The Hidden Child

Book excerpt: 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 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.