Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Missing Daughter

A Beautiful Story that is Heartbreaking, Emotional, Intriguing, Compelling and Suspenseful

Reviewed in Australia on 8 March 2020

Emily Gunnis is a new author for me so having come across THE LOST CHILD and after reading the premise, I had no idea what to expect. I needn't have worried because this superb novel had me hooked from the very first page. In fact, I would have finished it in under a day had it not been real life getting in the way and diverting my attention.

In 1945, Jacob Waterhouse returns from war having served in the D-Day landings at Normandy which has haunted him day and night ever since. He returns a shell of a man of who he was before the war, suffering constant nightmares and flashbacks and no clue how to deal with the horrors he saw there. His wife Harriet, looking forward to his return, doesn't recognise the man that is her husband and has no idea how to help him. They take up a position in service for the Bartons at their sprawling estate - he as a gardener and she as a lady's maid. Until fate intervenes and changes their lives forever.

In 1952, Harriet Waterhouse faces a dilemma when she receives word that her husband Jacob is to be released from the mental institution he has been in for the past five years. Having lived with his nightmares, anger and violence from the time he came back from the war till the day he was carted off to the institution, Harriet is unsure what to expect. But things are different now. Harriet has 5 year old Rebecca to think about and Jacob's violent outbursts have no place in their new found peace at Seaview Cottage.

In 1960, 13 year old Rebecca Waterhouse faces a tragedy and she witnesses the horrific murder of her mother at the hands of her father before shooting himself. She is taken into custody and questioned at length by police which bordered on badgering the young girl who had, in effect, now been left an orphan. Police are certain there is more to the incident than Rebecca is letting on and that she is hiding information paramount to the investigation. But Rebecca never wavers in her account. Police let her go and she returns to live at Seaview Farm with her neighbour Ted Roberts and his son Harvey.

In 2014, Jessie Roberts goes into labour and delivers a baby girl whom she names Elizabeth, after her deceased stepmother. But Jessie, who had been anxious prior to the birth, now becomes convinced that the doctors are trying to harm her newborn daughter and that the antibiotics given to her for a life-threatening infection are poison. She refuses to consent to the treatment and early the next morning she leaves the hospital, taking her sick newborn daughter with her. Her father Harvey is frantic with worry as he fears history repeating itself in the form of post natal psychosis which afflicted her mother Rebecca just after Jessie was born almost four decades ago. She displays all the same signs as Rebecca did and now that Jessie has fled with her sick daughter, if Elizabeth doesn't receive her antibiotics within 12 hours, her chances of survival are slim.

Iris Waterhouse is Jessie's half sister and a journalist. So when their mother Rebecca rings Iris pleading with her to help find her sister, Iris must use her contacts and her position as a journalist to delve into the past to discover why Jessie fled. Her mother never talks about her past, particularly the night of her parent's deaths, so Iris must use all her nous to uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, a mysterious patient arrives at the hospital to receive urgent care in the midst of Jessie's disappearance. We are privy to their confusing thoughts that border on the incoherent ramblings of a mental patient as we try to make sense of what their words mean and where their story fits into the one already unfolding.

Told in three main timelines - 1945 to 1952, 1960 and 2014 - everything comes back to Seaview Cottage. What role does Seaview play in a terrified mother's life? What links Seaview from the past to the present? And will the Cottage finally reveal the truth that has remained hidden for so long? As the individual stories unravel, we discover the link that ties them all together whilst gaining an understanding of post natal psychosis, guilt, secrets and the unbreakable love of a mother for her child.

There is so much pain, hurt and misunderstanding embedded deep within the story of this family but it is also heartbreakingly real. The complex nature of families is outlined with sensitivity and understanding as shocking secrets are ultimately revealed, bringing the story full circle.

An intriguing mystery combined with historical fiction and a touch of chick lit, THE LOST CHILD is a compelling tale of mothers and daughters and of love and forgiveness. Heartwrenching and emotional, this story is utterly absorbing that you will not want to put down.

As the combined narratives unfold to weave the three storylines together, readers will gain an insight into mental health issues such as post natal psychosis and the effect war has on returning soldiers. THE LOST CHILD is, at times, heartbreaking but above all it is a beautiful and touching story that will have you reaching for the Kleenex by the story's end.

So if you enjoy books in dual timeline format with a touch of mystery and a touch of history, I highly recommend this beautiful story that is heartbreaking, emotional, intriguing, compelling and suspenseful right up to the very last page with one final twist that is so shockingly good I wasn't expecting it.

I have not yet read "The Girl in the Letter" but after reading this gem I am looking forward to losing myself to it!

I would like to thank #EmilyGunnis, #NetGalley and #Headline for an ARC of #TheLostChild in exchange for an honest review.

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I am still wiping the tears away.

Reviewed in Australia on 21 June 2020

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Wow, this book is absolutely amazing.
Thirteen year old Rebecca witnesses her father beating her mother to death.
Forward to the present, Rebecca's daughter Jessie goes missing with her newly born daughter.
This cleverly woven story flicks back and forth to reveal many secrets, and yield lots of surprises.
It is heartwrenching, very moving and suspenseful, and I was moved to tears on several occasions.
One of the best books I have read for ages, and I can't recommend highly enough.

