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The Other Child
A DECADES-OLD SECRET SHATTERS A FAMILYThirty-seven-year-old Emma Jorgens is a successful corporate accountant with a husband, a daughter, and a secret. When a young man shows up on Emma's doorstep, past and present collide. Exposing her secret could jeopardize her relationship with the people she loved. Will she deny the truth and risk losing everything she's worked so hard to achieve?Lies and secrets have a way of coming to light. How will they affect Emma, Mathias, and their loved ones? Will love become destructive . . . or offer a new beginning?The Other Child is an emotional story of two lives entwined in a cloak of secrecy.
290 pages, Paperback
Published November 14, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 24, 2017
Emma Jorgens’ outwardly stable life sits on a shaky foundation. She and her husband, Kent, are each wrapped up in their own lives and drifting apart. She has overindulged their fourteen-year-old daughter, Becky, whose entitled attitude is growing stronger by the day.
And Emma has a secret that could destroy everything she’s gained.
As a teenager, newly-arrived from Sweden, wide-eyed and impressionable, she fell for her employers’ son and had a baby. She was tricked into a closed adoption, so the records are sealed, but she’s never stopped wondering about her infant son.
Emma and Kent have created a basement apartment for some extra income. Their first tenant is a university student recommended by a friend – a young man named Mathias Smith.
It doesn’t take Emma long to realize Mathias is her son, and they begin a complicated attempt at a relationship. Mathias is frustrated because he wants to meet his birth father, who doesn’t know he exists.
Emma’s afraid to tell her husband the truth, but she’s out of time because the birth father is running for office and the tabloids are digging up whatever they can throw at him.
Emma and Mathias are each struggling, mentally spiralling into dark places because of their stress. Mathias’ health is deteriorating, too, and Emma’s so wrapped up in him that her husband and daughter feel abandoned.
The Other Child is an account of a secret finally exposed, and the emotional fallout that must come before any chance of a happy ending.
The author clearly knows her main characters well, but at times I was confused about what was happening because I needed more of a lead-in to orient me in the scene or I needed another clue to help me understand a character’s behaviour.
Pirkko Rytkonen has written an emotionally-complex novel that dares to address hard issues about relationships, secrets, and drug addiction. The Other Child is her first novel. Her writing theme is “Grace Through the Journey.” For more about the author and her work, and to read her blog entries, visit pirkkorytkonen.com.
[Advance review copy provided by the author.]
And Emma has a secret that could destroy everything she’s gained.
As a teenager, newly-arrived from Sweden, wide-eyed and impressionable, she fell for her employers’ son and had a baby. She was tricked into a closed adoption, so the records are sealed, but she’s never stopped wondering about her infant son.
Emma and Kent have created a basement apartment for some extra income. Their first tenant is a university student recommended by a friend – a young man named Mathias Smith.
It doesn’t take Emma long to realize Mathias is her son, and they begin a complicated attempt at a relationship. Mathias is frustrated because he wants to meet his birth father, who doesn’t know he exists.
Emma’s afraid to tell her husband the truth, but she’s out of time because the birth father is running for office and the tabloids are digging up whatever they can throw at him.
Emma and Mathias are each struggling, mentally spiralling into dark places because of their stress. Mathias’ health is deteriorating, too, and Emma’s so wrapped up in him that her husband and daughter feel abandoned.
The Other Child is an account of a secret finally exposed, and the emotional fallout that must come before any chance of a happy ending.
The author clearly knows her main characters well, but at times I was confused about what was happening because I needed more of a lead-in to orient me in the scene or I needed another clue to help me understand a character’s behaviour.
Pirkko Rytkonen has written an emotionally-complex novel that dares to address hard issues about relationships, secrets, and drug addiction. The Other Child is her first novel. Her writing theme is “Grace Through the Journey.” For more about the author and her work, and to read her blog entries, visit pirkkorytkonen.com.
[Advance review copy provided by the author.]
April 11, 2018
The Other Child tells an interesting tale of love gone wrong, secrets and lies, and worlds falling apart. The main character, Emma, is both likable and frustrating at the same time. Why does Emma keep the secret of her child, given away at birth, from her husband for so long? Why does she loose sight of the family she has? How did Matthias end up on the doorstep of his brith mother practically on the day he began looking? These are some of the questions that nagged me as I read the book, but it's the kind of story that has you praying for a happy ending and wanting to read on to see what happens.
I did struggle, at times, with the lack of transitions between scenes and points of view. There is also some discontinuity of action in regards to timing and sequence of events in various scenes.
All in all, this is a nice effort for a first-time author. Well done.
I did struggle, at times, with the lack of transitions between scenes and points of view. There is also some discontinuity of action in regards to timing and sequence of events in various scenes.
All in all, this is a nice effort for a first-time author. Well done.
June 29, 2021
The Other Child covers tough topics such as adoption and addiction. The story had my attention from cover to cover. Throughout the book I wanted to read "just one more chapter" to find out what happened next. Highly recommended!
February 16, 2019
Compelling Story
A compelling story covering addiction and how it affects everyone. Even though it's a work of fiction, the story is very real. Having suffered from addiction my self, I could feel the events as they were happening. Great book!
A compelling story covering addiction and how it affects everyone. Even though it's a work of fiction, the story is very real. Having suffered from addiction my self, I could feel the events as they were happening. Great book!
January 5, 2018
I loved this book! I thought it was going to be the typical picture perfect family with a dark side, but that was not the case. Emma, the main character, has it all: the perfect husband, darling daughter, and is in line for a promotion at her job. What more could she ask for? And this my friends, is where the story begins. Little by little the facade that Emma has put up for most of her life is beginning to crack. Work is stressful, there is tension at home, and a piece of her past shows up on her doorstep. How will Emma be able to navigate through one crisis after another all the while keeping a smile plastered on her face and her “perfect life” intact?
That was the question that kept me reading. I have read novels where the “perfect”person has their world shattered by some life event and I read on to see how everything works out in the end. “The Other Child,” however, really resonated with me. I not only found myself getting angry at Emma for her choices, but I was also rooting for her. I started finding some of myself in Emma and long after the book was done, I was still thinking about her and her story.
This is a story full of emotion and some heavy life issues, but it also encourages. Life is not easy, but it does not need to be done alone. It was a good reminder for me. I got so much out of this book. I hope others will read it and glean something from it, too.
I received a complimentary copy and voluntarily posted an honest review.
That was the question that kept me reading. I have read novels where the “perfect”person has their world shattered by some life event and I read on to see how everything works out in the end. “The Other Child,” however, really resonated with me. I not only found myself getting angry at Emma for her choices, but I was also rooting for her. I started finding some of myself in Emma and long after the book was done, I was still thinking about her and her story.
This is a story full of emotion and some heavy life issues, but it also encourages. Life is not easy, but it does not need to be done alone. It was a good reminder for me. I got so much out of this book. I hope others will read it and glean something from it, too.
I received a complimentary copy and voluntarily posted an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews