Nora lives and teaches in Seattle with her husband and six-year old daughter. Though things have been a little strained in her marriage recently, that alone doesn't explain how unsettled she's been feeling. When she starts seeing the ghostly face of a young girl, she fears she is coming apart at the seams. After visiting her doctor and a neurologist, she finally seeks the help of a psychiatrist, fearing that she is losing her mind. What she discovers in her therapy sessions will change her life forever.

The beauty of not familiarizing myself with a book's summary prior to starting it is I go in not quite knowing what to expect. Having had the book for a while before starting it, I made assumptions about the genre based on the cover and title: a thriller, maybe a paranormal thriller. But I couldn't have been more wrong.

Very much a character driven story, this is about Nora coming to terms with childhood trauma that she had suppressed for decades. Facing her demons is necessary to her healing, and that healing leads to upheavals in her life that she doesn't think she can bear. But through the process, she learns more about herself, giving herself to let go of things in her life that she doesn't really want after all, opening herself up to new possibilities, and becoming more whole.

The journey is a painful one, and I felt all along the way. The story is beautifully written, and empathizing with Nora took no effort whatsoever. From the first chapter, I was pulled fully into her world, and putting it down was my only struggle.

Note: For those who might be intensely affected by themes of child abuse (in any form), I will say that this book is emotional, but not overly graphic. This is NOT A Little Life or Sybil or When Rabbit Howls (all books I've read that wrung me out, agonizingly painful). None of the very short scenes of her recollecting her childhood trauma are gratuitous, just informative enough to get across what happened to her. Still, I think it's important that people know about these kinds of things going in.

In a nutshell, an exceptionally emotional and well-written book that I'd recommend wholeheartedly.

Absolutely an incredible read. Emotional, beautiful, touching.

And here’s another truth— ultimately, you are the one who will save you. Not me. You. You’ll have to work hard . Harder than you’ve ever worked on anything in your life. I can support you, advise you, but in the end, you are the one who will reconstruct the broken pieces, patch the cracks. You will make the choice to transcend this—whatever it is.”

“And for the record, most of what I know comes from my life, not school. Don’t you think for a moment I haven’t had my share of hell.”

“You’ve been guarding this secret for a lifetime, Nora,” he says gently. “You don’t have to anymore. You don’t need to. It’s the secrets that make us sick; it’s the telling that heals.”

Anna Quinn has done an Amazing job with this book. It is a beautifully written story about some not so beautiful things. A story of strength, recovery, and accepting your past and everything inside of you.

The Night Child is about Nora; wife, mother, teacher. Despite watching her mother die as a young girl and being left by her father, she doesn’t feel broken. She has accepted everything… Or so she thought. The first time she sees the girls face she convinces herself she imagined it, but when it happens again she decides she needs to talk to someone. However talking is bringing up things she never imagined. She soon finds herself torn apart and her world falling to pieces, until she faces it she can’t heal.

I’ll admit that this book was a little bit of a challenge for me personally. I never wanted to stop reading but I had to put in down a few times. The way the author discussed the subjects was appropriate as well as feeling completely real in the way flashbacks can happen at times, with seemingly meaningless objects or phrases as triggers. This is a book everyone should read but not everyone will be able to read. I absolutely loved this book!

Wow, this book was really, really hard to read. In that I mean it was emotionally taxing. The writing is so heart felt and delves so deep into the psyche of the topic you will be exhausted. I would definitely recommend this book but it is not for the faint at heart. Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley!

A very emotional read. It was hard to read about the things that had happened to Nora when she was a child. How she had to live with a molesting father and a mentally ill mother. Nobody helped her, not even the pastor she confided in and in the end Nora locked it all away and never thought about it again. When her daughter is six years old and it’s Valentin's Day Nora’s world falls apart and she might loose everything - Paul, her husband, her daughter and her sanity. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing!

Nora, a high school English teacher, starts having visions of a small child. After the figure speaks to her, she decides to go for therapy and ends up uncovering memories of traumatic childhood experiences.

The plot is very predictable. With the introduction of dissociative identity disorder, the reader knows what Nora will learn since the disorder most often forms after certain kinds of trauma. There have been any number of novels and films which have followed the same narrative line. The plotting is clunky; characters are introduced only to be useful to Nora in uncovering her lost memories. Elizabeth, Nora’s student, is a prime example, as is John, the school principal. Both are mentioned only at specific times and, otherwise, are totally absent.

