"On 24th November Yasmin and her deaf daughter Ruby arrive in Alaska.
Within hours they are driving alone across a frozen wilderness
Where nothing grows
Where no one lives
Where tears freeze
And night will last for another fifty-four days.
They are looking for Ruby's father.
Travelling deeper into a silent land.
They still cannot find him.
And someone is watching them in the dark."
I found this a weirdly "quiet" read, which is not surprising considering the title. The story of Yasmin and Ruby's trip to Alaska in their search for Ruby's Dad, they find themselves driving across the ice roads, in a huge truck, being pursued by someone - but who?
The majority of the action in this novel takes place in the last quarter of the book, but the preceding three quarters of the story is so exquisitely written I couldn't put it down. The main focus, besides the search for Matt, is on Ruby and Yasmin and their relationship - the novel is set in the cab of a haulage truck driving across Alaska, so mother and daughter find themselves with a chance to reflect on their relationship and how they both deal with things. This part of the book I found kept me hooked more than the final pages, as it was fascinating to see how Yasmin and her husband disagreed on how Ruby should be treated, and how Yasmin herself sees her relationship with her daughter. The underlying tension regarding Matt's situation also makes for great reading - I had to carry on just to find out what had actually happened to him!
While this isn't an edge-of-your-seat, pulse-racing kind of a read, it is quietly compelling, and very, very difficult to put down.
The Quality of Silence is out now and you can get it here:
**Thank you to the publisher for my ARC**
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