I read this all in a single day. I loved how the characters and their stories were all tangled together. I liked Emma, and Kate, but I didn't like Jude... I think she got what she deserved in the end. Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

3.5 stars--between liked and really liked.

This is my first Barton novel; I didn't realize it was a series--well, at least, Kate the reporter also appeared in Barton's first book, The Widow. It didn't decrease my enjoyment of this book, though, and I was never confused.

This is a fast read--at least it was for me, and I stayed up too late devouring it. The pace was very brisk, the characterization was good, and I was satisfied by the ending in a "yay justice is done!" kind of way.

I thought the mystery's solution was pretty apparent at about the 50% mark, and think it would have been very clearly apparent to the cops/the lab technicians as well, but I still rushed through the pages to find out what would happen next. If you like suspense novels, this is a good one.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

I absolutely adored Fiona Barton’s debut novel, The Widow, so I was all-too eager to get my little hands on this one when I heard about The Child. Of course, that’s the problem with not reading blindly, isn't it--with already being familiar with an author’s previous works: you go in with expectations, undoubtedly heightening your expectations on the author, and it doesn’t always pan out. When that happens, those reads seem to fall harder than if you’d never met their predecessors in the first place. Unfortunately, that’s what happened here.

Not too far into Fiona Barton’s sophomore novel, The Child, I realized that this one wasn’t nearly as clever as her debut, The Widow, and wasn’t nearly as captivating either. Read as a “rush job,” without the finesse and nuance of her previous novel. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the follow-up to a blockbuster movie--you know, the ones where you can tell the studio was just rushing to churn the next one out to capitalize on the fanfare of the last one.

Have you ever read a novel and just knew you could pick out the characters on the street if you saw them? Their mannerisms are so real, their dialogue so witty, so poignant, so enthralling, that you recall a whole slew of their quotes from memory. These characters come alive on the page and delight you, make you want to be them—or at least kidnap them and keep them as your new bestie. Well, you won’t find that here, people. These characters didn’t saunter around, exuding their very essence across the page like in the previous novel.

Though, to be fair, it’s not all cons in this one. One of the better aspects of this novel is that Barton uses the format of short chapters to swiftly draw her reader in and keep them turning pages. It’s a style that I now recognize her for. That technique makes the read seem shorter, faster, and is a true hallmark of the modern-day thriller, which was once again used brilliantly here. Well, to an extent. Of all things, The Child was chalked full of filler. I could almost palpably feel myself ripping at the cotton-like filler to get down to the meat, the core of the novel. Some of the chapters were completely useless to the plot as a whole and slowed the read down to a near-screeching halt, contradictory to the goals of the short chapters, placing The Child very squarely into the “cozy thriller” category and loosening the tauntness that readers look for in a good mystery thriller.

All I needed for complete this novel was a cuppa Earl Grey and a biscuit. For some, this’ll work brilliantly, but I can see the flatly written characters turning off character piece buffs, while the added family drama will turn off mystery thrill seekers, stripping away its well-roundedness and landing this one in a category for a very specific kind of reader. It’s not that the characters here were unlikeable, more like they were just silly. Crying at the slightest stimulus. Sighing and huffing and wedge-driving over men who, for the majority of the read, weren’t much more than cliché sketches of cheaters and adulterers themselves. There were moments where I actually imagined them fawning and fanning themselves at the thought of these men, swooning in their own misery, and that made the read feel long, like I was trudging through used Kleenex the entire time.

Let’s go ahead and address this here, shall we?

There’s so much chatter in the book world about (female) characters who are unlikeable for being shallow or crass—The Girl on the Train immediately comes to mind—but these characters in The Child were equally unlikeable for a completely different reason: because they were so spineless, weak and lacking of any motivation that I could get behind for the vast majority of the novel. (view spoiler) There were a lot of tears in this book, even moments of rushing out of a grocery store, abandoning their grocery cart, because the noise was too unbearable. These characters all needed a swift kick in the ass if you ask me.

Hmm, and the ending. I won’t give anything away, but I will definitely say that I’m not sure how I feel about it. It could’ve been a phenomenal ending, but it was executed poorly and via unlikeable characters, so, in the end, it just felt like a hastily done soap opera ending. There were loads of other sections that could have been scrapped in favor of perfecting the ending, believe me—and the fact that the ending was held up by sappy, weak-willed characters just ruined it, like spilling liquid on a watercolor painting. (view spoiler) all in all, landed The Child with a average score of 3 stars ***

A small baby's remains are found at a building construction site. One woman thinks this may be the story to boost her career, another thinks it is the baby stolen from her hospital room just after she gave birth and another knows it's her baby and that her secrets are about to come out. Fiona Barton does a great job of creating well-developed characters both good and bad and giving you the pieces of their intertwined puzzle a little at a time until the answers become clear. I felt as if every layer that was revealed was a tick of a time bomb leading to the explosive finale. I found it very hard to put this book down and very frustrating when I was forced to. I highly recommend this book!

