The Child Finder
Author: Rene Denfeld
Publication Date: September 5th 2017
Publisher: Harper/Harper Collins Canada
Three years ago, on a cold winter's day, five-year old Madison Culver disappeared into the woods on a trip with her family. Naomi, a woman known to be the best at finding missing children, is hired by Madison's parents to locate her. She believes it unlikely the girl is still alive. Shortly after their daughter vanished, there had been heavy snow and blizzards. Search parties had been unable to find any trace of her. But her mother insists she was taken and has survived.
Naomi begins to track down what happened to Madison, unravelling each small piece of the mystery via very few clues. She has always been able to connect with the children she looks for, as she herself was once missing. As a child she escaped from what she had called 'monsters', but otherwise has no recollection of her life prior to when she was found.
The book alternates between Naomi's investigation and the voice of the 'snow girl', aka Madison, who speaks of being held captive in a cave-type cellar by a man known only as Mr. B. Can Naomi discover where she is with enough time to save her?
Naomi is a complex and utterly fascinating character. She considers her work as an investigator to be a calling and her cases are the most important thing in her life. Extremely cautious of others, she prefers working by herself which can put her in some dangerous situations. She has a strong intuition and an unusual understanding of mysterious and natural environments. She feels safe and secure while alone in the forest, which is almost like a living being to her. I was transfixed wanting to know what compelled her.
The Child Finder is an emotional, yet suspenseful novel. Rene Denfeld's descriptions of the wilderness with it's quiet stillness and hidden depths are dreamlike and lyrical. Intensely dark and atmospheric, this is a beautifully written story of sorrow, survival and hope which kept me spellbound.
Thank you to Harper Collins for the eBook copy to review.
From the publisher:
A haunting, richly atmospheric, and deeply suspenseful novel from the acclaimed author of The Enchanted about an investigator who must use her unique insights to find a missing little girl.
"Where are you, Madison Culver? Flying with the angels, a silver speck on a wing? Are you dreaming, buried under snow? Or—is it possible—you are still alive?"
Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight-years-old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as "the Child Finder," Naomi is their last hope.
Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl, too.
As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life?
Told in the alternating voices of Naomi and a deeply imaginative child, The Child Finder is a breathtaking, exquisitely rendered literary page-turner about redemption, the line between reality and memories and dreams, and the human capacity to survive.
You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Child Finder here.
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