Book Review: The Child Inside by Suzanne Bugler

 "I picture myself inside an envelope; I tuck myself in, the sides, the bottom, the top. I fold myself away. But the ghosts come anyway, weaving their way through my dreams”

--Suzanne Bugler, The Child Inside

The riveting new psychological drama from the writer of "This Perfect World," a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. Rachel should turn to her husband for assistance after the death of her unborn child, but she instead gets sucked into a risky and damaging affair.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

The story goes when Rachel and Andrew focus on their precious only son after their unborn baby died. Their dormant, silently-felt grief is slowly destroying their marriage and as Jono grows up and pulls away from them, Rachel finds herself to be resentful, lonely and without purpose. A chance encounter brings her into contact with an old woman whom she believes to be the mother of a friend who died as a teenager. But the woman denies that she never had a daughter, and wants nothing to do with Rachel. In desperation, Rachel tracks down Vanessa’s brother, Simon, and slowly the two of them get into a dangerous and destructive relationship..

My reaction to the novel...

One book in particular has stayed with me long after I completed it, and I'd want to share it with you. The Child Inside by Suzanne Bugler is one of those tales that captivated me and yet left me feeling depressed. There are no other well-known books like this one. I'm not sure how I came into possession of this book, but I'm happy I chose to read it. And I still have it today. I had previously recommended it to a few of my friends, and they were all happy to have finished the book, just as I was.

As an OB-Gyn nurse, I witnessed numerous patients experienced intrauterine fetal loss during birth. This signifies that the baby in her womb is already viable but has died and must be delivered naturally or through cesarean operation. After waiting months to become parents and finding that the baby died in the womb, both parents find this to be a tragic event. In this book, you will also go through the depression that both parents went through after losing their child. They still remember how awful it was back then, despite their desire to go across time and mend their damaged relationship.

In this book, The Child Inside, you will learn how fast trust can be violated once depression takes hold and how easily love may be corrupted if someone cannot get the help they need. You could feel sadness after reading this story and discovering how the parents cope with losing their baby. You will feel each character's need and desire to travel back in time in an effort to change their destiny.

Your sadness at the conclusion of the story will stem from this work's heartbreaking nature. Everyone who appreciates reading drama books should definitely read it.

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)