“Who really knows someone else? You can scratch the skin, but you never get to the meat of someone else. Into their bones.” 

One day in little London Town, journalist Kate Waters happens upon an article about the discovery of a set of infant bones in a construction site in one of the city’s lesser-quality neighborhoods. Kate latches on to the story, confident that there’s a bigger tale to tell. Who is this baby? And why is it buried in a place like that? Meanwhile, around town, two other women see the same article — Angela, a mother whose infant daughter disappeared from the maternity ward mere hours after her birth, and Emma, a book editor with a penchant for anxiety and flair.

Angela thinks the baby could be her long-lost baby Alice, though both she and her husband know that this isn’t the first time the hope of finding out what happened to Alice has surfaced.

Emma, who hides her interest about the Building Site Baby from her husband, knows a thing or two about the neighborhood the baby was found in, but surely this couldn’t be a baby she knows anything about — could it?

As Kate digs deeper into the identity of the baby for The Daily Post, the lives of these three women become inextricably intertwined. Who is the Building Site Baby? What happened to baby Alice? What in the world does Emma have to do with anything?

I got The Child as part of my Book of the Month membership (hello best subscription service EVER) and was super excited to dive into it because mystery. I’m also a sucker for multiple-viewpoint narration, so this one brought a double-whammy to the table. The twist at the end is captivating, though it’s kind of hard to not see it coming after a certain point. And there are some points that just sort of unnecessarily drag on. And on. And on. But maybe that’s some people’s cup of tea. All in all, this one was a-okay, but not one that I’d go out of my way to recommend to someone looking for a twisty mystery ride.

My favorite scene: Emma spends a good deal of time looking for the man who was her most prominent father figure — one of her mother’s former boyfriends. Though it isn’t a huge aspect of Kate’s who-dun-it narrative, Emma’s search shows real depth and emotion and it made me care a little more about this anxiety-riddle, frankly kind-of-annoying woman.

Grade: ★★★☆☆

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