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charlene

Thought provoking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2019

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Firstly i loved her debut so was delighted to recieve this in my goody bag at the rooftop book event.

Packed with history and stories of women of all generations from a family . Heartache, loss, love and largely mental health... which i love having such a big focus. Its so important to talk about and how better than a theme of a book.

I whizzed through this trying to work out the pieces.

Emotive writing that will get you thinking

Beautiful and heartfelt . Really enjoyed especially on a personal level with my own experiences.

9 people found this helpful

Christine Wilson

Very moving

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2020

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You get a lot of plot for your money in this very full story than spans 3 generations of women and illustrates the vastly different way postnatal psychosis is treated. And with lots going on you have to work quite hard to keep up with which era you are in and what you had previously just learned. I think the author got confused too because on page 175 she has Harriet standing by the sink and saying to Rebecca ‘Don’t ever get married Harriet’. I had to read it a few times to see it was just a mistake. There was another bit of confusion over what time Harvey and Ted gave their statement to the police. At dawn or before dawn? But these are little editing glitches. The words ‘birth certificate’ kept going through my mind but were soundly pushed away as the plot was good and eventually plausible. I must have missed what Cecilia’s connection to Sea View was but that was probably my fault. I found the whole description of post war soldiers returning vastly changed very moving.
I read it very fast staying up late to read into the night. I think it loses one point because I found the plot almost too hectic. There was so much going on. But many will disagree with me on that - a 4 star review is still very good.

3 people found this helpful

N. K. green

Gripping, heart wrenching and beautifully written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 August 2019

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Absolutely worth the wait! Written so beautifully, such attention to detail, her words and mesmerising characters take hold of every emotion within you. Guiding you fluidly through each characters story as if you are right there next to them. The lost child is the kind of book that will stay with you forever, a story you could never forget. one that, through moments of breath holding, heartache and pure joy, leaves you feeling so very grateful for those precious moments when your child’s tiny hand takes hold of your own. A captivating, heart felt, gripping and emotional page turner that will have you doubting that you’ll ever read something so outstanding again. My only hope is that she is already working on another.

6 people found this helpful

A good novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 May 2020

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Having read the author's debut historical thriller: The Girl In The Letter, which was fantastic, I was really excited by the premise of this title. However, the theme of a child born out of wedlock, a childhood marred by the mother's perceived failings and the way the girls past has been shaped by neglectful in this case parenting rather than forcible abandonment yet with a different backdrop (a lunatic asylum rather than one of the Magdalene Laundries). And while this is tempered with the modern story of a woman suffering Post Natal Depression, very well may I add, and the present day police search for the woman who's escaped hospital with her baby daughter who needs medical attention (much like the true story recently depicted in the news) I felt the intended past precursors took a front seat. Though i liked the difference and the merging of both time frames was dealt with well, it often felt distracting that both women's stories were so similar that I often forgot which era I was in and which character was narrating. I've also read for books (this being the fourth) this month alone that deals with the same issues (women's apparent madness caused by melancholy immediately after childbirth. And while each were dealt with empathically and realistically, I feel this too hindered my enjoyment of the novel. When books using the same theme are published at the same time it becomes repetitive. Though this is obviously no fault of the author, it's annoying when every book you pick up in the same two weeks deals exclusively with the same subject. I thoroughly enjoy Gunnis' books and I really hope her third title covers a different theme as the mother-daughter relationship and the impact of a mother's mental health on her daughter is becoming a little tiresome as it seems to be overdone in fiction these days.

2 people found this helpful

sally whitfield

Engrossing story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2019

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I'd just finished a wonderful book so needed another fix and found this straight after whilst browsing. This book was 99p absolutely wonderful read. I got into the story straight away and devoured it in a day. Quite traumatic and sad in places but the main story set in 40s and 50's era is so engrossing and the chapters arnt to long, I just kept wanting to know what happened next. The ending was really good everything ties up. Absorbing read and very worthy of 5*

5 people found this helpful

Helen C

Such a fab book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2019

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I couldn’t put this down... the author’s last book was fascinating but this new one is amazing.. Ms Gunnis writes with a clarity that adds so much to her narrative - I was emotionally hooked from the first chapter.. Please write faster Emily!

2 people found this helpful

katehart

Highly recommended. Love it from start to end

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 August 2020

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Oh my goodness, I came across this book on my Facebook wall. I am so glad I read the reviews. It was well worth buying as this book was amazing. I read it on my Kindle using the dyslexic font. I haven't read a book for a very long time and glad I chose this one. I was glued to the story line from the very beginning. I loved it. Even had a little cry. I did have to go back and re-read some parts because I got a little lost, but it was worth it. I am dyslexic which is understandable. So thank you Emily Gunnis, you have got me back into reading again. Highly recommended 👌

One person found this helpful

Joan Robbins

Brilliant Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 September 2019

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This is Emily's 2nd book and is as good as her first, I will continue to read her books as they are released, as I did her mothers books Penny Vincenzi'

2 people found this helpful

5 star		59%
4 star		26%
3 star		11%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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