The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureLiterature

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton | Book review
2 December 2015
Isabelle Milton
Avatar
Isabelle Milton
2 December 2015

In the depths of a north Alaskan winter, Yasmin has arrived to confront her husband Matt after receiving a phone call confessing his infidelity. In tow is her ten-year-old daughter, Ruby. They are met with tragic news, however, when it is discovered that Matt’s base, the local village of Anaktue, has been entirely destroyed in a fire. A lengthy search for survivors has yielded only one thing: his wedding ring. Refusing to accept Matt’s death, Yasmin and Ruby set out across the tundra to find and rescue him. What starts as another domestic drama quickly escalates to a race against time across the freezing expanse of Alaska’s Dalton Highway, as a perfect storm, a faceless assailant and an ecological holocaust bear down upon the mother and daughter as they drive alone through one of the most unforgiving landscapes on earth.

Rosamund Lupton’s The Quality of Silence comes after her bestselling Sister, and will surely cement her place as one of Britain’s most popular current authors. While Yasmin’s plan of dragging her child into the freezing unknown after a man who, by all logic, should be dead seems implausible, Lupton more than makes up for it with expertly tense scenes of adventure and peril, intertwined with a tender family drama.

She deftly moves between multiple viewpoints throughout the novel, infusing each with their own unique characteristics. Yasmin reminisces about her time with Matt, hoping desperately to find him alive. Ruby, deaf since birth, has a fascinating inner voice with equal measures of innocence and worldliness, and her disability is portrayed in an original, if sometimes slightly sentimental way. Fans of the TV series Ice Road Truckers will revel in the lengthy passages describing the pair’s journey across the Dalton Highway, though some readers may find the frequent discussions of snow chains, mileage and fuel consumption dull. Without spoiling the climax, the villains of the piece are fairly standard, but the book overall has refreshingly unique and genuine message to impart by its close.

The range of subjects explored, from native cultures, current environmental issues and the ups and downs of family life, means that there is something to resonate with everyone. A perfect read for winter, The Quality of Silence requires a suspension of disbelief but rewards with a constant supply of thrills.

★★★★★

Isabelle Milton
Photo: Charlie Hopkinson

The Quality of Silence is published by Little, Brown at the hardback price of £14.99, for further information visit here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Literature

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan

★★★★★
Laura Boyle
Read More

The Buddhist on Death Row by David Sheff

★★★★★
Laura Boyle
Read More

Walk with Me in Sound – the audiobook: A harmonious introduction to a mindful lifestyle

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Midnight in Everwood by MA Kuzniar

★★★★★
Elizaveta Kolesova
Read More

The Simplest Gift by Stefanos Xenakis

★★★★★
Elizaveta Kolesova
Read More

Mothers, Fathers and Others by Siri Hustvedt

★★★★★
Elizaveta Kolesova
Read More

Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love by Huma Qureshi

★★★★★
Elizaveta Kolesova
Read More

The Snow Song by Sally Gardner

★★★★★
Elizaveta Kolesova
Read More

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

★★★★★
Elizaveta Kolesova
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”
    Live music
  • My Old School
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sprung
    ★★★★★
    other
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: Keep It Down at Hope Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: The Man Who Wouldn’t Be Murdered at Lion & Unicorn Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “It’s by going to the intimacy of our own perspective that we can hope to then speak to a more general audience”: Charline Bourgeouis-Tacquet on Anaïs in Love
    Cinema & Tv
  • Trending summer dresses everyone wants to own in a heatwave
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: In PurSUEt at Underbelly, Cowgate
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “It’s by going to the intimacy of our own perspective that we can hope to then speak to a more general audience”: Charline Bourgeouis-Tacquet on Anaïs in Love
    Cinema & Tv
  • Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”
    Live music
  • Where is Anne Frank?
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Anaïs in Love
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sprung
    ★★★★★
    other
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Desperate Measures at the Jermyn Street Theatre | Theatre review
Linda at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs | Theatre review