The Night Child

A Novel

By: Anna Quinn

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Exquisitely nuanced and profoundly intimate, The Night Child is a story of resilience, hope, and the capacity of the mind, body, and spirit to save itself despite all odds.

Nora Brown teaches high school English and lives a quiet life in Seattle with her husband and six-year-old daughter. But one November day, moments after dismissing her class, a girl’s face appears above the students’ desks—“a wild numinous face with startling blue eyes, a face floating on top of shapeless drapes of purples and blues where arms and legs should have been. Terror rushes through Nora’s body—the kind of raw terror you feel when there’s no way out, when every cell in your body, your entire body, is on fire—when you think you might die.”

Twenty-four hours later, while on Thanksgiving vacation, the face appears again. Shaken and unsteady, Nora meets with neurologists and eventually, a psychiatrist. As the story progresses, a terrible secret is discovered—a secret that pushes Nora toward an even deeper psychological breakdown.

This breathtaking debut novel examines the impact of traumatic childhood experiences and the fragile line between past and present.

©2018 Anna Quinn (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Not for everyone

Although the story line is about sexual abuse it explains how it affects a person's life and how the main character dealt with it... how she survived.

couldn't put it down!

phenomenal story. I was hooked from the beginning. It was very descriptive of what someone who experienced trauma may go through so may not he suited for everyone. I would definitely listen to more by this author and narrator.

Blah blah blah

I finally finished it, and still have no clue what it was really about. I would have loved it if it made sense. Multiple personalities are rare. I wish it had been better written. I LOVED Sybil! No love for this book, except the narration.

so sad but so good!

such a sad, traumatic story, but beautiful ending. didn't like the narration but story was Worth listening. very graphic at times

Wow

Wow! What a powerful book. It’s hard to believe it was the authors first book. A real page turner

Touching

Hearing this novel created an ache deep in my heart for every child betrayed by family members. The raw emotions in the book were balanced with compassion and understanding.

Be forewarned: this is a trauma story of sexual abuse

A very intense and disturbing story. Personally I would have preferred to know this fine the title details as I would not have chosen to read it. That said, it is riveting and beautifully written. Just feels like a sucker punch to the soul because you are totally unprepared.

I did NOT order this. Where is CUSTOMER SERVICE??

First, this isn't the type of writing , nor the subject matter, in any aspect , that I am interested but Audible just added it into my purchases because I ordered Night Ship by Bridgit Collins. I tried listening and it's not bad writing , it's magazine story writing. it does not, by Chapter 7, cut deep enough to create a shift or change in state. The 'psycholgical' aspects are predigested and a little bit pop. The language itself recreates a safely unhappy, middle class , suburban, 1970-90 's world sensibility. Nothing is really risked or stripped bare. The reader is good, the writing is correct and smooth. I only listened to 6 chapters, and it just isn't what I seek from a book.

Good Listen

This is a good story. It was hard to listen to in a couple of scenes and probably should come with a warning for victims of sexual assault when they were children.

But overall, it was a good book, and the ending was nice if you think about it metaphorically. I wouldn't read it again due to the uncomfortable content but I do not regret reading it.

Bad ending

Terrible ending! Great story but the abrupt ending leaves a lot of questions and loose ends