This heart-breaking and compelling story had my emotions on a roller coaster. I was captivated by this tale and it was unputdownable as I flew through the pages. I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

Although this was very well-written, I found the subject matter to be rather disturbing. This would be a good book for discussion at a book club with its heavy topics of eugenics and ways it affected families.

A haunting and heartbreaking novel about a woman standing up for her child and being there when it counts. This was a difficult read but an amazing read for those of us who love historical fiction novels.

This book is difficult to read, but SO GOOD. I enjoyed reading about this mother caring for and standing up for her child.

The description of the book sounded interesting; however I couldn’t finish the book. There were too many descriptions of the research done at the time and I couldn’t get past it all. I received a free copy of this book from the author and NetGalley for an honest review.

I didn’t like this book at first. I actually almost gave up after first half. The subject matter of Eurogenics was upsetting. I really enjoyed the last quarter of the book. It was fast moving and’s wrapped up nicely, although a little too perfect. If my husband acted like Edmund, don’t think I’d go running back so quickly. Thank you NerGalley for opportunity to read this prerelease copy.

I’ve been sitting on my review for The Hidden Child for a minute because I want to do it the justice it deserves, and yet don’t quite know how to describe my experience with it.

There is no denying the incredible writing and storytelling here, the well-developed characters, strong sense of place within the story, and just overall immersive plot. This is a highly memorable read and one that will really keep you turning the pages. In fact, it checked all of the boxes for what makes a 5 star historical fiction read for me! Every element to the story was clearly well researched!

The ways in which I struggled with this book are not at the fault of the author. I guess I wish I’d have had some sort of a warning as to what exactly I was going to get into here, so I am going to do just that for anybody considering picking this book up. This book was really hard for me to read at points. The content is heavy in regards to epilepsy and it’s mistreatment at the time as well as the quite vivid descriptions of an epileptic seizure. I am very sensitive to these sorts of thing and struggled with this aspect personally. Again, not at the author’s fault, though I really wish this book could come with some sort of giant trigger warning. I almost had to put it down completely before I was even halfway though.

This story is brilliantly done and one that will make you ponder and question. It would make an excellent book club read. I’m so glad I picked it up and will be eagerly reaching for more books by this author!

Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy.

I loved this book. Historical fiction is by far my favorite genre and every time I read a HF book I’m reminded why I love them. They teach us about humanity and what we do to protect others around us during difficult times. The Hidden Child was no different, even though historical fiction can sometimes be tough to read due to the horrors that occurred, Fein has a way of making it easier somehow.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Paperbacks, & HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

Louise Fein is an absolutely brilliant author and I know I'll continue to pick up her books - but I would definitely give the caveat that this particular book is pretty hard to read at times.

It's hard to describe, but basically there are a number of chapters that are narrated by the child's epilepsy - and these chapters do not pull their punches. Throughout the entire book I couldn't decide how I felt about this narrative choice, and even now (months later) I'm still at a loss. They evoke the affliction in ways I had never even considered, but they were also heartbreaking to read (especially at a time when the affliction was so misunderstood). If you or someone you know has epilepsy, I don't know that I would readily suggest this book to you - but maybe I'm reading too much into it.

The story itself was fascinating, and heartbreaking, and infuriating, and well researched, and so well written. There were even a few twists in the story - by the very nature of me not expecting "twists" in a pre WWII historical fiction, they were quite unexpected.

Ultimately I don't know how to recommend this, or who to recommend it to. That being said, if you make it through the child's first seizure and the first accompanying chapter from the epilepsy's POV, I would think you were good to keep going.

A bit long and winding in narrative at times, but another excellent book by Louise Fein. It was a dark read, and I didn't "feel" in the mood to read a dark book (I am a mood reader!), so this perhaps could affect my review. Nevertheless, Fein will be a go-to author for me!

Thank you for allowing me to read and review this one!

This is not a light and easy feel good read. The focus on eugenics made it very difficult to stomach. But the author did an incredible amount of research and presented it through an interesting story. The two main characters, Edward and Eleanor, were not likable … both because of their approval of eugenics, but also their personalities. The information shared through the storyline was powerful. I learned a lot as I experienced life during the 1930s.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was a beautifully written book. Edward and Eleanor Hamilton were married and had a daughter, Mabel, around 1929, Mabel started having seizures and they soon found out it was epilepsy. The parents loved their daughter but in the 1920''a their many different approaches. The parents had different ideas on her treatment. The story follows the parents, the depression and medical trends. A tender book exploring the views of each parent and their reasoning..

