Welcome to my first blog tour post! Today, I want to talk to you about the psychological thriller ‘The Child Who Never Was’ for damppebbles blog tours.
The Blurb:
Her child has been taken. But no-one believes her.
Sarah’s beautiful baby son Oliver has gone missing. And she will do anything – anything – to get him back.
But there’s a problem. Everyone around Sarah, even her beloved identical twin, Evie, tells her she never had a son, that he’s a figment of her imagination, that she’s not well, she needs help.
And on one level, they’re right, Sarah does need support. She has suffered massive trauma in the past and now she’s severely agoraphobic, very rarely leaves the house, avoids all contact with people.
But fragile though she is, Sarah knows deep in her heart that Oliver is real, that the love she feels for him is true.
And that can only mean one thing – someone has been planning this. And now they’ve taken her baby.
The stunning psychological thriller with an ending you won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of K.L Slater, Mark Edwards, Alex Michaelides.
My Review:
Although slightly outside my usual genres, I was intrigued by the premise and had to find out what happened! I love a story with plenty of twists and hoped that this would keep me reading – and it certainly did!
The story opens with Sarah utterly convinced that her toddler, Oliver, has gone missing. She has vivid recollections of giving birth to him, his bedroom, his speech patterns… However, everyone tells her that he never existed and that he is a figment of her imagination. Sarah has mental health challenges after an earlier trauma in her life and now rarely leaves her house, so is Oliver merely a result of this? Sarah is unconvinced and will go to extreme lengths to prove that her child has been taken.
The central characters in the novel, Sarah and Evie, are twins and they are beautifully contrasted. Evie is composed, in charge of the sisters’ architectural business and mother of her own toddler, James, while Sarah is the opposite: struggling with her mental health, bossed around by her sister and childless. It is this sense of opposition that drives the narrative on and the reader is not quite sure where their sympathies should lie for a large proportion of the book. The fact that Sarah is the focal character is especially clever as she is a notoriously unreliable narrator and so the reader is unsure what to believe.
The narrative does have plenty of twists and turns that kept me interested in this story of the two sisters, a lost child and mental health issues. The loss that Sarah feels is convincing and compelling – it is impossible not to feel for her, even as you also have to balance this with her own psychological issues. The opening scene is also – no spoilers – an absolute gem and I was desperate to know how this fitted in with the rest of the story.
Overall, this is a pacey and engaging read. It’s certainly worth clearing the diary for as you will not want to put it down until you know the truth!
About Jane Renshaw:
As a child, Jane spent a lot of time in elaborate Lego worlds populated by tiny plastic animals and people. Crime levels were high, especially after the Dragon brothers set themselves up as vets and started murdering the animals in their ‘care’. (They got away with it by propping the victims up with Plasticine and pretending they were still alive…)
As an adult, she is still playing in imaginary worlds and putting her characters through hell – but now she can call it ‘writing’ and convince herself that she is doing something sensible. In real life, she has a PhD in genetics and copy-edits scientific and medical journals.
Jane is the author of Watch Over Me. THE CHILD WHO NEVER WAS will be her second novel published with Inkubator Books.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneRenshaw10
Website: https://www.janerenshaw.co.uk/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3kqo1if
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/33IIk4u
Publishing Information:
Published in digital format by Inkubator Books on 16th August 2020
This sounds so interesting! Definitely something I would enjoy reading 🙂 I’m really intrigued about the opening scene now as well!
It does all come together so cleverly!
Great review Kate, it’s not my usual genre or book but it definitely sounds intriguing, I’m glad you liked it! 😃
Thanks! It’s slightly outside my usual genres but was certainly compelling
Thanks so much 🙂
You’re very welcome – it is a cracking read!
Great review. 🙂 I loved the book, though not the twins so much. It was a fast read for me due to the plenty of twists.
Yes – I sped through it!
Thanks very much for reading and reviewing – I’m so glad you enjoyed it, even though it wasn’t your usual sort of read.
Thank you – I did enjoy it and I absolutely had to know what happened!
Mysteries are my favorite. I love that it keeps you reading and wondering. Thanks for the great review.
-Lauren