Initially I thought this was going to be a thriller but refreshingly it’s a story of ordinary people dealing with loss and grief in a time in their lives where they should be enjoying life and each other.

Cath has recently taken retirement and is trying to fill her time with one fad after another - cake baking, gardening, the tenants of their newly purchased property and their lives - you name it, Cath has tried it. What she’s really doing, sadly, is trying to fill the void that the loss of her daughter Emma has left, who walked out a year ago and didn’t return.

Her husband Jim still works as a photographer and he is dealing with the loss of their daughter in his own way by falling into an affair.

This is a touching novel, showing what effect loss has on family, life and individuals themselves, and how each person deals with their loss in a different way.

This books tells the story of several characters. Cath and Jim who have been married a long time and are searching for their daughter Emma, who vanished one day. And Lara and Nick a newly married couple who move into the house rented out by Cath and Jim
This book was a little confusing to start. Moving from past to present, character to character, it left me constantly having t check back as to who and when I was reading about.
I was initially drawn to the characters Cath and Jim and felt their loss as they struggled to understand where and why Emma had left. I became frustrated the more I read as I felt the story dragging and didn’t really like the plot and the way certain characters were behaving, it just felt a little too predictable for me to be honest and I ended up disappointed with certain characters for their behaviour. Maybe that’s actually a sign of good writing that my compassion changed as I read more?l

It was an ok read and I would be keen to see what else the author has written.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read the book

This novel, by a writer who was new to me, is among the best of the long line of books I have read recently. At the heart of the book are a couple in their fifties, Cath and Jim, who have tragically lost both of their daughters: one has died in childhood, and one has disappeared from home. Veering between grief and anxiety, guilt and hope every day, Cath pours all her energies into building a rapport with their young lodgers, Lara and Nick, who have themselves lived through plenty of trauma. But what will happen when some of the painful layers are stripped back, and old secrets laid bare?
Told alternately from the viewpoints of Cath, Jim, Lara, Nick and Emma, this is an absorbing read that is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for the free ARC I was gifted in return for this honest and impartial review.

DNFd it. It was way to long. I got to the end of part 1 and I enjoyed what I was reading and it was interesting but it just got boring after that point.

A beautifully written debut, focusing on family drama, loss and relationships.

Both of the couples are hiding damaging secrets that could destroy everything, and have an impact on not only their lives, but the lives of others too.

The book rolls along at a steady pace, but is highly compelling and enjoyable.

It's characters, as we've gathered, are extremely flawed, but very realistic and in certain ways relatable.

Allow Hancox to take to on a journey of redemption and emotions.

Many thanks to Random Things Tours for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this book and the different viewpoints from each character's perspective. Each character became complex and rounded as the book progressed, making for a thought-provoking and insightful look into the difficulties of intimate relationships. Mysterious behaviour became sensible as the characters and their stories were revealed.

A great read about families, love, loss, adultery, relationships, grief and murder.
Cath and Jim had twin daughters. They lost Rose as a young child due to complications during pregnancy left her disabled. Then they lost Emma as a young adult due to guilt relating to her sister and the tragic loss of her friend.
Rose is gone forever but Emma might not be.
Emma leaves home after the death of her friend in awful circumstances. She just disappeared and doesn’t want to be found.
Cath never gets over the loss of one daughter and the disappearance of the other.
Jim finds comfort in the arms of another woman.
Emma’s living in the shadows but is it her choice?
A well written book that’s worth preserving with through the slow parts to get to a coincidental ending.

I thought this book dealt well with the issues which are psychological and heartache.

Emma has been missing for a year now and her parents Cath & Jim have been really worried where she is and is she safe. Cath & Jim have bought an house and have rented it to Lara & Nick a young married couple. We see over the book the past things that have happened to these couples.

It is a well written book but I did find it a bit slow at times.

Wow what a great story. This is definitely worth a read. I found this hard to put down. Beautifully written and one that will stay with me for a long time.

This book was just heartbreaking on all counts but a beautiful book with lots of journeys and turns along the way. I just needed to know what happened

I would have listed it more as a family saga than a thriller but there were issues which were only explained slowly so I suppose that’s where the thrilling part came from. Some very real angst from the two couples in the story. Good character development in a book that was not character led but more relationship issues.

