Nicole Trope’s “The Boy in the Photo” tells the story of Megan, a woman whose six year old child Daniel, is kidnapped by her abusive ex husband. Daniel inexplicably returns by himself six years later, but is unsurprisingly traumatised and distant. Megan wonders what has happened to him, and whether he is indeed even her child. 

• Published: 2019
• Completed: 19/07/2026
• Pages: 294

The initial premise of this novel was interesting, but became unbearable to me by about half way through. This was due to the punishing environment of constant anxiety around the possibility of Daniel submitting his new, baby, half-sister to some terrible violence or abduction (when he is left alone with her by Megan despite her misgivings).

In addition to this, the investigations surrounding Daniel’s return are so ludicrously inadequate, that I found it hard to take this story seriously. This deficiency is heightened by the fact that when Megan remarried, she did so to the detective responsible for finding her son. Surely he would have imposed a higher standard of investigation, starting first with an examination of Daniel’s mobile phone? This object so clearly pivotal to his return, that it is maddening when no one does this – even as a parent when Daniel shows Megan photos of him and his Dad during his six years away from his Mum.

I think the other reason I did not enjoy this novel was due to the fact that I did not like any of the characters. Megan’s attempts to be cheery in front of Daniel, after he was supposedly a witness to his dad’s death in a fire, were so intolerably grating. Daniel is not much better, as the surly child written intentionally to be sinister and unnerving.

A bitter pill of a novel that I was glad to finish quickly.

Quotes

• “There is a slight pull in her full breasts, a sensation that she experiences when she looks at Evie, and it’s nearly time for her to feed.” P41
• “Dad has told him that the best thing to do when you’re sad is to put up a wall around your feelings so they can’t get to you. ‘Just imagine you’re building it brick by brick so nothing can make you feel bad.’” P229

Questions & Thoughts

• About halfway through the book and I am getting tired of this punishing, relentless grief and anxiety of impending disaster
• It’s like “We need to talk about Kevin”
• My mind is constantly searching for something to develop…expecting a mystery to be revealed
• A month on and no one has collected Daniel’s phone to examine it. This is fucking mental
• “She hadn’t tested until her period was nearly 3 weeks late, and then only because James had said, ‘What exactly is going on with your boobs, Megan?’ P250 unrealistic for a gay man to notice boobs let alone his sister-in-law’s boobs
• Not telling Michael about her pregnancy with Evie before the wedding is whack

Restaurant

Grilled – because of Daniel’s love of chocolate milkshakes and burgers