Name that Book: Kidnapper raised baby she falls in love with bio brother
January 3, 2018 6:29 PM Subscribe
Please help me find this book my mother read. A homeless man kidnaps a baby for ransom. She's sick. He breaks back into house to steal her medicine. Her parents die during kidnapping. He raises the baby as his own. He becomes wealthy. She grows up thinking she is his daughter then falls in love with her bio brother. The kidnapper takes his own life confessing all in his suicide note. More details inside. Suggestions for identifying the book also welcome.
The kidnapper was homeless and sleeping on a bench covered in newspapers. From a story in the newspaper about a kidnapping for ransom he got the idea to do the same (kidnap a baby for ransom). So he takes a baby and then hears on the news that she is sick and will die without her medicine. Despite the risk, he breaks back into the house and steals her medicine.
Meanwhile the police find a baby and call the parents to come to the police station to find out if it is their baby. On the way to the police stations the parents are in a car accident and die.
The man doesn't return the baby but instead moves to another country and raises her as his daughter. She believes she is his daughter. The man works very hard and becomes fabulously wealthy. The girl grows up and falls in love with a boy. The man is very protective and does a background check on the boy and discovers that he is the girl's biological brother.
The man cannot bring himself to face the girl, so he kills himself, leaving behind a letter where he tells her the truth.
The book was read pre-1973ish. And to up the difficulty a notch: she would have read it in Spanish, so maybe it was a translation of something English, maybe not.
Given that I think this is a tough case, any leads on how one might identify a book published in Spanish pre-1973?
The kidnapper was homeless and sleeping on a bench covered in newspapers. From a story in the newspaper about a kidnapping for ransom he got the idea to do the same (kidnap a baby for ransom). So he takes a baby and then hears on the news that she is sick and will die without her medicine. Despite the risk, he breaks back into the house and steals her medicine.
Meanwhile the police find a baby and call the parents to come to the police station to find out if it is their baby. On the way to the police stations the parents are in a car accident and die.
The man doesn't return the baby but instead moves to another country and raises her as his daughter. She believes she is his daughter. The man works very hard and becomes fabulously wealthy. The girl grows up and falls in love with a boy. The man is very protective and does a background check on the boy and discovers that he is the girl's biological brother.
The man cannot bring himself to face the girl, so he kills himself, leaving behind a letter where he tells her the truth.
The book was read pre-1973ish. And to up the difficulty a notch: she would have read it in Spanish, so maybe it was a translation of something English, maybe not.
Given that I think this is a tough case, any leads on how one might identify a book published in Spanish pre-1973?
Response by poster: I have no idea what country the book was likely published in. It was read in Ecuador, but I suspect their publishing industry would have been such that it was surely an import.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:27 PM on January 3, 2018
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:27 PM on January 3, 2018
If it were an English book translated to Spanish, it sounds like the plot of a Sidney Sheldon book. not a specific book I am thinking about, but he used all those plot elements.
posted by 17.5002 at 5:16 AM on January 4, 2018
posted by 17.5002 at 5:16 AM on January 4, 2018
Response by poster: Hmm...thanks...it looks like he only published one book pre 1973 and that's not it.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:23 AM on January 4, 2018
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:23 AM on January 4, 2018
You could do an advanced search at Worldcat.org and narrow down the years, and put in 'fiction' and 'book' and 'spanish' in the search fields. Use kidnapping as a keyword, or ransom. Is this a book geared towards young teens, or is it more for adults?
posted by the webmistress at 8:11 AM on January 4, 2018
posted by the webmistress at 8:11 AM on January 4, 2018
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posted by stormyteal at 9:24 PM on January 3, 2018