The Only Child

1949 It is the coldest winter Orcades Island has ever known, when a pregnant sixteen-year-old arrives at Fairmile, a home for 'fallen women' run by the Catholic Church. She and her baby will disappear before the snow melts.

2013 Frankie Gray has come to the island for the summer, hoping for one last shot at reconnecting with her teenage daughter, Izzy, before starting a job as a deputy sheriff. They are staying with her mother, Diana, at The Fairmile Inn, soon to be a boutique hotel, but when an elderly nun is found dead in suspicious circumstances, and then a tiny skeleton is discovered in the grounds of the house, Frankie is desperate for answers.

At once an evocative, unsettling tale of past misdeeds and a crime thriller that will have you reading with your heart in your mouth, The Only Child is compulsively addictive storytelling from the international bestselling author of The Silk House.

“'A spine-chilling evocative thriller' The Australian Women's Weekly 'Page-turning ... For lovers of classic commercial fiction, The Only Child is a thrilling feminist tale revealing stories that have too often been left buried' Books+Publishing 'A great book entertains with a compelling narrative, one that keeps the reader's attention while weaving in universal truths about the human condition during the best and worst of times. Kayte Nunn's The Only Child will join Marge Piercy's Braided Lives, along with films such as Blossoms in the Dust and Vera Drake, as a reminder of what is at stake when the reproductive rights and choices of girls and women are diminished. It is a well-paced story with finely drawn characters - and it's hard to put down' JACQUELINE WINSPEAR 'A taut, clever whodunit ... Kayte Nunn keeps the stakes high and the characters compelling, making for a fast, fresh, engrossing historical mystery!' KATE QUINN 'A deeply moving look at a past when women's reproductive rights were denied . . . a heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful story that resonates in today's world' SUSAN WIGGS 'Richly drawn characters, masterful storytelling, and a slowly unraveling mystery kept me on the edge of my seat, right up until the satisfying ending' KAREN McQUESTION

Praise for Kayte Nunn: 'All the elements of a classic gothic tale . . . that comes with a thrilling twist in the final pages' Daily Telegraph”

The Only Child is historical fiction-cum-murder mystery by Kayte Nunn. The novel follows two timelines and the reader is tasked with piecing together the connection between them. In the first timeline, which takes place in 2013, deputy sheriff Frankie Gray moves into her mother's house on a small island. Early on it becomes apparent that a nun has been murdered in the nursing home where Frankie's own grandmother resides. At the same time, Frankie's mother is turning an old 'fallen women' home into a bed and breakfast, and comes across photos, ledgers and various other clues for Frankie to stumble upon. There's a love interest, a sullen teenage daughter, a suspicious man, breadcrumb memories from Frankie's life, and plenty of red herrings. In the second timeline, set in 1949, an unnamed girl becomes pregnant and is sent away with the intention she'll give up her baby to a good Catholic family, then resume her life, unblemished. In reality the nuns are abusive, the girls are mistreated, and they're all coerced into giving up their babies. If it seems like there are a few too many moving parts in this novel, that's because there are: despite the page-turning quality of Nunn's writing, there's a lot happening and often not enough detail. However, many themes surface over the course of this book, and while it's a lot to take in, there are some important ones: intergenerational trauma, Catholic guilt, and the healing of broken moments from the past. For lovers of classic commercial fiction, The Only Child is a thrilling feminist tale revealing stories that have too often been left buried. Danielle Bagnato is a book reviewer and marketing and communications professional.

Kayte Nunn is a former book and magazine editor, and the author of six previous novels, including the international bestselling The Botanist's Daughter, The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, The Silk House and The Last Reunion. The Botanist's Daughter was the 2020 winner of the Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize. Kayte lives in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. You can find Kayte at kaytenunn.com

Almost every graduating class had a girl who disappeared. A decades-old crime threatens to tear apart three generations of women in this unputdownable mystery that will keep you gripped until its last heart-wrenching page.

1949 It is the coldest winter Orcades Island has ever known, when a pregnant sixteen-year-old arrives at Fairmile, a home for 'fallen women' run by the Catholic Church. She and her baby will disappear before the snow melts.

2013 Frankie Gray has come to the island for the summer, hoping for one last shot at reconnecting with her teenage daughter, Izzy, before starting a job as a deputy sheriff. They are staying with her mother, Diana, at The Fairmile Inn, soon to be a boutique hotel, but when an elderly nun is found dead in suspicious circumstances, and then a tiny skeleton is discovered in the grounds of the house, Frankie is desperate for answers.

At once an evocative, unsettling tale of past misdeeds and a crime thriller that will have you reading with your heart in your mouth, The Only Child is compulsively addictive storytelling from the international bestselling author of The Silk House.

'A spine-chilling evocative thriller' The Australian Women's Weekly 'Page-turning ... For lovers of classic commercial fiction, The Only Child is a thrilling feminist tale revealing stories that have too often been left buried' Books+Publishing 'A great book entertains with a compelling narrative, one that keeps the reader's attention while weaving in universal truths about the human condition during the best and worst of times. Kayte Nunn's The Only Child will join Marge Piercy's Braided Lives, along with films such as Blossoms in the Dust and Vera Drake, as a reminder of what is at stake when the reproductive rights and choices of girls and women are diminished. It is a well-paced story with finely drawn characters - and it's hard to put down' JACQUELINE WINSPEAR 'A taut, clever whodunit ... Kayte Nunn keeps the stakes high and the characters compelling, making for a fast, fresh, engrossing historical mystery!' KATE QUINN 'A deeply moving look at a past when women's reproductive rights were denied . . . a heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful story that resonates in today's world' SUSAN WIGGS 'Richly drawn characters, masterful storytelling, and a slowly unraveling mystery kept me on the edge of my seat, right up until the satisfying ending' KAREN McQUESTION

Praise for Kayte Nunn: 'All the elements of a classic gothic tale . . . that comes with a thrilling twist in the final pages' Daily Telegraph

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