When eighteen year old Emma leaves her comfortable home, her parents, Cath and Jim, struggle to come to terms with her disappearance. A year on after her disappearance and with no clue as to whether Emma is still alive, both Cath and Jim are struggling to cope, retreating into themselves where the hurt lingers and festers in the shadows. When Nick and Lara take over as tenants of their rented property Cath is inexorably drawn toward Lara and starts to become her confidante much to the detriment of Lara's relationship with Nick.

This is an interesting look at the effects of devastating loss and the associated trauma of guilt issues which have been unresolved for far too long. We start to see cracks appearing in both these marriages but none more poignant than that between Cath and Jim who have had more than their fair share of anguish over the years. The story moves slowly, which I think is quite deliberate, as it allows the setting of the story to appear quite intimate and gives an insight into the minutiae of life with both couples. The added mystery of what has happened to Emma runs like a thread throughout the novel and I enjoyed wondering how all this would eventually play out.

The Shadow Child is a sensitive portray of love, loss and those sad secrets which have been hidden away in the shadows for far to long.

I was sent a copy of The Shadow Child by Rachel Hancox to read and review by NetGalley. I enjoyed this novel and it was very insightful, however, I did find that I became slightly disinterested at times. There were an awful lot of psychological musings from all the characters that were telling their stories and this was the aspect that fell down for me. I didn’t think that each voice needed to argue every possible approach to their situation at every possible turn. Having said that, it was a very readable novel with an engaging storyline.

This was the perfect book to meet new people and see through other eyes. Having lost one child, losing a second causes all sense of self and purpose to be questioned. The pain that is here is an undercurrent, waves of loss that sometimes overwhelm how one lives, and at other times are a faint echo, like the memory of a niggling toothache.

I particular liked how strong each charcter’s voice was. Whether adult, adolescent, or child, I could hear them. I didn’t want to put the book down to find what would happen next, or how the crisis would resolve.

I confess, I’ve read twice already and look forward to the twists and turns of love and loss again,

My thanks to NetGalley and Century publishing for the opportunity to review this book.
Loved the writing style and the way the book focuses on the different people and their individual stories and the way although they don’t realise it they have a common tenuous link.
It took me a while to actually get into the book but once I did I throughly enjoyed it.

A delicate and deep telling of a complex set of stories revolving around a young woman whose life falls apart in a way that affects those around her. With Emma away from home, her parents struggle to keep their lives and marriage together, and they look to different people to support them through. I loved the way the book forced perspective by looking at the situation from different points of view, and the ending is a real tearjerker.

The author has a deep understanding of the characters she has created and empathy permeates every page. At times tender and poignant, the plot is also raw with loss, sorrow and grief, but there are different ways of trying to find a happy ending in life. A stunning novel that lingers in my mind.

An interesting story, but overall although I sympathised with them individually, I found the characters quite annoying altogether. The ending was a little too contrived and saccharine for me.

I was first drawn to the stunning cover and the blurb on the back. It sounded like an intriguing story about a family suddenly torn apart. I loved this book, a wonderfully engaging read from Rachel Hancox.

I felt that this was a slow-paced read, but I couldn't put it down as it was intriguing. I thought I had to know what would happen next and what secrets caused Emma to abandon her family after they already had so much heartache. The book is told from numerous points of view between Cath, Jim, Emma, Lara and Nick.

I felt real tenderness for the characters, flawed but honest, each with their own secrets and lies intricately woven into their lives to make things more bearable. I felt connected to each character somehow; aside from Nick though I think his heart is in the right place and he loves Lara deeply, he needs to be reminded of it at times.

T^he book is split into three parts. The first third is mainly around Cath and Jim, the second is Emma, and the third brings everything neatly together to a beautiful ending.

The Shadow Child is one of those books you don't want to say too much about because you don't want to accidentally give anything away, and it's best to read that way. So, the story moves along through various tragedies; the loss of a baby and a child are ones to be particularly aware of.

Rachel Hancox has cleverly told a well-written story covering loss, grief (in many forms), adultery and murder. The overwhelming theme that shines through is love in so many guises for your friends, your family, and those you barely know.

The perfect spring read.

This is a story of love, loss, grief and secrets. Of how five ordinary people cope with these things that life throws at them and how communication can help heal.
The story was told from the five main character's perspectives, broken down into short, well constructed chapters. Each of the characters were so well written their emotions seeped through the pages and I just wanted to keep turning the pages to follow their story. I love the way the character's lives intertwined and how it all came together in the end.
At times it could be heart-wrenching, there are some very emotional subjects involved but the author handles these so gently, such beautiful writing.