The Stolen Child

The Stolen Child was an absolutely brilliant psychological thriller, it had me guessing who the abductor was throughout the story and I was wrong on 2 occasions!!! A totally addictive read.

Brilliant book cover too, very appealing!!

I really enjoyed reading Sanjida Kay's first book Bone by Bone and didn't really think The Stolen Child would be so good. I was wrong! I have to say I thought it was even better. The Stolen Child is a very tense read that has many twists to it. I couldn't stop reading till I found out the ending.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

I just could not put this book down! This book is responsible for me being awake at 2.30 this morning unable to go to sleep until I had wrung every single word from its pages. So today I am a tired and grumpy book blogger especially as I have no coffee in the house any longer as it gives me palpitations! Which is probably a good thing as this book alone was responsible for plenty of palpitations yesterday!

I actually wish I hadn’t read the book blurb before I started The Stolen Child. That first chapter was intensely hardest hitting and emotional so it probably would have had even more impact on me if I hadn’t know what Zoe and Ollie were actually going through. But it was an incredible start to a hugely emotional journey that had my instincts as a mother on high alert for Zoe and her family immediately. This is one of those books where you suspect everybody and trust nobody as you hope and pray that everything comes good in the end. And one of the things that made The Stolen Child stand out for me was that you were never quite sure HOW it was going to end due to the realistically applied family circumstances used to great effect by Sanjida Kay.

The setting of Ilkley gave this thriller an extra creepy and atmospheric edge and the descriptions were beautifully written with a knowledge and passion that projected off each page. And whilst I didn’t particularly take to the “Boden catalogue” couple (in fact during the second chapter I absolutely detested Ollie!!) that didn’t impact on the tension I felt watching their beautiful but confused child deal with the difficult emotions she was going through. Her complex family dynamics also evoked many emotions within me and left me completely drained at times.

This is a tense family drama that is taken to another level by the ravishingly descriptive narrative which sent shivers down my spine. The anxieties of parenthood were heightened to such an extent I just wanted to grab all my kids/grandchildren and give them the biggest ever bear hugs. Giving children the freedom to find themselves and make their own decisions is one of the hardest parenting choices you can make especially when all you want to do is keep them safely close to you! And Samjida Kay obviously knows what frightens parents the most, using that knowledge so that her readers can safely live out their own fears for within this fictional melodrama.

I enjoyed this so much that as soon as I finished, even though it was The wee small hours of The morning, I went on Amazon to buy any other books by Sanjida Kay. Then learnt that apparently I had already bought Bone by Bone in March 2016 and it has been hiding in my kindle TBR pile since then! So I know what I will be reading next time I can’t sleep!

This is a dark, unsettling, and multilayered psychological thriller that dwells on every family's nightmares of their child going missing. In London, Zoe and Ollie Morley have seen their desperate dreams to have a child turn to ashes, pushing them to look towards adoption. They are blessed when they adopt baby Evie and so happy. Their circumstances change drastically as seven years later, they are living in Yorkshire, and have a surprise addition to their family in the form of naturally conceived baby boy, Ben, now a toddler. However, things are amiss within the family. Zoe is feeling underappreciated, missing her vocation as an artist, and has the lion's share of caring for the children. Ollie is largely absent out at work, and Evie is acting and behaving in a disturbing manner. The story is largely related from the perspective of Zoe.

Evie's behaviour becomes more understandable when it becomes apparent that she is being heavily influenced, and receiving gifts, and letters, purportedly from her biological father, keen to have her back. This increases the stresses and worries within the family, and events take a sinister turn when Evie is taken from school whilst Zoe is in hospital with Ben and Ollie. There are a host of suspects that appear to have motive for the abduction. The police uncover the gaping holes in
peoples' accounts, raising the levels of fear and paranoia in the novel. The fissures in Zoe and Ollie's marriage widen as conflict between them escalates, and Zoe feels a growing connection with Harris, a fellow artist with a passion for the bleak, dark and eerie moors. Psychologically, Zoe is a mess, and the sky high stress contributes to her poor and irrational behaviour and decision-making. She is a mother, with all that entails, desperate to have her child back. With the police failing to make progress, Zoe decides to take matters into her own hands as she hunts for Evie.

Sajida Kay has written an impressive plotted novel, with some great twists. Her prose is beautiful, and atmospheric, particularly in the descriptions that evoke the moors. I have to admit to not particularly liking either Zoe or Ollie but I find the scenario they found themselves in absolutely gripping. Kay authentically captures the dynamics, complexities, and difficulties of marriage, and the stresses and responsibilities that children bring into any family. Added to this mix are the thorny issues that adoption brings and a child being abducted. I found this a tense and suspenseful read infused with a growing sense of foreboding. Thanks to Corvus and Atlantic Books for an ARC.