The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

Yasmin is coming to Alaska to have a showdown with her husband.  He's dared kiss another woman there and told her about it and now she's going to discuss it with him.  He can come home or he can stay away but there will be no other choice.  Since there is no one to keep their child, she brings Ruby with her.  She doesn't understand how important it is until later...

Crown Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  I found it on Blogging for Books.  It will be published February 16th.

Ruby is deaf.  It doesn't really bother her but it makes her life difficult in some ways.  Her father is much better to get along with because he doesn't keep asking her to speak.  She doesn't like talking when she can't hear herself.  Her mother doesn't want her to sign all the time so she will be able to get along in the talking world.  This creates a conflict.

If you're looking for a suspenseful scary read, this is it.  Ruby's father is in an Eskimo village in the middle of nowhere.  There isn't any way to get there except by air.  Unless you're desperate enough to try to drive a truck there, and no one is.  They'll be lucky to get to the nearest town.  But Yasmin is determined to go.  Especially when the policeman tells her husband is dead.  He can't be dead, he called her.  He lost connection immediately but she knows it was him.  The cop thinks she's in denial.  When they leave the airport behind them, they're on a mission.  They are going to find Matt and he isn't dead!

The worst part is that there is another factor here that nothing to do with the Eskimos or the naturalist.  But it's hidden.  When the whole village dies, they burn it to remove the evidence.  But Yasmin and Ruby won't quit trying to find Matt and it turns into a matter of life and death.

As they make their journey north, Yasmin realizes her husband was telling the truth and she still loves him.  She also sees that she has been hampering Ruby.  Long silent times in the cold gives you time for reflection.

This was an excellent read.  The only thing I didn't like was the ending.  It was a bit unresolved.  I guess that allows you to choose your own ending.  If the author meant something else, I'm still going to believe it ended happily ever after.  It could, you know.