The Hidden Child

September 1, 2021
Decorated WWI veteran Professor Edward Hamilton enjoys an international reputation in the burgeoning field of eugenics. Driven by the conviction that the human race can be improved through the selective winnowing of undesirable genetic traits, Hamilton's biased research places him on a fast track to a knighthood. But when his four-year-old daughter, Mabel, exhibits the seizures and hallucinations indicative of epilepsy, Hamilton's career and personal life both begin to derail. Defying the wishes of his wife, Eleanor, Hamilton places Mabel in an appallingly vile institution where she can be kept out of the career-jeopardizing public eye. Devastated by the absence of her beloved first child and unable to bond with her newborn son, Eleanor independently pursues alternative treatments for Mabel that may cure her daughter but destroy her marriage. With the drumbeat of Hitler's pursuit of the Final Solution pulsing in the background, Hamilton's involvement in such inhumane treatment of chronically ill patients places him at a moral crossroads. Demonstrating compassion and sensitivity, Fein weaves a plaintive tale of parental anguish set in turbulent historical times.

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September 24, 2021

Fein (Daughter of the Reich) fashions an affecting historical novel by weaving together themes of eugenics, epilepsy, PTSD, and the crash of 1929. Eleanor and Edward Hamilton, living in upper-class comfort in Surrey, England, in 1928, are expecting their second child when their four-year-old daughter Mabel starts to have seizures, throwing their lives into turmoil. Edward is involved in research supporting the Eugenics Society, which advocates incarceration and compulsory sterilization of disabled people. His reputation will be damaged if Mabel's condition becomes widely known. Edward resolves to keep Mabel's illness secret, but how will he and Eleanor survive the resulting stress on their marriage and lifestyle, especially as Edward is still suffering PTSD from World War I and has secrets of his own to conceal. VERDICT A good choice for readers who enjoy 20th-century historical fiction, Fein's novel is well researched if a bit heavy-handed, with factual passages on eugenics and epilepsy. The classism and racism fundamental to eugenics come through clearly, as do the heartbreaking consequences of a child's serious illness.--Barbara Clark-Greene, Westerly, RI

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