Daughter of the Reich was one of my favorite books of 2020, so I was very eager to read this book. Once again, Louise explores a part of history that is somewhat unexplored & also shows how the people in a movement we would be appalled by today (the Eugenics movement) would believe that they were making the world a better place.

The story follows Edward, a professor of Eugenics & his wife Eleanor & their discovery that their beautiful daughter is afflicted with epilepsy. Because epilepsy at that time was believed to be due to "defective" genes, this is greatly embarrassing to Edward, who has been of the opinion that those of substandard gene make-up should be institutionalized & sterilized. Indeed Mabel is institutionalized for some time & subjected to some very tortuous treatments. The story also follows world events of the time such as the stock market collapse & shows how such events will lead towards WWII.

Eventually Eleanor is able to find a doctor who is experimenting with Ketogenic diets to treat epileptic children & both parents reexamine their beliefs in eugenics & capitalism.

I greatly enjoyed this examination of how eugenics was embraced by not just Germany but the US & Great Britain as well & how well-meaning people were driven to defend it.

Both heartbreaking and haunting, The Hidden Child is a narrative on the Eugenics movement of the early 1900s. Eleanor, while strongly believing in Eugenics, has an epileptic daughter that she desperately wants but feels useless to help. Louise Fein does a great job of portraying a mother's emotions going through a very difficult medical situation with a child, while also showing the social narrative of the day where the husband was the final decision-maker and good outer appearances were of the utmost importance. The balance of having Edward (and previously Eleanor) work in Eugenics while also having a daughter directly impacted by the regulations that movement would bring made for a historical fiction novel that I couldn't put down.

Thank you to William Morrow for the gifted ARC.

I was very interested in the premise of this book. It is easy to look back on history with some level of snobbery, especially something like eugenics once we've seen how Hitler used this thinking to fuel a genocide. I was looking forward to reading a book that helped humanize people who believed in eugenics in the time when it was popular. However, this one I struggled with. The story switches points of view between a husband and wife, and I found that I didn't particularly enjoy either character's storyline very much. The parts highlighting the eugenic way of thinking, while it felt well-researched, was a bit tedious and disturbing. This book felt slow and not in a good way. I struggled with whether or not I would even finish it. While this book might be for some, I'm afraid it didn't work for me.

This book draws you into the lives of Hamilton's from the first chapter. The story-line is well thought out and you can see how world events played into it. The views from the 3 different characters is very interesting. It is just an amazing book in my opinion. The characters are as well developed and you really feel that you know them. You just want to wrap your arms around little Mable and take her away. All the characters from Edward, Eleanor, Rose, Marcel, Mable and even little Jimmy pull at your heart strings. The author did an amazing job of recreating society and its culture in the 1920-1930's. This book is a good look into the culture of the time.

In her book The Hidden Child, Louise Fein has crafted a beautiful, well-written book about a difficult time in history. Eleanor Hamilton's life on the outside seems to be perfect, but after she finds out that her daughter Mabel has epilepsy, Eleanor becomes a mother who will go to any lengths to protect her child from what society has deemed her to be. What a powerful book that will stay with you long after you have finished the book.

Edward Hamilton, war hero and leader in the Eugenics movement, and his wife Eleanor have it all. They are wealthy, happy, and have a wonderful four year old daughter. But soon their daughter begins to have epileptic fits. Knowing that Edward needs to show that his family is genetically perfect, Eleanor begins to worry that she must hid her daughter away. Soon Eleanor learns that her husband has been lying to her, and when Mabel's doctor refuses to listen to Eleanor, she decides it time for her to take charge.

This book difficult to read because eugenics is such a difficult topic to read about. Like The Daughter of The Third Reich, Louise Fein makes it a book that is difficult to put down, no matter the subject matter.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This was my first novel by Louise Fein. Historical fiction is usually one of my favorite genres, and I was so excited to be approved for this. Though it was a difficult topic to read about, I learned so much about the eugenics movement. It also shed light on epilepsy, which was also difficult to read about, but it was written so well. This is not a light read, as it isn't like most recent novels in this genre I have read because it is so heart wrenching, but I highly recommend it.

I really wanted to like this book but had to end up DNF it. It was very verbose and long winded. The plot dragged on. I was at 40% and couldn’t get any further. Maybe it was my mental state - but I couldn’t read any further about eugenics and the decimation and exclusion of millions of people - even if it is non-fiction and absolutely true. My rating is reflective of the amount of the book I actually read and not due to lack of finishing.