[TYE]≫ PDF CHILD THE Fiona Barton 9780552172455 Books

CHILD THE Fiona Barton 9780552172455 Books

Download As PDF : CHILD THE Fiona Barton 9780552172455 Books

CHILD THE Fiona Barton 9780552172455 Books

As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, 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 is the Building Site Baby?

As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A newborn baby 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…

My Thoughts: Slowly the three women who are central to the story in The Child are revealed to us in bits and pieces. We do not know what, if anything, connects them. But they are all struck by the news of the infant. A baby that has been buried on the site for a number of years. The story takes us from the present to the past through alternating narrators, who show us moments in their lives and offer up thoughts, feelings, and clues to their histories.

Emma Massingham Simmonds is struggling every day, her mind a mess of anxieties, dark thoughts, and nightmares. Her husband Paul takes care of her, and she works at home as a book editor. But her conflicted relationship with her mother Jude seems to be at the heart of her emotional angst, and she has dark secrets that come to her in nightmares.

Angela Irving is still heartbroken over her lost infant Alice. Her husband and other children have given up on her constant grief. But she hangs onto her hope. Something about the buried baby calls to her.

Jude, Emma’s mother, seems worried about what might be discovered about that baby, and her mind flits to memories of her great love for a man named Charlie…and then her relationship with a professor named Will Burnside, whom she cannot forget. She seems to blame Emma for losing these “loves of her life.”

Kate Waters, the reporter, is such an interesting character who searches for answers, interviews people who lived in the neighborhood where the baby was found, and gradually finds herself drawn more and more to the women who all seem to have a personal interest in the story. Her ferocious pursuit despite discouraging moments kept me intrigued, as she met with numerous characters, many of whom were troubling and sometimes unreliable.

I loved watching how she pushed ahead to find the answers…and then, just when I thought she had it all figured out, a startling twist turned everything upside down. Suddenly, out of the confusion, the clarity came. An unputdownable novel that earned 5 stars.


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CHILD THE Fiona Barton 9780552172455 Books Reviews

Good story but too drawn out. I found myself hardly skimming page after page just ready for it to be over.
I loved Fiona Barton’s first book, The Widow. I wondered if her second book, The Child, would be as good.
Reporter Kate Waters is back in this tense, psychological mystery. Her curiosity is piqued when a baby’s body is discovered during the excavation of a building in London. While the headlines of all the papers are centered on the upcoming Olympics, the story of the gruesome discovery is relegated to a paragraph in “News in Brief”. However, something about the story sticks with Kate and soon she is embroiled in learning more about the investigation. This leads her on a winding path and a decades old mystery.
Years earlier a baby was kidnapped from the maternity ward of a London hospital. Alice, the newborn daughter of Angela and Nick Irving was never seen again and suddenly the possibility that the skeleton might be that of “Baby Alice”.
Meanwhile, in another part of England a young woman named Emma reads the article and is thrown into a panic. Obviously suffering from some type of anxiety disorder, her husband Paul cares for her. She has a shaky relationship with her mother Jude. Mother and daughter used to live in the building where the skeleton was found.
As the story progresses, the mystery deepens. Are the remains those of Alice? What does Emma have to do with it? Once again Barton weaves a tale that is so engrossing, I couldn’t set the book aside. Her ability to create complex characters that leap to life is skilled. Her forte is the development of plots that twist and turn, capturing the reader like a spider with a very sticky web.
“The Child” is as good as book number one. The climax is breathtaking. I admit I figured it out before the solution was presented, but that in way detracted from my enjoyment of the book. If liked “The Widow”, you will love “The Child.” I have already pre-ordered “The Suspect” and look forward to the next tale from one of my new favorite authors. Well done Fiona Barton!
I wish the publisher wouldn't call this a thriller. A mystery? Yes. And an exceptionally well written one. But if you're looking for the heroine to be held at knife-point, or a SHOCKING TWIST, this isn't the book for you.

I wonder if Barton named her investigator character, a journalist named Kate, in homage to Kate Atkinson. Because her two books really remind me, in all the best ways, of Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels. She has Atkinson's deep empathy for her characters, her sense of humor, and her intelligence. The great pleasure of this book is watching how Kate's mind works. She's sharp, she's good at her job (even as she is being displaced from it), and she is sure-footed as she pursues one lead after another.

My only critique is that it becomes apparent, about halfway through the book, how the various characters are connected, and it takes a frustratingly long time for the characters to catch up to that realization.
The book was alright, it took a long time to actually get started. The plot twist wasn't much of a twist. I knew where it was leading the entire time, was just uncertain how it was going to get there. I feel like the book focused on the wrong characters and if the focus had been shifted to Will and Jude then the plot would have been so much better. If you have nothing else to read them I guess this book will do. There is nothing that stands out in this story. I've already forgotten it... I wish I could get a refund on my purchase of this book
As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, 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 is the Building Site Baby?

As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier A newborn baby 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…

My Thoughts Slowly the three women who are central to the story in The Child are revealed to us in bits and pieces. We do not know what, if anything, connects them. But they are all struck by the news of the infant. A baby that has been buried on the site for a number of years. The story takes us from the present to the past through alternating narrators, who show us moments in their lives and offer up thoughts, feelings, and clues to their histories.

Emma Massingham Simmonds is struggling every day, her mind a mess of anxieties, dark thoughts, and nightmares. Her husband Paul takes care of her, and she works at home as a book editor. But her conflicted relationship with her mother Jude seems to be at the heart of her emotional angst, and she has dark secrets that come to her in nightmares.

Angela Irving is still heartbroken over her lost infant Alice. Her husband and other children have given up on her constant grief. But she hangs onto her hope. Something about the buried baby calls to her.

Jude, Emma’s mother, seems worried about what might be discovered about that baby, and her mind flits to memories of her great love for a man named Charlie…and then her relationship with a professor named Will Burnside, whom she cannot forget. She seems to blame Emma for losing these “loves of her life.”

Kate Waters, the reporter, is such an interesting character who searches for answers, interviews people who lived in the neighborhood where the baby was found, and gradually finds herself drawn more and more to the women who all seem to have a personal interest in the story. Her ferocious pursuit despite discouraging moments kept me intrigued, as she met with numerous characters, many of whom were troubling and sometimes unreliable.

I loved watching how she pushed ahead to find the answers…and then, just when I thought she had it all figured out, a startling twist turned everything upside down. Suddenly, out of the confusion, the clarity came. An unputdownable novel that earned 5 stars.