Synopsis
When her six-week-old baby is stolen from her apartment, young single mother Sylvie faces the condemnation of her mother, the police, the FBI, and the baby's father, and strikes out on her own to find her missing child, before it is too late.
Reviews
Told with edgy intensity, this gripping story of a young mother searching for her kidnapped baby could have been lifted from recent headlines. Sylvie Pearson at 20 not only looks remarkably childlike, with whitish-blonde hair and blue eyes, but acts in a docile and dependent manner, her low self-esteem reinforced by her judgmental mother, Hanna, a brusque college professor who never fails to remind Sylvie of her ineptitude. But the young woman feels secure and pampered when she moves in with her fiance, Peter, a handsome and caring man of 33 whom she has recently met at a New Haven mall. Her assurance and competence grow with the birth of their daughter, Calley. Sylvie is plunged into a nightmare, however, when, after a five-minute walk to the grocery, she returns home to find the infant gone. It isn't long before the FBI focuses on Sylvie as their prime suspect, the local police halt their own investigation and Peter abandons her. Unwilling to give up on her child and provoked by suspicions about Peter's real identity, Sylvie decides to find Calley herself, setting off on a long journey during which she redefines herself and, aided by a sympathetic detective, unravels a scenario that's horrifying yet plausible. Auerbach's newest novel (after Painting on Glass ) maintains a steady momentum and suspense. TV rights optioned to Citadel Entertainment; Literary Guild featured alternate.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In a sentimental potboiler, Auerbach (Painting on Glass, 1988) follows a young mother whose life becomes a waking nightmare when her infant daughter is kidnapped. Sylvie Pierson's days are occupied by a string of nondescript jobs and efforts to cope with her attention deficit disorder until she meets Peter Weston in a New Haven shopping mall. Impetuous and charming, Peter sweeps Sylvie off her feet; when she becomes pregnant, they both want the baby. Only Sylvie's skeptical mother, Hannah, counsels abortion, arguing that Sylvie's history of quickly discarding new interests will make her a poor mother. Despite Hannah's objection, Sylvie moves in with Peter and, in due course, delivers Callie at home. All seems well until Sylvie, making ``just a quick run to the market,'' leaves six-week-old Callie in her crib and returns home to find the infant missing. Despite the best efforts of police detective Chad Martinson, no progress is made, and the FBI agent called in suspects the culprit is the distraught mother herself. Adding to the strain on Sylvie is Peter's reaction. Working out of town, he hears of Callie's disappearance only belatedly and soon distances himself from Sylvie, moving out of their apartment. As the FBI and the police, increasingly skeptical that there has been a crime at all, begin to withdraw from the case, Sylvie, with some unofficial help from the ever-sympathetic Martinson, sets out to find the kidnapper. Although her quest takes up most of the book, the reader is likely to finger the villain early in the investigation. Auerbach goes right for the heartstrings, but the drawn-out details of Sylvie's tearful plight are as likely to provoke irritation as sympathy. (Literary Guild featured alternate) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Twenty-year-old Sylvie's life is shattered when her baby, Callie, is kidnapped, after having been left unmonitored for only a few minutes. Sylvie not only must endure the seemingly hopeless search for her missing daughter but also her own guilt and the accusations of others that she is responsible for Callie's disappearance and possible murder. Auerbach (Winter Wife, LJ 11/15/83) has once again demonstrated her gift for creating believable, sympathetic characters, this time in the form of Sylvie, whose learning disabilities do not prevent her from searching thoroughly for her kidnapped daughter, and policeman Martinson, who struggles with his own past tragedies so he can truly aid Sylvie. This is Auerbach's best work yet, well written and engrossing. Essential for popular fiction collections.
Alice DiNizo, Raritan P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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