The Missing Child
Published by Torchflame Books on May 26, 2026, “The Missing Child: The Life She Lived and The Life She Missed” is Paul T. O’Connor’s chronicle of his research into his mother’s life and the lives of the family that gave her away at the age of one month.
It is his first book after a career writing for newspapers and teaching.
photo of Charlotte as a young girl generated by ChatGPT
The story opens with O’Connor and his sister finding their mother’s private papers just hours after they buried her and proceeds as he searches public records, private memorabilia and DNA results. It is a genealogical mystery and a paean to a remarkably resilient woman all in one.
It is a story both sad and uplifting, of a girl who refused to be defeated by life and who grew into a strong, independent and resourceful woman. As a family member once said, “She was a Ms. before the term was invented.” It is also the story of the family that placed her in Hartford’s St. Agnes Home in 1917 and never came back to reclaim her, but which did not forget “the missing child.”
Charlotte Frazier O’Connor did not change the world, but she changed the lives of the people around her and always for the good.
Buy the Book
Buy online from Paul’s local bookstore and support an independent retailer, Golden Fig Books in Carrboro, N.C. Locals can order through these links and then pick up the book when it arrives, or, whether local or out-of-the-area, arrange for Golden Fig to mail it.
Here are the Golden Fig links: Paperback | Hardcover
For those who prefer the national retailers:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
BookShop.org
Goodreads
About the Author
Paul T. O’Connor is a retired journalist and journalism professor. For 30 years, he did both at the same time.
He spent spent more than 40 years writing for newspapers, publishing thousands of both signed and unsigned articles. Most of his career, he covered North Carolina politics as a columnist and editorial writer. Because of this expertise he was a regular panelist on both public and commercial television programs, and was also interviewed on CNN, C-Span and public radio.
For 30 years, he also taught in the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s prestigious school of journalism as a permanent part-time assistant professor and at other universities on an adjunct basis. For two semesters, he taught in the English Department at what is now UNC-Pembroke and for two more, he taught in the Master of Public Administration program at N.C. State University. Today, he proudly points to his many former students who are continuing our rich tradition of independent journalism from the White House to city halls around the country.
A native of New Haven, Conn., O’Connor holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s in journalism from the University of Minnesota. He lives with his wife in Durham, N.C., and has one son.
"The Missing Child is a fascinating family mystery and a loving portrait of an extraordinary American mother. A deeply engaging book."
David Zucchino, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning best-selling author of “Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy.”
“The Missing Child” is for anyone who wants to understand how DNA testing (especially Ancestry DNA, 23andMe, and GEDMatch) sheds light on the intricate workings of 20th century American immigrant families.”
Richard Teichgraeber Ph.D., professor emeritus of history, Tulane University.