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The Other Child cover art

The Other Child

By: Lucy Atkins
Narrated by: Katharine Mangold
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Summary

Sometimes a lie seems kinder than the truth...but what happens when that lie destroys everything you love?

When Tess is sent to photograph Greg, a high-profile paediatric heart surgeon, she sees something troubled in his face and feels instantly drawn to him. Their relationship quickly deepens, but then Tess, single mother to nine-year-old Joe, falls pregnant, and Greg is offered the job of a lifetime back in his hometown of Boston. Before she knows it, Tess is married and relocating to the States. But life in an affluent American suburb proves anything but straightforward.

Unsettling things keep happening in the large rented house, Joe is distressed, the next-door neighbours are in crisis, and Tess is sure that someone is watching her. Greg's work is all consuming, and, as the baby's birth looms, he grows more and more unreachable. Something is very wrong, Tess knows it, and then she makes a jaw-dropping discovery....

©2015 Lucy Atkins (P)2015 WF Howes

What listeners say about The Other Child

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Grating

Why did the narrator pretend to be English yet pronounce words as Americans would. I found it very off putting. One or the other but not trying to be both.
I enjoyed the story in spite of it

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good Story spoilt by the narrator

This book was completely spoilt for me by the narration. The main character Tess is English so I could not understand why the narrator told her story in an American accent and then voiced her dialogue in a weird English accent. Generally, the story was ok but I never really understood why Tess would move to America with Greg at such short notice dragging a small child. The characters were all a bit one dimensional with no real motivation behind them, and there was some sort of weird subplot involving Greg and his early life (spoiler alert) but it seemed to fizzle out and go nowhere. Finally I was sick to death of Tess's pregnancy by the time she gave birth, her stomach had a storyline all of its own and the listener was subject to continuous updates about its 'clenching', twisting' etc. I so enjoyed Lucy Atkin's other book Magpie Lane and this was a huge disappointment.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Narrator

Awful narration, wrong accent, too fast. The book is ruined, very disappointed with this.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

good but not the best

I like this for an easy listen, but the story wasn't as suspenseful and mysterious or creepy as some others she has written!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pursuit of the Truth*

Tess is a single mother and a photographer. One of her assignments is a prominent paediatric surgeon Greg. She instantly feels drawn to him and as she looks into his eyes through the camera lens. she knows she is already smitten. Then like lightning they are dating, getting married and he is adamant he never wants to be a father. Until Tess becomes pregnant. This seems to set off alarms bells inside him. The result he grows ever distant from her.

He receives the job of a lifetime which means relocating from the U.K. to to where he grew up in Boston USA. As they are trying to get settled strange things to happen and Tess is trying to get to the bottom of things. They bump into a man who claims to know him and neighbours next who are acting strangely especially the wife and random notes are being delivered through the door.

As Greg is not forthcoming and refuses to talk about his past or life or anything she starts to do her own research. Everything she knows about him has been like pulling teeth.

What she discovers shocks her to the core…..
What will she do about it? Tess needs to gather up all the strength she has and take action……

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Story gripping, however....

I fully enjoyed the story, and founds parts gripping. However, the narration was poor which marred parts of the story. It was too monotone and the switch from the American accent to the British was slightly irritating. I did enjoy the book regardless.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic book

Many twists and turns , you won't be able to stop listening. Narrator had a pleasant voice.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

okayish

poorly pwrformed British accent and a plot that qould not really hold together. uninteresting mystery with a quasi dubious ending. Ethically wrong and feels that much more could be added.

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  • Lesaly
  • 08-06-15

Torn, but ultimately worthy...

I listened to this quickly as the story intrigued me from the beginning and once I got further into the mystery of it, I just had to find out what was going to happen! There were a couple of loopholes in the story the reader may never know (although as it ended, I couldn't help but to wonder if there may be a sequel to this one). The characters were interesting, if not wholly developed. In the middle area of the story, some parts drag a bit, but then would pick up quickly again. I believe the protagonist was in denial for most of the story, as the real answer (but not the motives behind it) was quite obvious to me soon after the mystery began unravelling. The twist for me was the nature of the actual motive behind it all, which is revealed to the reader a bit too late in the story to wrap it up nicely in my opinion. The narrator's voice in general had no discernible accent to me besides American. She has a nice cadence and she did a great job reading; however, it did seem a bit off by production perhaps as the story is told from the viewpoint of Tess, the main wife and mother, who had just moved to the U.S. after having lived in Britain her entire life. I am not quite sure why a British reader wasn't chosen, but it did not ruin the story for me.
It was hard for me to put this one down, however, and I feel it was definitely worth a credit!

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Toni Howlett
  • 17-09-15

Um, well

The performance through me on this one. The reader seemed so nervous at the start and the trading was fast and jerky, but it definitely got better. The story seemed immature and so convoluted at the end I had to keep rewinding to try and understand what was going on.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Caroline
  • 06-09-15

Meh

It was just ok. I don't regret listening to it, but I'll forget about it shortly, I'm sure.

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  • gagagail
  • 31-08-15

pretty good

better than average listen , kept me guessing till the end so all in all a good book.

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