The hidden child A novel

Decorated WWI veteran Professor Edward Hamilton enjoys an international reputation in the burgeoning field of eugenics. Driven by the conviction that the human race can be improved through the selective winnowing of undesirable genetic traits, Hamilton's biased research places him on a fast track to a knighthood. But when his four-year-old daughter, Mabel, exhibits the seizures and hallucinations indicative of epilepsy, Hamilton's career and personal life both begin to derail. Defying the wishes of his wife, Eleanor, Hamilton places Mabel in an appallingly vile institution where she can be kept out of the career-jeopardizing public eye. Devastated by the absence of her beloved first child and unable to bond with her newborn son, Eleanor independently pursues alternative treatments for Mabel that may cure her daughter but destroy her marriage. With the drumbeat of Hitler's pursuit of the Final Solution pulsing in the background, Hamilton's involvement in such inhumane treatment of chronically ill patients places him at a moral crossroads. Demonstrating compassion and sensitivity, Fein weaves a plaintive tale of parental anguish set in turbulent historical times.