The Child in Time is an astonishing novel by one of the finest writers —

Ian McEwan, the winner of the Whitbread Prize

The Child in Time is an award-winning novel, the adaptation set to air on MASTERPIECE/ PBS in 2018. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kelly Macdonald. The Child in Time tells the story of the grieving parents of a child who goes missing.
Stephen Lewis, a successful writer of children's books, is confronted with the unthinkable:
his only child, three-year-old Kate, is snatched from him in a supermarket.

In one horrifying moment that replays itself over the years that follow,
Stephen realizes his daughter is gone. With extraordinary tenderness and insight,
Booker Prize-winning author Ian McEwan takes us into the dark territory of a marriage devastated by the loss of a child. Kate's absence sets Stephen and his wife, Julie, on diverging paths as they each struggle with a grief that only seems to intensify with the passage of time.
Eloquent and passionate, the novel concludes in a triumphant scene of love and hope that gives full rein to the author's remarkable gifts.

 “For children, childhood is timeless. It is always the present. Everything is in the present tense. Of course, they have memories. Today is what they feel, and when they say ‘When I grow up,’ there is always an edge of disbelief—how could they ever be other than what they are?”  McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim.