From the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow comes a twisting novel of psychological suspense—as seen in People, Entertainment Weekly, Time, USA Today, Bustle, Good Housekeeping.com, HelloGiggles, The Boston Globe, PureWow, The Dallas Morning News, and more! “The Child is a perfect blend of beach read and book club selection….[A] page-turning whodunit….A novel that is both … book club selection….[A] page-turning whodunit….A novel that is both fast-paced and thought-provoking.”—USA Today
As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers human remains, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it’s a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who has been found at the building site?
As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A child was stolen from the maternity ward in a local hospital and was never found. Her heartbroken parents were left devastated by the loss.
But there is more to the story, and Kate is drawn—house by house—into the pasts of the people who once lived in this neighborhood that has given up its greatest mystery. And she soon finds herself the keeper of unexpected secrets that erupt in the lives of three women—and torn between what she can and cannot tell…
An NPR Best Book of the Year
A Bustle Best Thriller Novel of the Year
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Tense, tantalizing, and ultimately very satisfying… definitely one of the year’s must-reads.
Thanks to First to Read I received the arc of this book before it came out. It was brilliant! I read this whole book in a matter of days… completely had me hook, line and sinker. I suppose I could have tried to guess the twist at the end if I had tried, but it definitely surprised me. I loved it, can’t wait to read another one of her books!
An engrossing, irresistible story about the coming to light of a long-buried secret and an absolutely fabulous read—I loved it!
Edge of your seat suspense coupled with gut-wrenching emotion, a stellar thriller. I found myself tearing up in a few instances but I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
I loved this book, as I did The Widow. The author doesn’t give anything away until the last few pages. The characters were all troubled, most by circumstances beyond their control. These characters are all in possession of traits that the reader can, if not relate to, understand.
Fast paced story with an ending that caught me by surprise. Loved these characters.
Loved this book. No matter who borrows it from me loved it too. Kept you guessing right to the end.
I can’t believe this book was recommended by Lee Child…
It was great and sad a baby dies a mother mourns and a young woman discovers her mother is not really her mother
In 1970, a newborn Alice Irving disappears from a maternity hospital. No trace of her surfaces, and except for her grieving mother, nobody remembers her. In 2012, the remains of a newborn are discovered on a building site and Kate Waters, an old-school journalist who senses a great story, sets out to solve the mystery of the baby’s identity.
At first, no-one connects this infant to the long missing Alice. The Irvings have no ties to the place where the body is located, and there is no way to tell when the body was buried. When DNA tests seem to confirm that the baby is Alice, and further testing shows she wasn’t buried until ten years after her disappearance, Kate sets out to determine how she ended up in the hidden grave and who was responsible for putting her there.
Emma Simmonds (formerly Massingham) lives under the weight of crushing.anxiety. Raised by her narcissistic single mother, Jude, in the home where the baby is found, she suffers with deteriorating mental health and the terrible secrets surrounding her adolescence. When she crosses paths with Kate, she begins to trust the reporter, and her story of drugs, rape, and hidden pregnancy unspools over several chapters.
I found this book extremely compelling. While it wasn’t hard to figure out who the baby was (and was not) and the fate of little Alice, it was the circumstances of Emma’s life, and the people who damaged her, that kept me reading late into the night. Kate had such humanity for a journalist, and I found her genuinely likeable. She cared for more than just getting a good story and had ethics, something sadly lacking from the press today.
The Child is a rare treat of a book, one in which the “why” of what happened is as interesting and page turning as finding out what happened. Readers who enjoy delving below the surface for reasons and explanation, and have the patience to uncover a story a piece at a time, will become instant fans of Ms. Barton’s work
Great book!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
The setting is London, where a baby’s skeleton is found during the demolition of some old homes. It’s determined that the baby was buried sometime in the 1980’s, and a reporter decides to investigate. The story is then told from multiple viewpoints, and there are some intricate plot weavings . However, this book seemed to go on so much longer than necessary. I thought this of Fiona Barton’s first book, The Widow, which had a plot twist but took an interminable time to get there. Having my suspicions about who the baby belonged to, I kept reading. Must admit also that I love the English dialog, and learned a new word or two (my favorite being fug to indicated a warm and stuffy atmosphere).
While it was interesting, I could have put it down at any point. There is so much unnecessary detail that my mind started to wander. Overall, not bad, but make sure you have a lot of time to read this one. It’s a mystery, but I wouldn’t classify it as a thriller as it was so easy to figure out.
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I love all of Fiona Barton’s books. Her journalism background comes through with her wonderful protagonist.
This is the first book I’ve read by Fiona Barton. And, yes, I read #2 in the series before reading #1.
I like the way the story was told – alternating between 4 different women and how their stories aligned. I felt that the ending was a bit rushed, especially the wrapping up of the Will and Al storyline(s).
This story focuses around the bones of a baby found during demolition of a home. Kate Waters is a journalist and is instantly intrigued and wants to follow the story of who was found at the site? As Kate starts investigating, she is drawn into a story that goes back almost 30 years and involves the residents that were living on that road at the time of the burial.
This was an interesting story, and the chapters are told from different characters perspectives. I liked it, but there were a lot of characters to keep track of. The story bounced back and forth between the present and two different time periods in the past. I was surprised by the ending, which is always the sign of a good book for me. I like the author’s writing style and will read more books by her.
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Berkley through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Enjoyed this book as I have other’s by Fiona Barton. We’ll written story. Kept my interest.
Keep you wondering until the end and then the twist comes, that you couldn’t expect!
I raved about Fiona Barton’s first novel The Widow, and this one is even better.
We meet again London-based journalist Kate, this time on the trail of a human interest story, when the skeleton of a new-born baby is unearthed on a building site. She’s joined in the office by wet-behind-the-keypad trainee journalist Joe, who turns out to be an endearing character. I hope we meet him again in book three. Also making a reappearance is police detective Bob who was in charge of the case that Kate investigated in The Widow. He has a small part in The Child but is perhaps waiting in the wings for a leading role next time.
Joining Kate as the other narrators are Angela, Emma and Jude, well-drawn characters with various sorrows, longings and secrets. There’s also a unnecessary chapter from the viewpoint of another character about three quarters of the way through.
Barton’s style is the straightforward, no-nonsense prose that one might expect from an experienced journalist. No overwriting in sight. And no car chases or damsels in distress. There’s more intrigue and suspense than in The Widow although Barton still signposts the likely twist at the half-way mark. Bravo for having a fifty-year old married mum Kate as the main protagonist. This author is becoming one of my favourites.
Suspenseful
Loved the book. It took a while to figure out the mystery but it was woohoo when lightning struck.