While I enjoyed this one, it lacked that exciting, fast-paced aspect I associate with most thrillers. I actually enjoyed Barton's debut novel THE WIDOW on audiobook far more than this one. The ending was surprisingly upbeat, given that it was a thriller. Felt a bit too wrapped up and idealistic, however happy I was for Emma that she found a loving family at last.

The story for me was great but I found it to progress to slowly. Also following the characters was a bit confusing. I didn't find there was any real twists for me that kept me wanting to read and it was disappointing that I had the ending figured out before I was halfway through the book.

Emma, Angela, Jude and Kate. An infant's skeleton is found as an old house is demolished. It seems like it has been buried for many years, maybe decades. All these women take notice when it becomes newspaper article.

Kate is a journalist. She decides to do a full-length article with follow up ... who does this infant belong to? How long has she been there? Why and how did it come to be buried?

Angela's newborn daughter was stolen from her hospital room 28 years ago and never found. She's never recovered the trauma and it has affected her entire life. Is this her baby?

Emma has secrets that have never seen the light of day. Why is this child affecting her so much? Jude is her mother. Jude threw Emma out of their house when she was just 16 years old. Jude's boyfriend was her priority .... not her daughter. Emma has tried to share her secret, but Jude would not listen.

Kate becomes involved with all of them not only because of a story, but because she genuinely cares. And as she becomes enmeshed in their lives, she finds herself burdened by stories that maybe she shouldn't share with the world.

Having read THE WIDOW by this author, I was eager to see if this one would be as good. It definitely is! It was a slow start though ... each chapter written by a different woman. The book bounces back and forth in their memories from the things happening today to what happened many years ago.

All of the characters are cleverly written. It's so easy to get wrapped up in their lives. The secondary characters -- husbands, police, other newspeople -- are all as credible and add a lot of interest to the story premise.

There are twists and turns along the way, but I did not expect the most surprising twist at the end of the book. Very engaging and riveting book. This is an author to watch.

Many thanks to the author / Berkley Publishing Group / Netgalley for the digital copy of THE CHILD. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I received an advanced copy of The Child, Fiona Barton’s upcoming book, scheduled to release on June 27. I read and (mostly) enjoyed her first novel, The Widow, so I was excited to dig into this and was also happy to learn that my favorite character from that story, Kate Waters, would reappear in the new book. I am sensing a slight change in the trend from domestic thrillers that entertain but also carry a low level thread of hyper misogyny to more plot and character driven stories and I for one couldn’t be happier. The Widow, which overall I did appreciate even though I gave it a grumpy lukewarm review, spent too much time in the evil man / helpless woman trope for my liking, but I’m happy to say that The Child breaks that mold and really showcases Barton’s story skills. The plotting and intricacies were admirable and even though I figured out the ending sorta (because I’m a genius) it didn’t spoil anything for me.


The Child focuses on four different women, Angela, Kate, Emma and Jude, with alternating POV. At the start, an old housing complex in London is being torn down when a workman finds the remains of an infant who has been buried for years. Kate, our intrepid reporter, now amusingly burdened with a millennial trainee and the pressures of a click-bait economy, sets out to find some answers. The search for a possible answer immediately starts with Angela, whose baby was stolen from the hospital hours after being born. Though this was decades ago, and Angela and her husband have two other children, the book somehow expects her to have gotten over this tragedy as though that is something that can actually be done. Angela is very eager, after all this time, to finally understand what happened to her child and to grieve properly.


As Kate and the police research the connections between Angela’s baby and the building site remains, she is drawn into the lives of the people who once lived in these houses, including Emma and her mother Jude, and starts to uncover more secrets. The story is slow moving to start, though it isn’t boring at all, just a quieter book than usual. I read this at the same time as I listened to Into the Water, which I wouldn’t recommend doing – but pretty sure I’m the only weirdo who has 2-3 books going at all times. The stories are similar in tone, but The Child is simpler (this is not a criticism – Into the Water is crazy convoluted) and easier to follow and really starts running about a quarter of the way into it.


Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an opportunity to read this book prior to publication.

The Child – Grade B+

4 stars

A wonderful mystery with a suprising plot twist!

The Child is told through multiple points of view, which worked well in this book. The plot was constantly moving and there never felt like there was a lull in action. Every character was unique and easily recognizable. I didn't see the ending coming at all which I loved! This is this first book I've read by Fiona Barton but I plan to go back and read The Widow.

I think I found Barton's first book, The Widow, more compelling than this one because at the beginning it seems you know who the bad person is whereas in The Widow you kept reading to find out. It's never fun if you think you know who did it. But I did enjoy the end and the tying together character lines.

