The Foundling: The gripping Sunday Times bestselling historical novel, from the winner of the Women's Prize Futures award

Product Information

This book was released in the U.K. in February of this year with the title THE FOUNDLING. I actually prefer that title to THE LOST ORPHAN, the one given this April 2020 U.S. release. I guess it was thought that we Yanks would not know what a foundling is, so the powers that be who name books were keeping it simple for us? Whatever the case and whatever its name, this sophomore effort by Stacey Halls (after her debut work THE FAMILIARS) is definitely worth the read. The characters are splendid. Icy Alexandra and strong, able Bess, with her ne’er-do-well brother, Ned, and kind, reserved father, Abe. This story shows how the different classes viewed each other and how the poorer of those were judged so harshly. I especially loved the inner thoughts of our two female leads and how they judged each other. I found that they really only thought of themselves and not what was best for the child until they realized that it was only hurting their daughter.

Bess Bright has discovered that she’s with child. Unmarried, and poor, the best option for girls in her predicament is the Foundling Hospital. Founded by Sir Thomas Coram in 1739 to look after babies whose parents were unable to care for them, admittance was by lottery, as demand exceeded available spaces. Betrayal, love, hardship and the unwavering love of a mother are central themes. We have elements of mystery, suspense and a few unexpected twists as our tale unfolds. Much of the book was realistic and believable, as were the actions taken by each of the characters. Bess is forced to give up her baby at birth and into the protection of 'The Foundling'. However, despite the promise of keeping the child until the mother was better placed to care for her, Bess is informed her child was collected the day after she put her into the care six years earlier. And so, the heart-breaking search begins. A young woman destitute, a society unforgiving and judgemental towards unmarried mothers, and a hospital accepting young babies in a scandalous game of lottery is what provides the basis of this remarkable story. A story inspired by real events, a hospital that existed, and a practice that was reprehensible for prying on the misfortunes of young vulnerable women.

lucycrichton

The Foundling” is written by Sunday Times bestselling author Stacey Halls and is her second novel, after the success of “The Familiars” last year. Halls preference for a feel good and simplistic tying up of a story but given that the novel was intended as an exploration of the meaning of motherhood it feels like a missed opportunity. The plot is a familiar one that I feel has been done to death over the years, albeit in different eras with every story posing the exact same question of what it means to be a mother. Apart from the Georgian setting and the inspiration of the Foundling Hospital for abandoned babies there is little original about the book and aside from a few choice bits of slang the story fails to deliver on period atmosphere. These feminine vessels we inhabited: why did nobody expect them to contain unfeminine feelings? Why could we, too, not be furious and scornful and entirely altered by grief? Why must we accept the cards we had been dealt?’ However, the single storyline is excellent, the period setting is superb and the theme heart-breaking. As many of these stories do, this one was also eye opening as more disgraceful practices are exposed of the treatment of the vulnerable and poor in society. From that moving experience, Ms. Halls spun an impelling tale wherein an unwed mother brings her hours-old child to the Foundling Hospital with the hope that they will accept the child. The mother has every expectation that at some point in the future she will be able to reclaim the child when her own situation is more stable. For the child, she entrusts her half of a pendant to the child's new caregivers - the token she herself received from the child's father as an expression of his affection for her. After 6 years, the mother believes she is in a position to reclaim her child. Unfortunately, someone pretending to be her had claimed the child shortly after the child's arrival at the hospital.

As the novel progressed, it lost steam. I enjoyed the story, but that strong connection I felt at the start faded (which is always disappointing). After Part 1, I felt as though as I was emotionally removed from the characters and simply reading an entertaining story. One of the main characters introduced in Part 2 distracted me from connecting with the storyline. Stacey Halls splits her book into four sections, alternating between the lives of Bess and Alexandra. What an intriguing story and a book I enjoyed immensely. The story gripped me from the first chapter and I loved the characters and the setting of the novel. Suspenseful, intriguing and beautifully written and And I was facinated by the foundling hospital and London of the 1750s.THE LOST ORPHAN has mystery, historical fiction, a main character with agoraphobic problems that stem from an incident in her childhood, secrets, and to what lengths a mother's love takes her. 5/5 Bess never stopped thinking of her daughter, and when she finally scraped together two Pounds with the intent to retrieve her daughter six years later, she was in for an unwelcome surprise. I won't divulge more, although the publisher's blurb might have already done so. Suffice it to say that a mystery and fraud were perpetrated, and the author caused me some serious heart palpitations and nail biting before the novel ending. Bess was devastated when she found out someone had taken her daughter. When she questioned the governors of the Foundling, they had no answer, but her second try at finding something out had her introduced to a doctor who was going to try to help her. And the real excitement I got from this book? I’d heard of The Foundling Hospital and the museum that still stands today. It’s clear that the author wanted to research and explore this in fiction and she’s craft a really, interesting and emotional real. It felt personal, raw and very vivid and Bess’ search for her child was particularly eventful Hard times forced unwed mother, Bess Blight to leave her newborn baby, Clara, at London’s Foundling Hospital. Six years of saving and she finally has enough to claim her daughter. However, when she arrives she is stunned to learn she has already been claimed by Bess herself.

The main reason was it felt a little bit one dimensional. Child taken at birth, mother goes in search of her daughter years later, but there were no other layers or twists to the story. Hence the 4 stars. Alexandra was a complex character, not at all like what she appeared to be on the surface. She comes across as emotionally unresponsive, but she is stitched together with trauma, and as more and more details are revealed as the novel progresses, it becomes impossible to take her at face value. Bess was less complex, but driven by a mother’s love and fury at her circumstances costing her the ability to fulfil that role, and in this, she was a formidable character with much about her to be admired. MY THOUGHTS: Don't expect this to be a deep and gritty read, because it's not. It is a light read, but it is also touching.Having to leave your newborn at a Foundling until you could afford to keep the child seemed to be the norm in the 1700's for poor families. These feminine vessels we inhabited: why did nobody expect them to contain unfeminine feelings? Why could we, too, not be furious and scornful and entirely altered by grief? Why must we accept the cards we had been dealt?“