“The Foundling” is written by Sunday Times bestselling author Stacey Halls and is her second novel, after the success of “The Familiars” last year.
Once again this book is attractively presented with a gorgeous cover and is guaranteed to be a beautiful addition to any bookshelf.
Set in London 1754, this historical drama novel focuses on The Foundling Hospital where mothers took their young babies to hopefully be looked after, until they could return and buy them back. The opening pages really broke my heart and as a mother myself I could truly feel the torment of the young women, waiting to see if their baby would be lucky enough to be accepted. The resulting event after one such unlucky woman was so sad.
Although I didn’t quite get the 18th century feeling, more the 19th, I did find the setting very atmospheric. Billingsgate came alive with the shouts of merchants shouting their varied fish and seafood offerings. I could smell and visualise the muddy pathways that seemed prevalent in every turn of the area, with the traps, carriages and horses that travelled on them.
There was a lot of coincidence that benefited the plot but this didn’t distract me from the enjoyment of the story and I thought the author covered mental health issues like agoraphobia, PTSD and paranoia along with grief exceedingly well. Just showing that these issues did exist many many years ago, even if they weren’t diagnosed correctly.
I fell in love with this book instantly and really enjoyed, I’d be happy to recommend Stacey Halls and her books and I hope to read more by her again in the future.
4 stars
Once again this book is attractively presented with a gorgeous cover and is guaranteed to be a beautiful addition to any bookshelf.
Set in London 1754, this historical drama novel focuses on The Foundling Hospital where mothers took their young babies to hopefully be looked after, until they could return and buy them back. The opening pages really broke my heart and as a mother myself I could truly feel the torment of the young women, waiting to see if their baby would be lucky enough to be accepted. The resulting event after one such unlucky woman was so sad.
Although I didn’t quite get the 18th century feeling, more the 19th, I did find the setting very atmospheric. Billingsgate came alive with the shouts of merchants shouting their varied fish and seafood offerings. I could smell and visualise the muddy pathways that seemed prevalent in every turn of the area, with the traps, carriages and horses that travelled on them.
There was a lot of coincidence that benefited the plot but this didn’t distract me from the enjoyment of the story and I thought the author covered mental health issues like agoraphobia, PTSD and paranoia along with grief exceedingly well. Just showing that these issues did exist many many years ago, even if they weren’t diagnosed correctly.
I fell in love with this book instantly and really enjoyed, I’d be happy to recommend Stacey Halls and her books and I hope to read more by her again in the future.
4 stars