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The Child in Time

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( 14,728 ratings, 1,107 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Child in Time by Ian McEwan is a profound exploration of time, grief, and parenthood. The story follows Stephen Lewis, an author of children's books, as he grapples with the sudden disappearance of his daughter. Set against the backdrop of a disorienting journey, the novel delves into the complexities of loss and the passage of time, while offering a reflection on the nature of reality and memory.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate stories that explore the complexities of time and delve deeply into personal loss and recovery. McEwan weaves a compelling narrative filled with emotional depth, philosophical pondering, and rich, vivid descriptions. This novel skilfully captures the intricate intertwining of family trauma and social commentary, making it a rewarding read for those intrigued by themes of human resilience and the passage of time.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Now a major BBC drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch

β€˜Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty’ Benedict Cumberbatch

On a routine trip to the supermarket with his daughter one Saturday morning, Stephen Lewis, a well-known writer of children’s books, turns his back momentarily.

Now a major BBC drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch

'Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty' Benedict Cumberbatch

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Child in Time opens with a harrowing event. Stephen Lewis, a successful author of children's books, takes his three-year-old daughter on a routine Saturday morning trip to the supermarket. While waiting in line, his attention is distracted and his daughter is kidnapped. Just like that.

From there, Lewis spirals into bereavement that has effects on his relationship with his wife, his psyche and time itself.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Child in Time by Ian McEwan is lauded as an extraordinary and masterfully written novel that deeply moves readers. The narrative is praised for its ability to appal, refresh, and exhilarate, while also being described as spooky and wonderfully constructed. Critics highlight its artistic, moral, and political excellence, reinforcing its status as a significant accomplishment in general fiction.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099755012

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 June 1997

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 16.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 209g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen books. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; and Nutshell, which was a Number One bestseller. Atonement and Enduring Love have both been turned into award-winning films, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach are in production and set for release this year, and filming is currently underway for a BBC TV adaptation of The Child in Time.

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