The Forgotten Child cover art

The Forgotten Child

The powerful true story of a boy abandoned as a baby and left to die

 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 Forgotten Child

By: Richard Gallear
Narrated by: Mark Elstob
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.99

Buy Now for $25.99

About this listen

Based on a true story, The Forgotten Child is a heart-breaking memoir of an abandoned newborn baby left to die, his tempestuous upbringing, and how he came through the other side.

It’s a freezing winter’s night in 1954. A baby boy, a few hours old, is left by his mother, wrapped in nothing but two sheets of newspaper and hidden amongst the undergrowth by a canal bank. An hour later, a late-shift postman is walking wearily home when he hears a faint cry. He finds the newspaper parcel and discovers the newborn, white-cold and whimpering, inside.

After being rushed to hospital and against all odds, the baby survives. He’s baptised by the hospital chaplain as Richard.
Everything feels as though it’s looking up; Richard is put into local authority care and regains his health. However, after nearly five blissful years in a rural care home filled with loving friends, it soon unfolds that his turbulent start in life is only the beginning…

Based on a devastating true story, this inspirational memoir follows Richard’s traumatic birth, abusive childhood, and search for the truth.

©2019 Richard Gallear (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Abuse Child Abuse Dysfunctional Families Dysfunctional Relationships Parenting & Families Relationships Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Infant

Critic Reviews

"An incredible story of survival." (The Sun)
All stars
Most relevant  
I really identified with Richard and his story the era and the secrecy surrounding abuse.

Very well told story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the personal yet real feeling in the story and the way it is delivered to you as a reader/ listener .

The story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
<s>Reading</s> Listening to this I wanted to do three things:
<u>To <b>Richard</b>:</u> cook him the biggest meal he'd ever eaten in his life, just stuff him so full he couldn't physically fit any more food inside him and had to be carried away from the table I'm serious I'm chaining him to the table till he's begging me please stop no more food
(Ok maybe I got a lil carried away)
<u>To <b>Arnold</b>, the miserable bastard:</u>🔪🔪🔪 🩸🩸🩸💀💀💀
<u>To <b>Pearl</b>, the feckless wench:</u> 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻💥💥💥🤕🤕🤕 (those are slaps btw)

Honestly, Pearl infuriated me more than Arnold, who was just a straight up psychopath. She wasn't taking in a poor orphan out of the kindness of her heart, she was intentionally, knowingly, deliberately, introducing another victim into her little domestic abuse entrapment drama tableau morbide. And for what? Just because misery loves company? Just so she could feel less alone? Just so she could fulfill her Mother Theresa/Florence Nightingale fantasies whilst maintaining the facade of a normal happy suburban nuclear family?

I can only assume she knew so absolutely fucking nowt about children and parenting she thought a growing young boy could survive on the same starvation diet as a menopausal middle-aged weight-watching housewife.

The quality of the writing was of the very worst kind, even for nonfiction. It is all too obvious the writer belongs to that class of past-century working or middle class boomer male who has not a literary bone in his body. The prose is actually startling in its utter lack of imagination. Cliché piled clumsily on cliché. Credit to the narrator for giving it the best go he could.

One thing I couldn't help noting was the total absence of sex. Was it ever explained, for instance, why Pearl and Arnold had to adopt, rather than having children of their own? Were they unable to conceive? Or perhaps it's better to imagine Arnold's undenterness precluded the intimacies usual between husband and wife. More puzzling is the total lack of mention, during Richard's teenage years, of the usual things that accompany puberty. No bodily changes, crushes, infatuations, porn, masturbation... Nary a ball-hair or a boner in sight. It's possible he was asexual. Or too traumatised to develop 'normally' in that direction. Or simply he preferred not to discuss it, which is of course a perfectly respectable choice and one he is fully entitled to make. But then, even later on, much later on, no girlfriend or wife materialised. He only mentioned how his trust issues prevented him forming relationships. But then what about this 'friend', Malcolm, who he was living with and who did so much for him, and seemed to go everywhere with him? Was he perhaps his lover or 'life partner'? If so, I can understand him wanting to conceal the fact. If he felt so bad about being a bastard, one can only imagine how he would feel about being a bugger!

good story, bad writing, good narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved every word of this tragic man's life and admire him for putting his pain and eventual recovery on paper.

The courage and tenacity of man.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thank you, Richard, for sharing your story. As an adoptee with significant childhood trauma myself, I found this audiobook difficult to listen to in parts. Mostly because it was like you were describing my feelings. But I am so glad that I held strong and listened to the entire book. I hope your bravery at sharing your story can help others.

This one hit home.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s difficult remembering the cruelty that can exist in some homes, while others go about their lives oblivious to the suffering of a small child. It is not surprising he had difficulties through his adult years. A stoic man, who deserved a little love in his life.

An horrific, but uplifting read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
love this book felt the hurt the love and pain
very good to listen too 👍

great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s so hard to believe this goes on, abandonment and cruelty to these beautiful little children suffer at the hands of monsters .
But and uplifting end .

Traumatic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Hard to listen to at times due to the story itself but unbelievable read! Highly recommend.

Highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such a sad story but I loved it felt so much sadness for the child beaten and treated less than human 😢😢😢💙

Forgotten child read with a lot of feeling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
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.