While THE QUALITY OF SILENCE isn't quite as superior a story as was SISTER, Rosamund Lupton's first book, which won awards and was highly praised all over the world, I would still agree that she rivals Tana French. SILENCE made me cold, high praise considering that cold is not only the setting of the story but, also, the motivator the characters in this story work with and around, determining everything they do. I, too, was cold; I felt like I was there because of Lupton's convincing and powerful descriptions.

A mother and 10-year-old deaf daughter from England have come to Alaska to join their husband/father, who is in northern Alaska creating a wildlife film. But authorities there have determined that he died in a fire. Not believing this, mother and daughter, by EXTRA extraordinary means, travel to find and save him. The farther they get, the colder they (and I) got. Cold is the great driver, even more so than the suspicious blue headlights following them from a distance.

Here is my only criticism. While the main characters properly use words and expressions that are what I call English English (such as "cooker") because they are English, when Americans are speaking, their words and expressions should be American English (such as "stove"). But they aren't always. That sort of irritated me.

Another irritation, so I guess that isn't my only criticism. Lupton and her editor need to learn the difference between "further" and "farther."

I'm still anxious to read AFTERWARDS, Lupton's other book. Thanks to librarything.com, I was able to read THE QUALITY OF SILENCE, her latest, still unpublished, as an ARC.

This one was a mixed bag for our group with ratings ranging from 2½ to 4 stars. Most questioned Yasmin's actions and motivations in risking her daughter's life. Some found the book hard to get into and didn't really feel it was interesting until the final chapter. And all felt the ending was ambiguous, with none of being sure what really happened.