Becky's Great Book Reviews The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry is a spine-tingling, unputdownable book. It sucks you in from page one and does not let go until the last one.

Christopher and Hannah Bauer are a husband and wife who work at the same hospital. He an orthopedic surgeon and she a nurse. When a severely malnourished, battered and bruised child is brought into the emergency room one day, they can't help but be moved. Appearing to be no more than two, after Christopher performs surgery on her bones it's discovered she's actually six. Christopher feels especially attached to the girl, named Jane, and she to him.

It's discovered that the child's mother is dead, and her father can't be found. When her imprisoned grandmother is interviewed, it chillingly foreshadows what's to come.

Christopher and Hannah, who are in their early forties and have struggled with infertility, decide they will take her in for foster care. One can probably guess where this is going: soon Christopher wants to adopt Jane and make her their daughter officially. Hannah is quite reluctant, namely because Jane seems indifferent towards her and has a myriad of behavioral issues. But her husband is blinded by love for the little girl.

Jane being difficult is an understatement. Her behavior gets more and more alarming as the novel progresses, and she's diagnosed as having Reactive Attachment Disorder. The author's account of the couple's experience acclimating to having this child in their home feels realistic, no surprise considering Lucinda Berry's a trauma psychologist. Alternating chapters of Janie's social worker being interviewed by police because of someone ultimately ending up dead ratchet the tension up further.

The strong plot of this novel is riveting and compulsive, but the character development by Berry is just as well-done. One can feel every ounce of frustration and confusion experienced by Christopher and Hannah. Yes, this book is disturbing but Lucinda Berry sprinkles in enough tinges of hope that the black parts do not weigh it down. The Perfect Child gets five stars out of five from me.