The Child By Fiona Barton

Ok so The Child by Fiona Barton is recommended from the Richard and Judy Book Club, and I am really glad that they recommended it.

The story is set in and around London in 2012. It starts with the grisly find on a building site of the skeleton of a new born baby and the police have no idea how it got there or how long it had actually been there. We are then introduced to three main characters, Angela who back in 1970 just 1 day after giving birth to baby Alice and still in hospital goes for a shower whilst Alice sleeps. Upon her return Alice is gone and despite plenty of witnesses, nobody knows what happened to Alice and she is never found. Next we hear about Emma, a 40 something lady who has had mental health problems on the back of a tough upbringing when she used to live in the same street as where the skeleton is found. Now married to the much older Paul, she has a very strained relationship with her mother, who threw her out of home at 16 to pursue a relationship with Will and they are trying but failing to get on with each other now that she is older. Finally, we hear about Kate, an ageing journalist who is used to the old techniques of journalism and reporting on proper news. Kate is worried about being made redundant to make way for the new style journalists who focus on celebrity news and use the internet to get news out there.

Kate undertakes to investigate the finding of the skeleton and discoveries the story of Angela having Alice taken away. Upon talking with Angela and hearing her story, Kate persuades her to go the police and ask for a DNA test on the skeleton to see if it is Alice. The match is positive and the police confirm the baby is Alice. Emma meanwhile is convinced it is not Angela's baby despite the press reports and contacts Kate under a pseudonym to try and find out more information.

What then transpires is a gripping story that has you trying hard to think what is going to happen and hoping you work it out. What does happen though is totally not what you expect and this makes for a fantastic read as a result which a number of twists and sensible sub plots as we explore the pain & anguish that Angela and her husband Nick have been through, the life of Kate and Emma's battle with mental health and her relationship with her mum.

This for me was a really good 8 out of 10 read and comes highly recommended by your Cruise Ship Reader, it really should be on your short list of books to read on your cruise holiday this year. This is a book to definitely read by the pool or on your balcony on board ship whilst soaking up the sunshine.

I will look into reading more books by Fiona Barton, but if you can't wait for me to get around to it, why not have a look at Fiona's website and details of her other books at

www.fionabartonauthor.com

So on to my next book which is all about the Great British Institution that is the National Health Service !!

Happy Reading

Canberralover