The Vanished Child

Although the scientific jargon of the opening pages almost changed my mind about reading "The Vanished Child," I trudged through and found one of the most intriguing mysteries I have ever read. Alex or Richard? Is the up-and-coming young scientist an Austrian baron or a missing American heir? A fortune depends on his identity and more is at stake than money. This tangle of intrigue is intelligent and somewhat haunting. One reviewer complained that not all of the loose ends were tidied up and that is true, but it leaves you thinking and involved long after the final "The End."

This book is so beautifully written, the plot so delicately assembled, and the charecters filled with such depth as to take your breath away. I have never read a book so intricate and fascinating as sarah smith's THE VANISHED CHILD. This book is not to be missed, and will absorb your thoughts for days after reading it. The marvellous complexities and dualities of the charecters, their pyschological states are engrossing. THE KNOWLEDGE OF WATER and A CITIZEN OF THE COUNTRY are the equally compelling sequels

The Vanished Child is marvelous. I am actually writing this review about 1 1/2 years after I read it and it is still very clear in my mind. I read a lot of books and sadly many of them are something I remember reading, but not being involved in. I find myself visiting with the characters in this book from time to time. I especially liked the scene where Peridita is given a feminist pin and tucks it under her hat to better contemplate it. I enjoyed the prose, I found it charming. I did not find the characters to be overly modern. In fact, I think Sarah Smith got it right on the head. After all, we are talking about contemporaries of Nietzsche, Freud and Susan B. Anthony. The main characters (Alexander and Peridita) shared something of the outsider's perspective of Nietzsche, Freud and Susan B. Anthony. The respectable class would at best feel an uneasy tolerance of them. Perdita being blind AND an artist. Alexander dark, complex and brooding - - a bit like Heathcliff and look how things turned out for him!Other than the Alienist, I cannot think of any other book set in this period that picks up and runs these complex elements of one of the most interesting periods of intellectual history. However, the Alienist is more of a face paced thriller and The Vanished Child is more cerebral. Both are well worth reading.

This is a deep, insightful thriller with just enough eroticism to leave you hoping for more. The sequel, The Knowledge of Water, is even better. I can't wait for the finale.

Never have I read a book and lingered over it as I did The Vanished Child. A wonderfully, lyrical book that captures the reader's imagination from the opening pages and holds it through and past the last pages. I read the sequel, The Knowledge of Water, almost immediately because Reisden and Perdita haunted me so. The story begins with a man, a scientist by profession and a Baron by lineage, who is adrift and uncentered years after the death of his young wife. A death for which he feels entirely responsible. Juxtaposed with his story to find himself again is the story of literally finding one man's identity. The mystery is that he may be the heir to an American fortune. The heir disappeared immediately after presumably witnessing the brutal murder of his guardian grandfather. Who killed the grandfather and why? What happened to the child? Why does the Baron have no memories of his earliest childhood years? A taut, psychological suspense mystery unfolds as the Baron ! relunctantly agrees to "help" solve the mystery but is unable to remain as detached and clinical as he would like. The story is a mystery, a romance and a thriller that is both haunting and illuminating. The author has promised a trilogy and I cannot wait for the third installment. Read The Vanished Child and The Knowledge of Water--you will not regret it.