Ian McEwan's The Child in Time is the story of a man who has lost everything in his life and slips into a deep depression, turning to alcoholism to cope. The story is heartbreaking and bleak, but has hints of hope and an outlook of potential joy.

The tone of the novel is gritty and bleak, written to seem groggy and stuffy to relate the general feeling of Stephen Lewis's house—with its shuttered windows, unkempt clutter, and claustrophobic air. The style and tone of the writing is dark and placed in a dreary grayscale, an indication of Stephen's constant state of mind-numbing inebriation and his half-awareness of his surroundings.

A few scenes puncture the dreariness, including Stephen's existential discussions with Thelma Darke about the nature of space-time and, in the final chapter, Stephen's reunion with his wife. The final scene takes on a warmth of energy not seen in the rest of the novel, even more energetic and passionate than the scene in which Stephen must save a man crushed under rubble. This helps to illuminate the hopefulness he begins feeling during those moments.

An interesting meaning is derived from the title of the story as so much focus is placed on the concept of space-time and the idea of looking through time. Stephen clearly wishes he could look back in time and figure out where his daughter is, but he is tragically unable to do so, limited by the constraints of modern physics.

But, a more subtle—and yet more impactful—source of joy is the child that arrives just in the nick of time. As Stephen is growing hopeless and is completely devastated, giving up all hope, he receives a call from his estranged wife. She is in labor with their new child: she hadn't revealed her pregnancy to him. As often happens in these scenarios, a new child acts as a balm to soothe the wound of losing another.

They take solace in the new life that is coming—even if it does little to remove the sting of the one they lost—and with its arrival they find joy and reunite. A dark and bleak novel ends with a realistic shot at hope.