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The Wish Child
The Wish Child
Oct 11, 2024 6:25 AM

Author:Catherine Chidgey

The Wish Child

'A wonderful new talent' Nick Hornby

Germany, 1939. Sieglinde lives in the affluent ignorance of middle-class Berlin. Erich is an only child living a lush rural life, aware that he is shadowed by strange, unanswered questions. Both children watch as their parents become immersed in the puzzling mechanisms of power.

Drawn together as Germany’s hope for a glorious future begins to collapse, the children find temporary refuge in an abandoned theatre amidst the rubble of Berlin. The days they spend there together will shape the rest of their lives.

Winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction

Reviews

A remarkable book with a stunningly original twist.

—— The Times

An intriguing read

—— Fanny Blake , Woman & Home

An incredible piece of writing...takes us inside the minds of the children and their families with such tenderness, humanity and psychological astuteness that it creates an understanding of why they loved and followed Hitler.

—— New Zealand Listener

Compellingly gentle and empathetic...one of our 'must read' novelists. It is a book difficult to put down and deserving of more than one reading.

—— Otago Daily Times (NZ)

A brilliant novel, with a cohesive and persuasive vision of human beings under stress, a subtle prose-style and a major grasp of things that really matter.

—— Reid's Reader blog (NZ)

I love this book... I love the way, at this critical point in the world, when fundamental human values are violated, The Wish Child reminds us with grace and understated wisdom of a need to strive for universal good. I ached as I read. This novel is unmissable.

—— Stuff (NZ)

This novel is remarkable for its authenticity, this is a fiercely determined act of imagining... Heart-rending.

—— North and South (NZ)

Richly imaginative, memorable story

—— Nick Rennison , Sunday Times

With its vivid Cornwall setting and a house full of shadows, The Stranger has echoes of Daphne Du Maurier but its riveting in its own right

—— Red Magazine

A beautifully written tale of family secrets, loves and losses, set against the magical Cornish coastline. I loved it

—— Amanda Jennings

A fabulous twisting tale, so beautifully written that the pages practically turned themselves. I couldn't put it down

—— Liz Fenwick

A beautiful and intriguing page-turner, where the secrets of the past cast long shadows. Cornwall springs to life in vivid colour

—— Dinah Jefferies

Beautifully written and unputdownable. I loved it

—— Katie Fforde

An enthralling tale of secrets, the twists and turns will have you hooked to the very last breathtaking page

—— Jane Bailey, author of What Was Rescued

An atmospheric whodunit set in the Second World War

—— The Sunday Post

A beautifully woven, immersive story that completely transported me

—— Judith Kinghorn

With such vivid, mysterious characters and an atmospheric setting, the echoes of Du Maurier's Cornwall are on every page. Brilliant!

—— Emylia Hall

A wonderful, gripping, beautifully written book. From the first page, I didn't want to put it down - and by the second half I literally couldn't put it down

—— Katherine Webb

Beautiful and haunting, you'll struggle to put down this mysterious tale

—— Take a Break

Wonderfully atmospheric and utterly engrossing. I hardly moved until I had read to the very last word

—— AJ Pearce author of , Dear Mrs Bird

Take an isolated house, family secrets, a divine Cornish setting, the tensions of war and you have all the ingredients for a tale where the pages take on a life of their own. The Stranger is wound tight as a clock, ticking down the days leading up to the disappearance of a young woman. It will stay with you long after the last breathtaking pages turn

—— Kate Lord Brown

So beguiling that I truly didn't want it to end. A captivating novel that pulls you into another time and place

—— Penny Parkes

The novel is cinematic, and the vividness of the Cornish landscape and its history of smugglers and pirates add to its charm. An engaging page-turner with a surprising twist at the end

—— The Lady

Praise for The Girl in the Photograph

—— -

Rich and atmospheric, like Rebecca this novel casts an enduring spell

—— Rachel Hore, Sunday Times bestselling author

Full of slow-burning tension

—— Essentials

A sweeping saga of secrets and ghosts

—— Good Housekeeping

A well executed, brooding, creepy atmosphere

—— Sunday Mirror

A prickly story full of tension

—— Sunday Express
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