The Foundling

The Foundling by Stacey Halls
Published by Bonnier Zaffre Ltd. on February 3, 2020
Genres: Fiction / General, Fiction / Historical / General
Pages: 400

London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, Bess is astonished to be told she has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl - and why.

Less than a mile from Bess's lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend - an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital - persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.

My Thoughts

I listened to this on Audible and enjoyed the performance by the narrators, Laura Aikman and Hattie Morahan, their contrasting voices add weight to the differences between Eliza/Bess and Alexander and their disparate lifestyles. The meticulous research was woven, seamlessly, into the story and the descriptions of London in 1754 were mesmerising. The ending may have been a little unrealistic but was ultimately satisfying.