Characterization is a definite weakness. For some reason, I found it very difficult to connect with Nora. Having been a high school English teacher myself, I was initially interested in Nora’s teaching but her career is soon put on hold. Nora’s relationships which one would expect to be developed aren’t. Specifically, her relationship with her husband is only touched on. We are told that Paul is pre-occupied with his career, but then there are outbursts like, “’God, this place is a shit hole!’” and “’Christ, you look terrible.’” His behaviour during Nora’s hospitalization is not realistic.

There are other relationships too that need development. From flashbacks, we learn that Nora had a difficult relationship with her mother. Her mother is physically abusive since Nora refers to bruises, but there are puzzling comments like, “Her mother never uses the Lord’s name in vain when her father plays with James [Nora’s brother].” Is this supposed to indicate that Nora’s mother knows or suspects something and reacts by being harsher with her daughter? Does she become an alcoholic because of her suspicions?

Characters remain two-dimensional. No one is really fully developed. David, the therapist, is just too good to be true. He spends entire days at her bedside? The psychiatrist never visits her again? John appears only to be a contrast to Paul. In the end, I will not remember any of the characters; none are memorable.

There are some things that had me puzzled. When Nora is in the hospital, she is told she had a concussion. A concussion is treated with morphine? Not being able to talk “’happens sometimes after a concussion’”? Chapter 22 is set on “the afternoon of February 6” yet the nurse “brings her breakfast” and encourages her to enjoy her “morning coffee”? A person who has dementia in February, living “in a nursing home with locked doors” and who “can barely leave his chair” was capable of a complicated Christmas surprise weeks earlier? It seems that Nora has an eating disorder (bulimia) but that is never addressed by the therapist?

I can only describe this novel as mediocre. It really needs more revision and editing. It is not a long book so characters and relationships could be developed further. As is, the book succeeds only in being unremarkable and forgettable.

Note: I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book....I've had far too little sleep in the last two days as a result of this book. Once from devouring it into the wee hours, and once from lying awake pondering the horror and far-reaching effects of damage done to a child.

I can't summon enough coherent speech to aptly describe this book, except to say that it is brilliantly written, painfully heart-breaking, and will stay with you for a long time after reading.

Yesterday, I read The Night Child by Anna Quinn – with only 200 pages and a book you want to reach the ending of, it was a quick read. But, this one is a very difficult one to review. It is being talked about and recommended on “books to read in 2018” lists. So, I feel like I need to give you a fair warning.

MEGA TRIGGER WARNING

This book deals heavily with child abuse and sexual abuse. As in, it is detailed and explicit. For anyone who has suffered from these forms of abuse may want to avoid reading this one.

SPOILER ALERT

I cannot review this one without spoiling it. Sorry!

This book focuses on a woman who has a psychotic breakdown, which begins as seeing a hallucination. As you read, you learn the reasons behind the breakdown, such as her childhood abuse at the hands of her alcoholic mother. When she breakdowns, she begins to see a child ghost – a ghost/separate self who she apparently invented as a child to deal with childhood trauma.

However, as if the abuse from her mother is not enough, through counseling for PTSD, she learns she was also abused by her father. It is this hidden trauma that has caused the breakdown, as her own child is approaching the age and time when her abuse happened.

Unfortunately, Nora’s revelation breaks her, and she ends up having a complete mental breakdown. While she is in a mental hospital, her marriage comes to an end, and she scares her daughter when she experiences a breakdown in her presence during visiting hours. She then leaves and considers suicide.

MY OPINION

This book is a hard read. Nothing about it is easy. It claims to be about human resilience and hope, but I ended up feeling very unsettled when I finished it. It is a tragic story, and while it happens all the time (ALL THE TIME), I did not leave it feeling any kind of hope.

Also, I can recognize that in the real world, we do not always get all the answers, but in this book, I wanted answers. For example, did her mother know about her father? Was there some connection between her mother’s abuse and her father’s abuse? And, ultimately, will she reenter the real world and live normally?

