There is a mystery around one of the main protagonists which reminded me a little of another classic which I love. I enjoyed the story behind two women who want to be mothers but only one of them has this special bond that cannot be created by financial security only. I found this novel ever more captivating than Ms Halls' debut. Bess Bright knows she will have to collect money for several years to reunite with Clara, and this hope gives her the strength to work and be patient. The second novel by Ms Halls tells a story of a very young woman who in 1754 gets pregnant and is forced to part with her daughter the day after she is born. This Hospital is in the background of the plot and all information is precise and well-researched. Most of them were able or willing to pick their children up after some time, and there were regulations how to do get your child back. It was interesting to learn about the procedures applied to poor mothers who had to leave their babies behind. Several years ago I watched a documentary on London's Foundling Hospital. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.įrom the bestselling author of The Familiars, and set against the vibrant backdrop of Georgian London, The Foundling explores families, secrets, class, equality, power and the meaning of motherhood. 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. Less than a mile from Bess' 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. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl - and why. Dreading the worst - that Clara has died in care - the last thing she expects to hear is that her daughter has already been reclaimed - by her. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known.

The foundling stacey halls review