I had previously enjoyed “The Widow” by Fiona Barton and was looking forward to “The Child”. At first the story reminded me a bit of a novel I read a few years ago called “Daughter of Ashes” by Marcia Talley which was also about the skeleton of a baby found in an old building. The premise of the novel isn’t a new one but Ms. Barton made it a very good mystery by the quality of her character development. As we know from the blurb, a skeleton is found while demolishing a collection of row houses in an old subdivision to make way for new development. The mystery therefore is who the baby is and why she was buried in a home garden. What is the story about the mother and is there anyone left in the old neighborhood who knows what may have happened?

The book is told from three points of view, three very different women. Emma is a women who we know is hiding a secret from the start. She had a very rocky start in life, living with her mother Jude, who was very self involved and didn’t spend very much time fostering a loving relationship with Emma. As Emma got older Jude became obsessed with a boyfriend named Will whom she had live with her and Emma for a number of years. We know that Emma didn’t like this man but why? We also know that Jude made Emma leave home at the young age of 16, presumably because she couldn’t abide her personality, changes in behavior, etc. There was a strong wedge between Emma and Jude and they have just recently begin to speak to each other. Emma had lived in the area where the skeletal remains were found.

Angela is a mother of two children who we learn experienced an extremely traumatic event with the abduction of another child that she gave birth to and was taken from the hospital room while she slipped out for a shower. Even though the abduction occurred almost two decades ago she has, of course, never gotten over it. She has a supportive husband and two grown children but the sorrow of her missing child is still overwhelming to her. She becomes convinced that the skeleton found is that of her missing Alice. But she has no connection to the area where the baby was found???? Will the forensics team be able to link her to the remains?

Kate is a go getter reporter who sees a story behind the small report when the skeletal remains are found. She knows that there has to be a strong story behind this and only has to convince her editor to let her run with her ideas. She and a young intern do everything that they can to uncover the truth. She speaks to a woman who still lives in the area and gets some clues from her. She turns to a now retired detective to help her uncover some records so that she can continue her investigation. I really enjoyed this character. She was very believable and her talents were readily evident, along with her caring personality.

So in rounding up my feelings I did enjoy this story based on the strong characters. I figured out the mystery of the identity of the remains quite early but there was a great twist at the end regarding two of the characters. It had a great ending which is what bumped my star rating from a 3 to a 4.

I will continue to read and recommend any novel by Ms. Barton and would recommend this to anyone who loves mysteries and strong characters. I enjoy novels told from multiple points of view and the style worked perfectly in this book. Some really great writing here.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley, thank you.

Will also post to Amazon upon publication.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I didn't realize it was part of a series before I started it, and although it is a stand alone story I find that I am not that big a fan of the main character Kate.

Emma on the other hand, was captivating. I felt a lot of sympathy for her.

Emma is a woman haunted by her past. She suffers bouts of anxiety and depression. Her husband knows this, accepts this, but does not know or pursue the reasons for it. He does know that she has a very strained relationship with her mother Jude, and that for many years they did not speak to each other. He doesn't know why. For the longest time in Emma's childhood it was just her and Jude, until she was sent away. Some women will do absolutely anything for their children, but not Jude. Jude is one of those women who just can't be without a man, no matter what. I loved hating Jude.
Then there is Angela and Nick, who decades ago, when their marriage was already in a turbulent state, lost a child. Their newborn baby Alice was whisked away out of Angela's hospital room, never to be seen again. The case has gone cold but not a day has gone by that Angela has not thought of her baby. My heart just ached for her.

When Angela hears that a tiny skeleton was unearthed at a construction site she is sure that it is her Alice.

Of course there is far more to this story as journalist Kate uncovers.

Now as spellbound as I was by Emma, I was just so bored with Kate. It was all I could do not to skip past those parts about her, and her son, and her annoying new trainee. Thankfully those parts were brief. Whenever the story focused on Kate it felt kind of like watching your favorite soap opera and you can't wait for it to get back to the characters with the more exciting parts and quit interrupting the storyline with the bits about people you aren't interested in.

What a great read. I'm sure this book will create quite a stir when it is released. I love stories that keep me guessing about what is really happening until the end - and this one does it wonderfully - and the trip getting to the truth is all enjoyable as well. The characters were well formed, all the clues were there, and yet I figured on a totally different outcome. I'll be eagerly awaiting Fiona Barton's next book - and I guess I have to go back and read her first one as well.

A thought-provoking look at how a single event can change a life forever. This book profoundly illustrates how grief influences choices made and how difficult it can be to leave the past behind. Highly recommend this book for bookclubs!

