I read an uncorrected proof of this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. The writer has a knack for keeping the reader hungry for more. I didn’t want to rush to the end because I so enjoyed the story’s evolution.
It is the year 2012. An infant’s skeleton has been discovered at a construction site. Whose baby is it? How did it get there? There are so many questions raised, but there are no answers. The novel revolves around the lives of four women united in some way by this terrible event.
Angela is mourning the loss of her baby, although it occurred almost three decades ago. Shortly after she gave birth, she decided to have a shower. She left the baby sleeping in the room for only 10 minutes, but when she returned, the baby, Alice, was gone. How could a baby disappear in the safest place, the hospital? The baby was never found, and Angela was never the same. Could this baby’s skeleton be her daughter?
Emma is childless. Her husband is much older than she is, and he worries about her when he sees her growing more and more distracted. When she learns of the baby’s discovery at a building renovation site, it throws her completely off balance. She grows more and more concerned about the child who was buried at the site and cannot do her work properly. She is a book editor. Her husband worries about her mental state because she has had severe emotional problems in the past. He worries that she may have a relapse.
Jude is Emma’s mother. She is very selfish. She was once a practicing lawyer. Emma does not know her father. She and her mom had been estranged for years, but Emma reached out to her mom and they reconciled. About two decades before, Jude had sent teenaged Emma to live with her grandparents. Emma was threatening her relationship with Will, the man she professed to love. However, Emma hated him, and Jude would not let her come between them. She chose Will over her daughter. What kind of a mother would do that?
Kate is an investigative journalist. She is having some family problems. Her son dropped out of school, and he now wants to travel to Phuket. She has her own problems as well. When she reads about the baby she is completely intrigued. She wants to find out everything she can and begins to pursue information from her sources and contacts. She attempts to contact and visit the tenants who live on the street where the baby’s remains were found. The trail leads her in many different directions. As it twists and turns to the conclusion, surprises unfold often.
All four women have a secret that they harbor in their hearts from the outside world. Rape and abuse were crimes that went undiscovered. All four will make major discoveries about themselves and each other as the baby’s identity is sought.
The chapters are short and keep the suspense heightened. It bounces from one character to another revealing bits and pieces slowly to the reader so that the reader is never overwhelmed but always drawn back into the story.

An unsolved mystery resurfaced when a baby's skeleton was found at a building site.

Along with the skeleton, three main characters emerge too. Kate is a reporter investigating the story. Emma is a nervous adult who became intrigued as well as possessed when she sees the story of the baby. Angela is the mother whose baby disappeared more than 40 years ago never to be found.

THE CHILD took a while to get interesting simply because it was a bit slow, and there were too many characters thrown in. I was lost with so many different characters and couldn't seem to figure out the connection until around half way through the book so don’t give up because it is worth the wait.

As the pages turned and I reached the halfway point, the book started making a connection for me and kept my attention. The mystery became intriguing.

The characters seemed genuine for their roles, but something was odd and different about each of them.

This was my first book by Ms. Barton so I imagine I needed to get used to her writing style and her attention to detail.

There are some good twists to the story as well as some disturbing subjects that are addressed.

All in all, THE CHILD is a good read that will keep you guessing. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Sometimes it is worth it to be sick and stay in bed all day in your pajamas if it means you can have an entire day (between naps) to start and finish a book.

This story is tightly woven around 3 women. Kate is a news reporter for The Post -- old school -- but still very effective and knows how to work the streets for a story. Angela is a mother of two grown children but she is caught in the riptide of the her little Alice who was stolen from the hospital at birth. Her husband, Paul, has been a faithful companion over the years even though Angela cannot get herself past their loss. Emma is married, works from home as a book editor and has a "more than rough and rocky" relationship with her mother, Jude. Estranged for many years, the mother and daughter duo are trying to rekindle family connections, but unspoken resentment and secrets are barring the way.

So you have three women, seemingly and totally unconnected, who have no knowledge of one another and nothing in common. An older neighborhood in town is going through a renovation and in the midst of teardowns and rebuilds, a body is unearthed. It's a small body -- a very small body -- a newborn, in fact, and it's been buried for some time. Could it be the body of little Alice found after all these years? And why is Emma so consumed by the news of a child's body found across town? And so the mystery of The Child begins.

I grew to love some characters and hate others. I thought I had figured out the plot about half way through but I was so engrossed with the story line that I just read faster to ensure I was right. Courage, determination and redemption were the themes I gleaned from this story. It was my second book by this author (The Widow, being the first), and I have thoroughly enjoyed both but this was, by far, my favorite of hers.

If you read Fiona Barton’s previous book, THE WIDOW, and wonder, as I did, if THE CHILD is a continuation of that story, it is not. The two books are connected only by the character Kate Waters, a newspaper reporter. And this is the better of the two investigative news stories.

The child in THE CHILD is the skeleton of a baby found buried behind a home being torn down in England. The mystery is: whose baby was it? Kate thinks this is a potentially great story if only she can get to the bottom of it.

THE CHILD is the best kind of story, one that is both character- and plot-driven. Along with Kate, you will learn more and more about the characters and come to a conclusion, finally, with the help of science.

I also like the treatment of age in Barton’s books. If you think about the main characters in most stories, doesn’t it seem that they are usually in their 20s or 30s? It is as if to say that someone older than that is no longer interesting. So I love Kate Waters. She’s my age.