The pitch-perfect prose brings Georgian London to vivid life, and strongly engages us with the central protagonist Bess Bright. She has had to give up her newborn baby Clara and the story follows her quest years later to find her daughter again. The reader really feels for her as she persists and persists. It makes lots of points about social divisions in the eighteenth (and twenty-first?) centuries and what it means to be a mother, all wrapped up in a page-turning narrative. The end result a charming tale with a heartwarmingly happy conclusion. The only criticism for this book, is that the ending felt a little rushed and idealised. It’s expected for it to be fast paced, as it is coming to the end but the loose ends seemed to be tied very quickly without as much conflict as was expected, given the scenario. Still a fabulous novel, that I will be reading again.