A detailed and intriguing opening to this historical novel.
In November 1747, the same day as giving birth, Bess alongside 30 other new mothers, is at The Foundling Hospital in London, accompanied by her father. Bess is there to hand over her new daughter Clara, if fate is on her side. She must select a ball, like in a lottery, which will decide Clara’s fate. White will mean she is admitted, black will mean she is not and a red ball will rely on another child failing their medical examination. Red is what Bess selects and after an anxious wait another child is declared too old to be admitted and so Clara is taken away from Bess for her examination.
Bess has bought with her a token, half a heart made from a whalebone, knowing that if Clara is admitted this will be written within her records to identify her in years to come. Clara passes her medical and is deemed fit for admission but Bess is not allowed to say her goodbyes. A description of the token alongside a number is placed on Clara’s record, should Bess wish to reclaim her in the future, with a warning to Bess that a fee would be payable to cover the expenses incurred by the hospital in caring for Clara.
On her walk back home with her father, Bess then finds an abandoned baby, left behind by a mother who chose a black ball at the Foundling Hospital. Bess leaves the baby in the porter’s cottage hoping care will be shown, as it seems the baby’s mother has just jumped out in front of a carriage to end her life.
In only a few pages so much emotion has been shown and I already want to know more about Bess following what must have been a truly heartbreaking decision to have had to make. The descriptions are so detailed and I am really fascinated to learn more about this period of history and the life Bess will now go on to lead and also why she was unable to keep her baby.
Bess has bought with her a token, half a heart made from a whalebone, knowing that if Clara is admitted this will be written within her records to identify her in years to come. Clara passes her medical and is deemed fit for admission but Bess is not allowed to say her goodbyes. A description of the token alongside a number is placed on Clara’s record, should Bess wish to reclaim her in the future, with a warning to Bess that a fee would be payable to cover the expenses incurred by the hospital in caring for Clara.
On her walk back home with her father, Bess then finds an abandoned baby, left behind by a mother who chose a black ball at the Foundling Hospital. Bess leaves the baby in the porter’s cottage hoping care will be shown, as it seems the baby’s mother has just jumped out in front of a carriage to end her life.
In only a few pages so much emotion has been shown and I already want to know more about Bess following what must have been a truly heartbreaking decision to have had to make. The descriptions are so detailed and I am really fascinated to learn more about this period of history and the life Bess will now go on to lead and also why she was unable to keep her baby.