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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Good characters and interesting plot with a nice twist at the end. Look forward to reading more from this writer.
Spectacular twist, can’t believe I didn’t figure it out. Revealed at exactly the right time. Memorable.
Great plot line. A real page turner.
Great page-turner. Well done!
Like the characters and story line and twists. Great read. Have recommended it
I could barely put it down. Kept me wanting to know what would happen next.
I tried, but wasn’t pulled in so I stopped reading. I may go back later and try to finish.
I am a real Mystery reader. I have read all of Agatha. Christie, P. D James, Martha Grimes, Elizabeth George,and many more. I had never seen a book by Fiona Barton. As far as I know she has had only two books published. I couldn’t put this book down. I really enjoyed this The Child. When the story reached resolution, I was impressed how there had some very evident clues in the earlier pages. I was impressed by that as I like a mystery book to have facts you can get to the resolution with if notice them. The plot was very interesting, and the characters were realistically drawn.
Great book I recommend this to everyone and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did !!!
The Child by Fiona Barton is a story centered around the finding of an infant’s remains.
This is a very good story. Full of twists and turns that I did not see coming. This book is very well written, and we hear the story unfold from several points of view. This would have been a five star read, but some of the characters seemed one in the same to me. I would have liked more character development. Overall, this is a four star read for me.
So when the body of a child is found at a constructive site, the search begins, to find out the identify and a mystery of how the child got there.
I enjoyed this book. I did have the plot figured out quickly, but it was still an enjoyable journey reading how the story came together
The main characters of The Child are all intriguing. There is Kate the reporter following up on a story of a baby’s remains found buried during a construction dig. Angela is the mother of a baby that was kidnapped from the hospital just hours after her birth and has never had closure. Emma is a surprise POV; she lived at the location that the baby remains were found. I found it interesting how different their lives were yet together the stories all came together perfectly.
There were secrets, intrigue, and surprises that I never saw coming. The mystery was not hard to solve but with each different twist and turn I learned more about the various characters. I was invested in Kate getting her story, Angela getting her closure, and Emma coming to terms with her teenage years. There is so much more to this story than meets the eyes.
The ending was the surprise. The Child is certainly a psychological thriller that kept me on my toes. I could not put the book down.
Strong character portrayal. Great story pacing & development
Not overly thrilled with this book. Rather disappointed after it received such glowing reviews
Not as good as The Widow but enjoyable.
Excellent story, well written, just like her other book “The Widow” , page turner could not put it down.
As a worker tears apart an old house under construction in London, he makes an unsettling discovery: tiny bones. The police believe they belong to a baby who was buried years earlier. The story catches the eye of journalist Kate Waters, who immediately wants to determine the child’s identity. Her research leads her to a missing child from several decades in the past: a stolen baby, who was never found. Kate finds herself drawn into the missing baby’s case and the lives of several women: Angela, a mother who had her baby stolen many years ago; Emma, who once lived on the block where the baby’s bones were found; and Jude, Emma’s mother.
I really enjoyed Barton’s previous novel, The Widow, and I have to say that THE CHILD did not disappoint. It’s hard exactly to describe her books, but they have some sort of power over you, drawing you into their narrative and making it difficult to come back to reality until you’ve reached the end. Much like THE WIDOW, we’re presented with a cast of disparate characters-not all of whom are particularly likeable. I hadn’t realized, for some reason, that THE CHILD would feature Kate again–a journalist we previously met in Barton’s earlier book. I found Kate a much more engaging protagonist this time around: she came across as more human and flawed.
Otherwise, the novel focuses on timid, depressed Emma and her difficult relationship with her mother, Jude, who kicked Emma out of the house at the sixteen. Each woman has a turn at the narration, as does Angela, who is still reeling from having her baby stolen from the hospital (and never found). Barton does a skillful job weaving their stories together. Everything unfolds in bits and pieces as the tale progresses in the eyes of each of our narrators. For me, it was extremely riveting: just as one shocking piece came out, another one would fall into place.
Barton also gives us an excellent look into the journalism business, with a focus on how Kate writes her stories, with a strong emphasis on real (face-to-face, non-Internet-based) research. We see firsthand how the current social media craze is affecting the newspaper world. It’s refreshing, as we get to basically see a crime/story solved, yet not necessarily through the lens of a typical police drama.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I figured out parts of it as it went along, but found it to be a very compelling read. Definitely worth picking up. More at https://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com.
I enjoyed this book! Quick read!
This book was well written with s great unexpected ending