The Foundling - Stacey Halls
About the book
London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst – that Clara has died in care – the last thing she expects to hear is that her daughter has already been reclaimed – by her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl – and why. Less than a mile from Bess’ lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend – an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital – persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.
About the author
Stacey Halls was born in 1989 and grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and has written for publications including The Guardian, Stylist, Psychologies, The Independent, The Sun and Fabulous. Her first book The Familiars was the bestselling debut novel of 2019. The Foundling is her second novel. You can find her on Instagram @staceyhallsauthor and Twitter @stacey_halls.
Discover more about the book and author
Event Announcement: Stacey Halls will be joining BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on the Saturday Show for a live interview - 10th October at 12:15!
Our Librarians’ Reviews
“I listened to the book as an eaudiobook. I started listening to eaudiobooks during lockdown when I was out for my daily walk or jog and found that it was a good way to relax and helped reduce stress through less time in front of a screen. This book works very well as an audio book as there are two main narrators to the story who take turns telling the story. The emotions and feelings of two very different women work together to give you different aspects of the same story and the impact adult actions have on a small child. The descriptions of London and the Foundling Hospital are vivid and contribute to emphasising the contrast between those in extreme poverty and those who are extremely wealthy. What is unexpected is what happens when these two worlds collide. Luckily it's a work of fiction and there might have been a happy ending, but I'm not giving away any spoilers.“
“This was an atmospheric read that started in the middle of the action! The historian in me couldn’t believe that two women at opposite ends of the social spectrum could resolve things the way they do, but the engrossed reader was fully invested, and quite prepared to suspend disbelief! Stacey vividly portrays Georgian London with its smells, and the sounds of the market, but Coram’s Foundling Hospital is so well realised it is more of a ‘character’ than a place. However, it was Bess’ story that kept me reading; I really wanted her pragmatism, determination and instinctive love for her child to win the day.”