About this item
In this new historical novel by the author of Daughter of the Reich, Londoners Eleanor and Edward Hamilton have wealth, status, and a happy marriage - but the 1929 financial crash is looming, and they're harboring a terrible, shameful secret. How far are they willing to go to protect their charmed life - even if it means abandoning their child to a horrific fate? Eleanor Hamilton is happily married and mother to a beautiful four-year-old girl, Mabel. Her wealthy husband, Edward, a celebrated war hero, is a leading light in the burgeoning Eugenics movement - the very ideas that will soon be embraced by Hitler - and is increasingly important in designing education policy for Great Britain. But when Edward and Eleanor's otherwise perfectly healthy daughter develops debilitating epileptic seizures, their world fractures.
About the Author
Louise writes twentieth century historical fiction, based around unheard voices, or from unusual perspectives. Her debut novel, PEOPLE LIKE US (entitled DAUGHTER OF THE REICH in the US/Canada edition) and first published in 2020 into 13 territories, is set in 1930's Leipzig, seen through the eyes of a young girl, Hetty, brainwashed into believing the Nazi dream, until that is, she encounters Walter, a Jew. The book was shortlisted for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 and the RNA Historical Novel of the Year Award, 2021. Louise's second novel, THE HIDDEN CHILD, was published in the UK in September 2021 and the US and Canada in October 2021, and is the story of Edward and Eleanor, firm believers in the widely held pseudo-science of Eugenics, who firmly believe in genetic superiority. Their world is shattered, however, when their young daughter, Mabel, develops debilitating seizures. Louise lives in Surrey with her husband, children, two naughty cats and small dog Bonnie, who is the best writing companion she could ask for. Always at her side when she writes and listens most patiently when Louise needs to talk through a tricky plot problem. She is currently working on her third novel.
