The Child in Time
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3.6 • 15 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
Now a major BBC drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch
'Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty' Benedict Cumberbatch
On a routine trip to the supermarket with his daughter one Saturday morning, Stephen Lewis, a well-known writer of children's books, turns his back momentarily. When he looks around again, his child is gone. In a single moment, everything is changed. The kidnapping has a devastating effect on Stephen's life and marriage. Memories and the present become inseparable - as Stephen gets lost in daydreams of the past - and time bends back on itself, dragging Stephen's own childhood back into the present.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A sense of loss pervades this fine, provocative new novel by the author of The Comfort of Strangers. The protagonist, Stephen Lewis, a successful author of children's books, is introduced to us in a scene more frightening than any from a horror novel: while he is shopping with Kate, his three-year-old daughter, the child is kidnapped. Stephen's mounting terror as he combs the store for Katetrying in vain to recall the face of the dark-clad stranger he glimpsed behind themis palpable. As the story moves forward, it focuses not only on Stephen's search for his daughter, but also on his attempts to come to terms with his loss and the likely collapse of his marriage to Julie, a musician. Woven through the narrative is a subplot that deals with childhood and loss of a different sort. It is the innocence of youth that Stephen's friend and former editor, Charles Darke, longs for and ultimately recaptures at a terrible price. This is a beautifully rendered, very disturbing novel. First serial to Esquire.
Customer Reviews
Very good
As evidenced in the title, time is key theme to this book, Stephen the main protagonist details in his mind how he struggles to face up to the loss of his daughter Kate, however there is much more to this fictional novel. the third person narrative goes deep into the mind and inner workings of Stephen who struggles to maintain a relationship with his wife, a career, and friendships with his good friend Charles, who appears to be acting out life in retrograde.
A must read!