Puppet Child

By: Talia Carner

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman

When the justice system fails her daughter, a courageous mother takes matters into her own hands. In a wrenching race against time, the safety of one child is entangled in bottled-up family dynamics, court theatrics, media frenzy, and the political machine.

©2002 Talia Carner (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

The situation SEEMS simple

(As posted in GoodReads and to Amazon)
It made me cry :-(. So far, every book by her that I have read has done so. Topic is touching and frustrating, and she introduces it in such a way with such tenderness and concern that the reader cannot help but be moved and become emotionally involved with the situation.
The characters are complex and many sided. Ms. Carner makes a point of treating each one as a real person with real concerns of his or her own. Most of the characters that one would love to hate are revealed to be multidimensional and difficult to write off so easily. Yes, there ARE true villains, but they alone do not define the situation.
On the other hand, there are true heroes: Rachel's parents, Jacqueline, Seth (dam*, I doubt that's the right name! I'm HORRIBLE remembering names, even the important ones…) the legal clerk with whom she falls in love, Erica, etc. The original judge, and even the lawyer, are simply doing their jobs. I don't AGREE with the judge, and I don't like his interpretations… I'm happy to think that he is eventually leaving the bench!
A terrible picture of the legal system in the US is drawn. That a judge and lawyer can take the health (physical and mental) of a child no more seriously than the mostly unsupported arguments of a probable abuser is despicable!
My problem with this book is that, although it seems like everything will go one way, it's really not completed. But overall, it's a wonderful book and evokes thought and consideration about the whole general situation.