The Vanished Child

This book does not fall into a genre in a tidy way, and that's one of the things that makes it so satisfying. It is a murder mystery, a set of beautifully-drawn character studies, a sketch of science in the early twentieth century and reminds you of the terrible limitations on women in the era. Besides all that, it's beautifully written. If I could have given it four and a half stars, I would have done that. Apparently Sarah has a new book just out which is a ghost story. Can't wait!

The most compelling, character-driven work of genre fiction I've ever read. The mystery itself is a little simple, but you'll be so engrossed in the characters and their actions that this will hardly seem relevant. This is the first of the trilogy, and each book goes slightly downhill from the one before it, but nonetheless, you're going to be so deeply invested in these characters that you won't be able to help finding out what happens to them.

This was such a good book. The characters are interesting and flawed and complex (except the ones who aren't supposed to be complex). The plot & setting are the perfect media for delivering the character development of the story. It's technically a mystery, but you don't have to like mysteries to like this.

It's technically the beginning of a trilogy. This book is complete on its own, and I have chosen to pretend that subsequent books don't exist. But that's my own bias.

It's an absorbing glimpse into Victorian society in America, from the point of view of a young man who was raised as a scientifically educated European aristocrat.

The mystery centers around the son of a wealthy man, a boy who disappeared decades ago.

The revelations at the end are quite horrifying and have the potential to make the reader really uncomfortable.

Een scheikundige die rond 1905 voor een congres naar Amerika zal reizen, wordt vlak voor de reis in Zwitserland herkend als Richard Knight het kind dat verdween nadat het als enige getuige was van de moord op zijn Amerikaanse grootvader.

So-so psychological mystery set, like an awful lot of stuff recently, at the turn of the (last) century. Not sure where this trend came from. Well, it started with Caleb Carr and 'The Alienist', I think, but I don’t know why it caught on.

I was surprised, indeed. And I really like Richard. There are two sequels.