Ian Mcewan Child in time

Now a major BBC drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch `Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty' Benedict Cumberbatch On a routine trip to the supermarket with his daughter one Saturday morning, Stephen Lewis, a well-known writer of children's books, turns his back momentarily.

When he looks around again, his child is gone.

In a single moment, everything is changed.

The kidnapping has a devastating effect on Stephen's life and marriage.

Memories and the present become inseparable - as Stephen gets lost in daydreams of the past - and time bends back on itself, dragging Stephen's own childhood back into the present.