct enough that it is easy to adjust. Most of the book is set in Alaska, but there are some flashbacks to the early days of Yasmin and Matt's relationship.
In the Arctic tundra, it was impossible to feel important but simple to feel connected to something uncircumscribed by time and distance.
The setting was my favorite part! Lupton did an amazing job creating a chilly atmosphere and a hostile environment rife with danger. The cold is described as "predatory and remorseless" and the land as "not just passively hostile but actively aggressive." A large portion of the book is inside of an 18-wheeler's cabin, and I felt like I was sitting in there with them. My stomach lurched as they sped through the frozen mountainous terrain!
She felt knifed by love, winded by the sharpness of it. The sensation was oddly familiar, a harsher version of the pain she'd felt in their early days, long before marriage and a child, before there was any tangible security that he'd still be with her tomorrow. And time was no longer stretched out and linear but bent back on itself and broken into fragments so that the young man she'd loved so passionately was as vividly recalled and equally present as the husband she'd argued with eight days ago. [Yasmin]
I never really warmed to Yasmin. She is movie-star gorgeous and an astrophysicist, with exceptional luck and skill.
"She has to learn to survive in the real world," Yasmin had said. ..."The real world thing, it's bollocks. The world is a million different places and Ruby will find the place she wants to be." [Matt]
Yasmin is also constantly on Ruby's case about using her speaking voice. I felt so uncomfortable every time she asked Ruby to "use her words." As frustrating as her requests are, Yasmin's motivations became understandable and her concerns came from a good place. Yasmin does experience quite a bit of character growth throughout the book. The time alone in the cab gives Yasmin a chance to bond with Ruby and finally listen to her "voice." Whether they find Matt or not, the arduous journey becomes a pivotal point in the mother-daughter relationship.
Being deaf isn't something I can change. Mum doesn't understand this but I don't know if I even want to. It's my Ruby-world, a quiet world that I look at and touch and sometimes taste but don't hear. Dad says quietness is beautiful. So maybe my world is lovelier than other people's. And maybe making sounds I can't hear in my quiet world would spoil everything.
I didn't care whether they found Matt alive, dead, or at all, but I did care that Ruby made it out of this trip safely. She was such an awesome kid! She was so resourceful and I loved how she utilized technology, especially her eavesdropping method. She was also very articulate. She expressed the reasons why she was uncomfortable using her speaking voice with such clarity and confidence. Yasmin is constantly pressuring Ruby to integrate with the hearing world, but Ruby manages the "real world" on her own terms.
Another favorite character was Adeeb Azizi, a trucker Yasmin and Ruby meet during their journey. Adeeb and Ruby are both treated like outsiders and they form a quick bond. Yasmin gained a different perspective from watching them interact.
What we know is filtered by our flaws, and sometimes turned more beautiful by them.
The thing that drove me crazy was the slang in Ruby's sections, especially the phrase super-coolio. The frequency with which it was interspersed in the text felt unnatural and the term seemed outdated. Maybe kids do still use that word, but I did find coolio on a recent list of 18 Slang Words That Will Make You Sound Like an Old Fart. Awesome sauce was the second most annoying term used. "Even though I can't hear the screechy sound, I get the general uggghness. But the satellite is OMG in a coolio, not screechy way…" To be fair, Ruby doesn't always express her thoughts like this but it is a distinct part of her voice.
I enjoyed the conclusion and I loved Ruby's journey over the course of the novel. In Quality of Silence, the characters discover the power of words and how a voice can come in many different forms. Ruby's parent's professions that deal with the natural world play a part in showing the smallness of humans in relation to the universe and the tricks that time plays on us. This book fostered a greater interest in Deaf culture, Alaska, Inupiaq culture, fracking and ice road trucking. I spent a long time on YouTube watching various ice road trucking shows. TERRIFYING! Recommended to anyone looking for some fun escapism and who wants to do a little bit of traveling to the Arctic Circle from the comfort of home. show less
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Author Information
5 Works 3,994 Members
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Quality of Silence
- Original title
- The Quality of Silence
- Original publication date
- 2015
- People/Characters
- Yasmin; Ruby; Matt
- Important places
- Alaska, USA; Arctic Circle
- Epigraph*
- We missen je. Je leeft en we gaan je vinden.
It is deep January. The sky is hard.
The stalks are firmly rooted in ice.
It is in this solitude, a syllable,
Out of these gawky flitterings,
Intones its single emptiness,
The savagest hollow of wint... (show all)er-sound.
Wallace Stevens - Dedication
- For Tora Orde-Powlett
- First words
- My name is a shape not a sound.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I can feel my fingers again and I have a voice.
- Blurbers
- Moriarty, Liane; Donoghue, Emma; Penny, Louise; Landay, William
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.92
- Canonical LCC
- PR6112.U77
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 490
- Popularity
- 61,354
- Reviews
- 119
- Rating
- (3.41)
- Languages
- 7 — Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Polish, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 38
- ASINs
- 7
