Although she spent years working as a journalist, Fiona Barton only recently became a novelist last year with the publication of the psychological thriller, The Widow. And a second thriller, The Child, was just published a few weeks ago.
Both stories are told through a chorus of characters, through reliable narrators and some not so reliable. Barton didn’t expect to publish two novels in two years, nor did she plan on a repeat performance from her characters, particularly, a journalist named Kate Waters.
In The Child, Kate is one of three different women who see a clipping in newspaper, a short piece reporting that the skeletal remains of a baby have been found by workers at a construction site. All three women--Kate, Angela and Emma--react differently: Kate wants to do a follow-up; Angela wonders if it is her child, stolen from her in the hospital; and we’re not quite sure what Emma thinks, because this is a psychological thriller.
I spoke with Fiona Barton this week about her new book. Since it is a thriller, I didn’t want to expose any spoilers. So we touched on the book a bit, but then steered the conversation to her own writing career and how her journalism experience informed some of her characters.
I’m Beth Golay, this is Marginalia, and here’s our conversation:
And if you listened to the commentary on air, this is what you heard:
-
The Child by Fiona Barton was published by Berkley.
Marginalia was produced at KMUW Wichita.
Editor: Lu Anne Stephens
Engineer: Jon Cyphers
Producer: Beth Golay
