The Hidden Child

A Novel

By: Louise Fein

Narrated by: Marisa Calin

Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

An international bestseller

“The Hidden Child is a heart-wrenching depiction of a golden couple in the 1920s…. Shocking, emotive, and compelling, but ultimately a story of hope. I loved it.” -- Deborah Carr, USA Today bestselling author of The Poppy Field

In this new historical novel by the author of Daughter of the Reich, Londoners Eleanor and Edward Hamilton have it all. But the 1929 financial crash is looming, and they’re harboring a shameful secret. How far are they willing to go to protect their charmed life?

Eleanor Hamilton is happily married and mother to a beautiful four-year-old girl, Mabel. Her husband, Edward, is a leading light in the burgeoning Eugenics movement, which is designing the very ideas that will soon be embraced by Hitler.

But when Mabel develops debilitating epileptic seizures and Eleanor discovers Edward has been keeping secrets, Eleanor's world fractures. In order to save her daughter, she takes matters into her own hands.

Vividly rendered and deeply affecting, The Hidden Child is a sweeping story and a richly drawn portrait of a family torn apart by shame, deceit, and dangerous ideals.

©2021 Louise Fein (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Thought provoking

Loved the story line. Fascinating. Disliked the accents. I had to pay extra close attention to what was being said

Epilepsy

This book is enlightening about a man and his family and his involvement in the eugenics society in the early 1900s in Britain and the U.S. It incorporates war, PTSD, and one family’s life with a child with epilepsy. As hard as it is to hear/read about life with severe epilepsy, it is a real medical condition that still has stigmas and is still kept secret by many. It is interesting and heart breaking to learn more about life with epilepsy and the evolution of treatments. The author did a great job and the narrator is excellent!

Elenor, a hero to her daughter, and to all with disability

We should all aspire to be a Elenor. What a tragic story this could have been, had it not been for the love of a mother, the strength she found as a women up against all the odds, loss, violence, tragedy, to be loved, and found, keep in secrecy and lies, to find the courage and the strength that she found to take on the world cruelty against the disabled, to save her daughter and generations to come.  

Excellent story.

Sadly, the same globalists are still running the world and want all of us useless eaters erraticated.

Sad listen Strong Mother

The strength of mothers to follow their instincts and reality to provide for their children back then and more so today, is what I got out of this book.

Well written story

The story is not extraordinary- but it is real and full of human frailties- I liked it.

Subject of story

Slow to get started in the beginning then improved. Thought provoking subject. I liked the characters in the book

History

Some say it’s sad, unfortunately lots of history was sad. But we’ve learned from it. And stories like this remind us of how far we’ve come as humans and how much further we need to go.

Eugenics an unusual topic

Henry did the right thing...eventually. Mable lived happily ever after. Unusual topic of this story....epilepsy and eugenics.

Great character development and full of suspense.

I like the way each character was fully developed in the background provided a rich context for the story to unfold. The last part of the story was so gripping I missed a few hours of sleep because I could not put it down.