The Child
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4.3 • 397 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
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 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
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Four women take turns telling the story of The Child, an infant skeleton unearthed in the backyard of a once-seedy London neighborhood. Like gentrification, the mystery of the child’s story gathers slowly before falling into place very quickly. Fiona Barton—a reporter herself—brings back journalist Kate Waters from her debut thriller, The Widow, as a narrator. Having a journalist as the investigator of a police procedural is a compelling twist; Kate alternately spars and collaborates with detectives to get her scoops, bringing an element of irreverence to this dark, twist-filled book about loss and redemption.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Canny London tabloid reporter Kate Waters, the catalyst for Barton's devastating debut The Widow, returns in this strong if more subdued psychological thriller centering on a trio of women unknowingly linked by long-buried secrets about to be unearthed. Book editor Emma Simmonds has been battling for decades with depression, as has the single mother, Jude Massingham, who threw her out of the house when she was just 16. Former nurse Angela Irving has never gotten over the kidnapping of her newborn daughter from a maternity hospital 28 years earlier, a heartbreak worsened by police suspicion of her and her husband. Emma, Jude, and Angela are each riveted, for reasons that will only gradually emerge, by an item in a newspaper reporting the excavation of an infant's skeleton at an East London building site. Kate, who could really use another major scoop to help keep her job, is also drawn to the story. Readers patient with the relatively slow initial pace until the intertwining stories gain momentum will be rewarded with startling twists and a stunning, emotionally satisfying conclusion. Author tour.
Customer Reviews
Nice Read
I only gave 4 stars because when it became obvious who Alice was I couldn’t believe that the reporters and cops took so long to figure it out. Otherwise, it’s a 5 star read!
The Child
I really enjoyed this book, even though it is written in the first person which is not my favorite style. There are quite a few characters to remember when each chapter begins with just a first name. The story is a little slow at the start, but hang in there - it gets better and better until you can't put it down!
Amazing read
One of the best books I’ve ever read, I could not put it down