Beautifully written and ......I'm feeling curious!

This is a beautifully written story. I can feel the pain jumping out from the pages alone. I love a story that is written with so much description, and felt totally immersed in the first few pages of this lovely book.
Having had 2 girls myself the following sentence was heartbreaking and so true; '' yet I knew her as well as myself: the smell of her, the little patter of her heart that had beat inside me'.

So many women and girls had no choice other than to leave their babies at the foundling hospitals. As in this case they intended to go and reunite with their children when times were easier for them, heartbreaking....
The leaving of the half whale bone heart and the fact the father had the other half was a beautiful touch, and is in itself intriguing.
The 'lottery style' choosing of the babies is a new concept to me, and again in the first few pages you can feel the agony of the mothers who want nothing more than safety for their babies.
As many others have said the imagery is gorgeous in itself.

I'd love to have the opportunity to read and review this book. I've read similar books and am curious as to how this will unfold.