The Cuckoo's Child

by Margaret Thompson

In her forties, Livvy Alvarsson hopes to be a bone marrow donor for her much-loved younger brother, Stephen. Instead, she discovers she has no idea who she is. This is the second great loss she has suffered, for eleven years earlier her four-year-old son, Daniel, disappeared. Armed with a few clues from wartime England, she embarks on a search for her birth family.

The narrative takes the reader from small-town British Columbia to London, the English countryside, and back. It is a story about loss and grief, and secrets and guilt, but it is also about restoration and balance. As Livvy confides her story to her dying brother, she reveals not only an identity enriched by experience, but also the transcendent importance of family and love.

The Cuckoo’s Child is a compelling and remarkable evocation of a woman’s search for her family history.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

264 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 2014

Reviews

[Sonia Reppe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia goes to England to find her birth family. Two mysteries are slowly unraveled—that of her lost birth family and that of her missing son, who disappeared when he was four. Olivia’s voice is gentle and her anguish is elegantly condensed, as if she is observing her grief from a distance. The descriptions of loss are juxtaposed with detailed descriptions of beauty in nature all around. The introspective and contemplative narration reminded me of Sense of an Ending, and the premise reminded me a little of 22 Britannia Road.
reviewed for LJ Apr.1 2014 issue

[Patsey]

Good writing. Lovely imagery.

[Deborah aka Reading Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received an advance copy through First Reads.

Livvy Alvarsson has known sorrow in her life. She has struggled with the grief of having her only child abducted at the age of 4; eleven years later, she is reeling from the knowledge that her beloved younger brother, Stephen, is faced with a life-threatening disease. Then, her world spins out of its orbit when Livvy discovers that she has no idea who she is, that the life she thought was her own belongs to someone she doesn't know. We travel with Livvy on her journey of discovery and hear her words to her brother on his deathbed: "I, too, have a tale to tell. It has been a long time in the making, so many sinkholes and rockfalls fouling the way that any sort of happy ending seemed illusory at best." We listen to Livvy's softly spoken words and reflective tone as she holds Stephen's hand and speaks with, at times, lyrical prose and deep yearning; she unburdens her heart to her sleeping, perhaps unconscious, sibling telling him of those sinkholes and rockfalls that have, in the end, brought her to the place where her world has once more tilted into its rightful orbit and she has hope for the future and comfort in the importance of family and their love, even for the cuckoo's child.

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC: The Cuckoo’s Child

I am one of the lucky ones to receive an Advanced Reading Copy of The Cuckoo’s Child through First Reads.

It started slow for me but after the 1st couple chapters, it sucked me right into Libby’s world. Seeing the life challenges throughout her journey makes this book palpable to the reader. Beautifully written and a very enjoyable read. I picked this quote from the book to summarize this novel.

"For the most part, life is undistinguished. We move through our days on fixed tracks, like he little players in a foosball game, not expecting surprises and rarely causing any, mechanically following the routine because that’s what we’ve always done and it’s easier to keep doing it than to think of something original. What percentage of our lives, I wonder, is dedicated to stodgy status quo?"

[Linda Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in a while, one book speaks volumes!
This is one of the most beautifully written and intricately crafted pieces of writing that I have ever read. I couldn’t put it down until I noted that there were only 30 pages left. Then, quite unlike me, I rationed myself to only five pages per sitting. That’s how much I enjoyed it... I truly didn’t want to let it go.
I sing its praises and ...more than recommend... I urge you to read this one ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

[Mandy Pinoteau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was difficult for me to get into, but once I did the story moved along quickly. Livvy is a strong character who speaks to your heart as she takes you along her journey. Author provides good detail. Enjoyable little read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed. Beautifully written.

[Suzanne Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. So evocative. Told as a first-person narrative. The story is really compelling.

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is so good sometimes!
The story is about identity and family, that is probably all I can tell you without spoilers.
There were certain things I didn't like. She used parts of a recognizable true crime. She wrote an ending that seemed unreal.
Still, her writing was exceptional in descriptions and it was very readable.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contemp….1940s-1980s London and western Canada….narrated as a story to a comatose brother, sister recounts her own origins and mysteries of her son. A bit contrived but not bad.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure how I managed to finish this one, or even why I persisted with it. Reading was drudgery, plodding through the mud of gloom, followed by more gloom, followed by gloom and doom, and then yet more gloom. I never warmed up to the narrator/main character of the story. She told her tale in a monologue that was also a monotone of 'this horrible thing happened then this one, blah, blah, blah, I stopped caring several chapters ago'.

Additionally, the book seemed very contrived. Many of the elements seemed to be added not for the plot (such as it was) but with a sense of some type of 'this will add to the theme of that', though the theme was generally one of gloom. It seemed as if the author was writing for some type of literary critic or book club or school class (though why anyone would inflict this one on children I do not know) so that they could search through the book to discover the elements of theme abc. The only problem is that the main, and virtually only, theme was one of gloom.

Overall, I do not know how or why I finished this book. It was time in my life that I could have spent in so many more useful and enjoyable ways.

[Mona Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This unusual book is about more than self-discovery. Livvy sits by her dying brother’s bedside and tells him her story. At times I felt like the patient in the next bed, overhearing the one way conversation; I was drawn into Livvy’s emotional roller coaster, and transported along the North American west coast, and over to the British Isles.
The subtle beauty of author Margaret Thompson’s writing has even Livvy’s British landladies capturing our hearts! A beautiful novel.

[S.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book but I wouldn't particularly recommend it. I thought the ending was too neat, and the idea that the entire book was the sister talking at the bedside of her brother didn't really make sense to me, as she was describing things to him he would already know, and better than her, or sharing intimate details a sister would likely not tell a brother. There was not enough depth to the characters.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good first novel from a local writer. Although she needs to work on her plot development, the mystery was pretty obvious practically from the beginning, and some of her characters felt contrived, I enjoyed Livvy's quest and her ruminations on what makes us family and the ties that connect us.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but thought it was a bit too contrived. First Olivia's young son is kidnapped and then Olivia discovers she is not the biological child of her parents. I thought the mystery of her history was solved a bit too conveniently.

The story is told as if she is speaking to her dying brother which also seemed just too much. She tells him things he obviously already knows.

[zespri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title gives an inkling to the storyline, and the plot slowly unravels the where and why. One child disappears, and another discovers who she really is, all very tidy.

A quick easy read for the holidays, once the mystery was solved, I lost interest so speed read the rest of the book.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an Advanced Reading Copy of The Cuckoo’s Child through First Reads. Very beautifully written.

[Mary]

I mistakenly marked "The Cuckoo's Child" by Eccles as the book I read but this is the real book I read.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynne's friend......good book.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and overly descriptive.