This is a book that is depicting as a thriller, but I would not call it a thriller. It is more of an intense psychological look into PTSD and sexual abuse. So, unless you are very comfortable reading about these things, pass on this one.

I really enjoyed reading this very accomplished debut novel exploring the mind of a middle-aged woman who has been secrets from herself about trauma experienced in childhood.
The main character, Nora Brown is a high school English teacher in Seattle, married to a successful businessman and mother to a six year old daughter. Her path to mental breakdown starts at the end of a tiring day in the classroom, with a vision of a young girl floating in the air. After a second vision of the same child, and as her life starts to fall to pieces, Nora starts consulting a psychologist who helps her uncover the trauma she has been keeping locked away in her mind.
I thought this was a fascinating account of a woman struggling with her inner demons and an interesting depiction of how the mind can work to shield and protect itself from unpleasant and harmful truths. It's an emotional journey for both Nora and the reader (and may be disturbing for those who have suffered similar issues). Of the other main characters, Nora's husband is cold and not at all supportive but her psychologist is a warm and gentle man who carefully accompanies her a step at a time through her memories. I loved the ending of the novel as Nora finally finds her inner strength and there is hope and light ahead for her.

“Minds are like flowers, they only open when the time is right.”
― Stephen Richards

Nora Brown, a teacher of English literature finds herself having visions about a six-year-old girl, with blue eyes. Considering it as an outcome of stress and lack of sleep, Nora continues with her life, with her husband Paul and daughter, Fiona. When the visions keep coming and the little girl tells her about a ‘Valentine’s day dress’, she freaks out and decides to seek medical attention. That’s when she starts seeing the tiny details of her life- Paul getting detached and spending more time at work, and Fiona feeling like there’ something wrong with her mum and dad.

A woman who rates her marriage 3 out of 10, finds out that her true enemies lie in her mind. This little girl, Margaret, is a part of her six-year-old self and in the due course of time, grave secrets are revealed. Nora has had a very rough childhood and now it has come back to haunt her and reveal the secrets she was forced to bury years ago.

A story about abuse and how our mind tries to cope up in order to keep us away from the trauma. It’s all the tricks our brain has up its sleeves. I love the fact that this book wasn’t pretentious and there wasn’t anything forced or out of the way. The theme and the concept the book is based on is fairly common. Yet the message is loud and clear.

Overall, a compelling take on mental health and traumatic childhood experiences, The Night Child is a story about hope, and strength, and the fragile yet capable nature of our mind to protect us from all things bad.

Nora Brown lives a quiet life in Seattle. She teaches high school English and lives with her husband and six-year-old daughter. Their lives are routine, normal. Then one day she sees a girl’s face hovering in the air, wild blue eyes surrounded by shadows. Terror fills Nora’s body.

A day later, on a family vacation, Nora sees the face again, and her whole life starts to feel off-kilter.

Nora sees a doctor, then a psychiatrist. There, she starts to realize that everything in her life and her memories is not as she always thought, but the hidden darkness may be too much for Nora to defeat.

This book was not what I expected at all. Nora is an intriguing character, happy with her life and her family, despite the tragedy in her past. But when she sees the girl’s face, her whole life comes unraveled, leaving her grasping at broken threads, trying to make sense of the knotted mess that hides the truth.

(Galley provided by Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

This book is not a comfortable read, and the subject is one of the most hideous. In this story Nora, a high school teacher and mother of a six-year-old girl, starts seeing visions of a small girl with blue eyes. She consults a psychiatrist who helps her to remember some long forgotten, deeply buried childhood trauma. The story describes how Nora step by step uncovers what happened in the past and how she slowly breaks apart on her way there. The additional circumstance that her husbands seems to be cheating on her is as unsettling as the nearing Valentine's Day, which has special significance to Nora.

The book was very emotionally disturbing and hard to digest, especially after learning that it is based on the author's memoir. I admire the courage and immeasurable strength it must have taken to revisit the past. I also read that writing helped her to deal with it, and on the way she created a remarkable novel.

The Night Child should come with a warning label. This is not only because Anna Quinn's debut novel deals with repressed memories and the reasons for them. It is also because Ms. Quinn's writing is so hauntingly beautiful that it is as emotionally dangerous as anything else the novel holds. In fact, many scenes are almost poetic in their sentence structure and ability to convey so much in a few short words. This is especially true of later scenes as Nora begins to question her sanity.

The Night Child is a tough novel to read. The subject matter is very sensitive and will be a trigger read for some readers. Ms. Quinn is more explicit than anyone will feel comfortable with reading, but she does this so that we can understand Nora's frame of mind throughout the novel. For if we are uncomfortable merely reading about these scenes, what must the mental trauma be like for someone living them, even if she is a fictional character. Throughout it all, in even the worst scenes, Ms. Quinn still finds a way to be delicate and careful in her verbiage. This too is important if only because she maintains the horror of the situation without delving into the grotesque or vulgar.

In addition to those very difficult scenes, the novel is emotionally exhausting. Ms. Quinn's writing lures you into the story so that you are emotionally invested in Nora's well-being. Even if you may not like her as a character, which may be the case as she is not the most enjoyable of characters, her emotions are your emotions. The roller coaster ride she lands on is brutal. With virtually no moments of calm to collect yourself, it is an unceasing barrage of the rawest of emotions, leaving you drained after each reading session.

Throughout it all though, there is remarkable resilience and beauty in Nora's story and thus in the novel, making it a gorgeous read. The human mind is a marvelous instrument that finds amazing ways to protect itself during the most traumatizing horrors, and it is capable of the most astounding healing. It is this healing which is truly remarkable and makes for some of the most poignant scenes, filling you with hope. After all, if someone can survive what Nora experiences we can survive anything, which means The Night Child is the perfect reminder that not only can things be worse but that things will get better.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing, and Anna Quinn for the opportunity to read and review this debut novel. I read it in one sitting!

This is the story of Nora, a married high school English teacher with a 6-year-old child. One day at school, she sees an illusion of a young girl. She begins to think she is crazy and can't share her vision with anyone. When things get worse for her, she ends up seeing a therapist who helps uncover buried secrets.

This is a powerful book of strength on the other side of trauma. Well written - the author takes good care of the subject of this book. Certainly not an easy subject matter but so important and such a wonderful way of unspooling this story.

Anna Quinn manages to tell a story about what appears to be an average, young mother, wife, teacher, and friend. She is someone you can meet at the store or sit next to in church. What you don't know is that Nora harbors secrets from her past that just becomes more and more difficult to suppress. She tries to hold herself together at home for her family, at school for her students, and in her head for herself. But as she gets older, her daughter grows bigger, and the relationship between her and her husband suffers, her past begins to surface. She begins learning things about her childhood that she would much rather never know. Nora is real. Her life experience matters. Everyone should learn from Nora. As difficult as it was to read this book at times, it was one I refused to put down.

This debut novel grabbed my attention and didn't let go. Nora Brown, wife, mother of a six year old girl, and high school English teacher and Department head, is disturbed one day, sitting in her classroom after the students have gone, by the appearance of a young girl's face in the air before her. Two days later, a similar event occurs, but there is also a child's voice.

Needless to say, Nora is worried, has various medical and neurological exams and ultimately is advised to see a psychiatrist. It is there that tension continues to increase and the story continues to spool out. There are also issues in her marriage driving Nora and her husband apart. So many sources of tension.

This is a very effective psychological novel that I do recommend. We see Nora's therapeutic process in up close, interesting ways that feel very real. It brings us into this woman's worst nightmares as we live her struggle with her present and her past, all she has known. It's a gripping read.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Page-turning novel that was not yet another Gone Girl,Girl On Train read-alike! Here the suspense comes from the protagonist's own dark place of abuse. Powerful and insightful, and with an ending that gives hope. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

The cover and blurb on this are a tad disingenuous and I suspect some casual readers will put this down but Quinn has tackled a difficult and challenging subject- child sexual abuse- in a sensitive and thoughtful way. Nora has been toodling along in her life as a mom, teacher, wife until things start to go cockeyed. Nothing seems quite right. Wisely, she begins to work with David, a therapist, to untangle what's going on in her head. This is not an easy read because of the themes but it's a worthwhile one. There are undoubtedly many more Noras out there and if this book can help, then that's deserving of 5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Shades of Tana French's Into the Woods. I was intrigued from the very beginning. Would recommend to anyone who loves a good mystery.