camilleisreading24 's review for:

The Child in Time by Ian McEwan

4.0

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A short novel about the passage of time and the essence of childhood. Stephen and Julie's 3-year-old daughter is abducted and this horrific tragedy sets the two on divergent paths. The book explores grief and doesn't pander to the audience by bringing the child back. Yes it was incredibly frustrating not to learn what became of the young girl, but that is the point -- Stephen and Julie are never relieved of their grief and neither does the reader get the satisfaction of a solved mystery. In another storyline that explores childhood, Stephen's good friend Charles succumbs to madness and believes himself to be a schoolboy again. I liked the calm and simple tone to the story. It was exceedingly sad at times, as one might expect. Not so incredible that I'd read it again, but definitely not a waste of time either. Uplifting at the end.