This breathtaking debut novel examines the impact of traumatic childhood experiences and the fragile line between past and present. 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.
"The Night Child is a powerful, beautifully written, transformative novel that struck a rare chord with me. When I recall Nora's journey, I am affected viscerally, as if I were reliving her painful memories alongside her. 'Must-read' is not a phrase I use often; I am using it now: you must read this book!"--Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain
