The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

This is another new author to me. There seems to be a plethora of new authors coming on the scene in the last few years. Some of the "tried and true" authors are not writing novels as quickly as they did in their prime and I miss that. Ms. Lupton is from the U.K. and has penned two other books entitled Sister and Afterwards

The setting for this book is Alaska, north of Fairbanks. Matt Alfredson is a wildlife photographer and has esconced himself in a small town. His wife, Yasmin and daughter, Ruby have traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska to see him after a separation. When they arrive they are greeted by police who inform them that Matt has been killed in a catastrophic accident. The police have located his wedding ring but have been unable to identify his body. The small town was consumed by an unexplained fire and many people died.

Yasmin is convinced that Matt is still alive. Although she has no proof of the fact, she is determined to travel to the remote town to see for herself. After several failed attempts to secure a flight, she and Ruby are able to secure a vehicle which will allow them to venture into the most remote parts of Alaska. They enlist the aid of a man who agrees to drive them to the Arctic Circle. The trip is riddled with several mishaps and Yasmin takes to driving the truck herself in her endless quest to discover the truth about her husband.

Except for the fact that there were several words in this text that required the reader to use a dictionary, the story moved along quickly. There was a particularly ingenous technique used in the storyline but I won't share it here, you'll have to read it for yourself.

Ladybokbug!