Ever since The Familiars came out, I’d been wanting to check out Stacey Halls but never got around to it, so when Readers First offered to send me a copy of her new book, The Foundling, in exchange for a review I couldn’t resist! The premise of the book really intrigued me as a historical fiction with a little bit of mystery and intrigue thrown in! The book did not disappoint me and I had to give it 5/5 stars!
The book starts with our first protagonist, Bess, giving birth to her illegitimate daughter. Being unable to afford taking care of the baby, Bess gives her over to the foundling hospital with the hopes of saving up enough money to reclaim her as soon as possible. Years pass and finally Bess is in a position to take back her daughter, but when she returns to the foundling hospital she finds that the little girl has already been claimed…apparently by Bess herself!
Our second protagonist, Alexandra, is a young widow who hasn’t left her house in years, plagued by anxiety and fear. But her carefully organised world is turned upside down when she is persuaded to hire a nursemaid for her young daughter, and Bess turns up at her door.
A story of two mothers and a secret which binds them together, The Foundling is a tale of love and loss, mystery and drama that will have you hooked from beginning to end.
I really enjoyed the setting of this book in Georgian London and Stacey really seemed to have done her research to get all the details and speech accurate! Although I had to google a few terms – like thief-taker for example 😂 – it made the book more authentic and I appreciated it.
The main characters were both very well developed and had good backstories which really explained their actions and personalities. I’m not usually a fan of multiple POVs, but I thought this was a book where it was done really well, with having the first large chunk of the book from Bess’ perspective and then switching to Alexandra’s. Especially as the two characters were so different in their mannerisms and speech that it was easy to follow. My only problem with this was that I would have loved to have seen Bess’ perspective of some of the things that happened during the Alexandra section of the book, to better understand her emotions (and that’s all I’ll say without giving spoilers!).
I enjoyed the ending, although I thought it could have been slightly longer as a whole lot happens in the last few pages! But I thought things were resolved well and that it rounded off the book nicely.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction! I found it to be an easy but interesting read that I was able to get through quite quickly as it had me gripped! I’ll definitely be checking out Stacey’s other book now too!
The book starts with our first protagonist, Bess, giving birth to her illegitimate daughter. Being unable to afford taking care of the baby, Bess gives her over to the foundling hospital with the hopes of saving up enough money to reclaim her as soon as possible. Years pass and finally Bess is in a position to take back her daughter, but when she returns to the foundling hospital she finds that the little girl has already been claimed…apparently by Bess herself!
Our second protagonist, Alexandra, is a young widow who hasn’t left her house in years, plagued by anxiety and fear. But her carefully organised world is turned upside down when she is persuaded to hire a nursemaid for her young daughter, and Bess turns up at her door.
A story of two mothers and a secret which binds them together, The Foundling is a tale of love and loss, mystery and drama that will have you hooked from beginning to end.
I really enjoyed the setting of this book in Georgian London and Stacey really seemed to have done her research to get all the details and speech accurate! Although I had to google a few terms – like thief-taker for example 😂 – it made the book more authentic and I appreciated it.
The main characters were both very well developed and had good backstories which really explained their actions and personalities. I’m not usually a fan of multiple POVs, but I thought this was a book where it was done really well, with having the first large chunk of the book from Bess’ perspective and then switching to Alexandra’s. Especially as the two characters were so different in their mannerisms and speech that it was easy to follow. My only problem with this was that I would have loved to have seen Bess’ perspective of some of the things that happened during the Alexandra section of the book, to better understand her emotions (and that’s all I’ll say without giving spoilers!).
I enjoyed the ending, although I thought it could have been slightly longer as a whole lot happens in the last few pages! But I thought things were resolved well and that it rounded off the book nicely.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction! I found it to be an easy but interesting read that I was able to get through quite quickly as it had me gripped! I’ll definitely be checking out Stacey’s other book now too!