Even though Fiona Barton’s second thriller, The Child is written in the style of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, it is a wholly different type of novel altogether, and is, hands down, one of the best novels of the year. When the tiny skeleton of a baby is unearthed by construction workers doing renovations on Howard Street, and it is suspected that it may be the remains of Alice, who was kidnapped from a maternity hospital almost 40 years , previously, Kate Waters, a reporter, dives into the story as a human interest offering, having no idea how deep she will become involved as she interviews Alice’s mother, Angela, and later a younger woman named Emma, who insists it is her baby at the construction site, which she buried years later when she secretly gave birth at 14 years old. The three women form a bond and make the evolving psychological suspense come alive and seem real.

The Child should not be missed. Not only is there palpable suspense and intrigue, but the writing is excellent, the characters are well-developed, and the story is fascinating. Barton has outdone herself with this excellent novel, and readers will find that they want to immediately pick up everything she has written so far.

Although the novel isn’t particularly fast-moving, it will be read quickly because most readers will find that they cannot put it down. There is something in the novel that almost everyone can relate to, and the surprise ending will keep readers thinking about the book for weeks afterward. Fiona Barton is an author to watch – there is no doubt that she will be a celebrated best-selling author for years to come.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

The bones of a tiny baby are found buried under an urn. Nothing of notice, except to the mother of course.
This sets the storyline in this fantastic read. Totally enthralling and captivating. Lots of twists and turns and plenty of characters to love or hate.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Child.
A cleverly put together story. The Author should be proud.
5 Stars. Highly recommended.

This second novel by Barton will not disappoint those who loved The Widow! For fans of Mary Kubica, Ruth Ware and Claire MacIntosh, this is a gripping psychological mystery with a strong storyline and excellent character development. The story builds gradually and keeps you guessing until the end. The protagonist is a journalist rather than a detective which is a fresh and welcome departure from the usual formula. As a librarian, I will be recommending this at the top of my list this summer.

A London construction worker unearths the skeleton of a newborn and, as a result, sets in motion turmoil in the lives of three women: Angela, still unable to recover from the hospital abduction of her infant daughter twenty years ago, Emma, a troubled writer of celebrity biographies, and Kate, an ambitious reporter. The interaction of the three revolving around the discovery moves toward an ending that I did NOT see coming.

The Child was an easy read that kept me guessing but I thought it was rather drawn out. Kate was very resourceful so it made me wonder why the police were not. Emma was such a pitiful character and her 'mom', Jude just plain weird. The twist at the end made the book.

If I weren't already a huge Fiona Barton fan after reading "The Widow" (also a 5-star-worthy novel, IMHO), I sure would be after reading this one. Given that I have at somewhat of a life other than reading, I expected it would take a few days to wade through. In fact, it was so engrossing that I polished it off over just two days (granted, on one the only TV show worth watching was "Big Bang Theory" and on the second, I was so close to the end that I lugged my Kindle to bed to finish - something that happens once in a blue moon. But you get the point.

More than anything else, this is the story of three women, starting with Kate, a print journalist who needs a great news story to revive a career that's increasingly giving up ground to the newspaper's online reporters. Then there's Emma, a home-based book editor who's dragging a boatload of emotional baggage, including semi-estrangement from a seemingly uncaring mother. And finally, there's Angela, who is unable to come to grips with the loss of an infant in the early years of her marriage despite having a couple of other children and a saintworthy patient husband. Actually, I'll add a fourth woman; Emma's mother, Jude, plays a significant role here as well.

The story begins as a construction worker turns up the skeleton of a baby in the process of demolishing old buildings. Clearly, the infant was buried there years earlier, making identification a challenge. Ever the nosy reporter, Kate smells a big story, but the lack of available information means she'll have to do some digging of her own before she can get the major scoop she's hoping for.

Somehow, she convinces her reluctant editors that finding the bones is just the tip of the iceberg, and she - together with a newbie reporter who she's been ordered to take under her wing (a totally forgettable character who adds almost nothing to the story, I must say) - sets off to investigate on her own. That connects her to Angela, whose newborn baby was taken from the maternity hospital shortly after birth and never found. Needless to say, Angela is convinced that the bones belong to Alice, her stolen baby girl.

Kate then begins to explore the neighborhood where the bones were found, locating and interviewing some of the people who used to live there. It is then that she meets Emma, who grew up there - thus bringing the Kate-Angela-Emma triumvirate to full circle.

Anything that happened in that neighborhood from that point on will stay in that neighborhood as far as I'm concerned - divulging much else would be giving away too much. Little by little, the pieces come together as long-hidden secrets are revealed and the mystery of the bones is solved. Admittedly, the ending seems a little too pat (and with one exception, expected), but the whole thing was very entertaining and worthwhile nonetheless. Many thanks to the publisher (via NetGalley) for offering me an advance copy to read and review. Highly recommended!