The Child in Time cover art

The Child in Time

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Child in Time

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

The Child in Time opens with a harrowing event. Stephen Lewis,a successful author of children's books, takes his three-year-old daughter on a routine Saturday morning trip to the supermarket. While waiting in line, his attention is distracted and his daughter is kidnapped. Just like that. From there, Lewis spirals into bereavement that has effects on his relationship with his wife, his psyche, and time itself.

©1987 Ian McEwan (P)2014 (p) AudioGo Ltd. Published by Random House Audiobooks Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
All stars
Most relevant  
Such a joy. Ian McEwan is a favourite of mine however I was nervous of the storyline as not in the mood for a heavy story. How wrong could I be? The mix of stories is genius. Absolute genius.

Joy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
No end result of the missing child even the ending is left with answers. Going from one scene to next past to present aimless and confusing quite a depressing book

Aimless stumbling from character to character a disjointed storyline

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although this begins with a crime, this is not a crime story. It’s about deep and dark grief. It’s also about how it is possible to somehow find a glimpse of hope for a way out of it. Ian McEwan has an amazing way with words and the narrator, Nathaniel Parker delivers them perfectly.

Beautifully written and narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
not sure what i just listened to. not at all my cup of tea.

what was that

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I could not get into this story. Very slow. Too deep and metaphorical. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen.

Drab

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.