The Foundling by Stacey Halls - #BookReview

 

All the babies were wrapped like presents ready to be given. Some of them were dressed finely - though their mothers were not - in tiny embroidered sleeves and thick shawls, for winter had arrived, and the night was biting. I'd bound Clara in an old blanket that had waited years to be darned, and now never would be. We stood clustered around the pillared entrance, thirty or so of us, like moths beneath the torches burning in their brackets, our hearts beating like papery wings. I hadn't known that a hospital for abandoned babies would be a palace, with a hundred glowing windows and a turning place for carriages. Two long and splendid buildings were pinned either side of a courtyard that was connected in the middle by a chapel. At the north end of the west wing the door stood open, throwing light onto the stone. The gate felt a long way behind. Some of us would leave with our arms empty; some would carry our children out into the cold again. For this reason we could not look at one another, and kept our eyes on the ground.

***

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, Bess is astonished to be told she has already claimed 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's 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.

From the bestselling author of The Familiars comes this captivating story of mothers and daughters, class and power, and love against the greatest of odds...

***

One of my criteria for judging the worth of a book is whether it makes me want to go away and find out more about it's subject matter. I was already aware of the Foundling Hospital and it's role in the eighteenth century, but even so, it has ignited a desire in me to learn more.

This book has a dual narrative told from the perspectives of the two main characters, Bess and Alexandra. In terms of social class, their lives could not be more different but ultimately their stories will intertwine.

Mostly, this is a story about motherhood and what it means to be a mother. It questions whether financial security should come before love or vice versa.

The author has done a great job of immersing her readers into the eighteenth century and she has researched the period well. She brought Georgian England to life with a range of vivid descriptions of both the time and place.

Ms. Halls is a skilled storyteller. This is the first of her books which I have read but I would like to read more.

ISBN: 978 1838771409

Publisher:  Bonnier Books

Formats:  e-book, audio, paperback and hardback

No. of Pages:  370 (paperback)

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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.

(author photo and information from the author's website http://www.staceyhalls.com/about/)

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Lyrics for the Loved Ones by Anne Goodwin - #BookReview

Matty would have have stayed snug in her room with her precious belongings around her, but she hates to disappoint Oh My Darling. Whereas some maids are brassy, Oh My Darling was born to serve. Matty panders to her whims, no matter how outlandish, rewarding her docility as the Lord bestows His blessing on the meek.

As the maid hooks her arm to lift her from the chair, Matty hears coughing in the corridor. "Is this a fire drill?" That would account for Oh My Darling's haste.

Oh My Darling cocks her head in that charming manner of hers "Can't smell no smoke. Can't hear no alarm. Can you?

Matty cannot...

***

After half a century confined in a psychiatric hospital, Matty has moved to a care home on the Cumbrian coast. Next year, she’ll be a hundred, and she intends to celebrate in style. Yet, before she can make the arrangements, her ‘maid’ goes missing.

Irene, a care assistant, aims to surprise Matty with a birthday visit from the child she gave up for adoption as a young woman. But, when lockdown shuts the care-home doors, all plans are put on hold.

But Matty won’t be beaten. At least not until the Black Lives Matter protests burst her bubble and buried secrets come to light.

Will she survive to a hundred? Will she see her ‘maid’ again? Will she meet her long-lost child?

Rooted in injustice, balanced with humour, this is a bittersweet story of reckoning with hidden histories in cloistered times.

***

This book is a sequel to Matilda Windsor is Coming Home. It is a fantastic book which I can't recommend highly enough. Although Lyrics for the Loved Ones works perfectly well as a standalone novel you will enjoy it all the more if you familiarise yourself with the main character, Matty, before doing so. If you would like to read my review of Matilda Windsor is Coming Home you can do so by clicking here.

Ms. Goodwin has also written a prequel. Stolen Summers was an equally great read and you can read my review by clicking here.

Lyrics for the Loved Ones provided me with the wonderful opportunity to spend more time in Matty's company. She is a wonderful character, who has been misunderstood all of her life, been incarcerated in a mental institution for having a baby out of wedlock and we now find her living in Cumbria in a care home. I have read many, many books over the years and Matty remains one of my favourite characters.

As ever, the author writes with intelligence, understanding and sensitivity. Her prose is beautiful to read, and she has carefully placed every single word. There is no waffle, not a word is wasted. It is a delight to read.

This particular book is set during the covid pandemic and it follows Matty and those connected with her. It is written with poignancy as well as moments of humour amidst such challenging circumstances.

I have read almost all of the books which Anne Goodwin has written and with each one I have observed her writing become more accomplished. She has become one of my favourite authors, and I wholeheartedly recommend them.

ISBN: 978 1739145026

Publisher:  Anecdotal Press

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 345 (paperback)

About the Author:

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.

Anne writes about the darkness that haunts her and is wary of artificial light. She makes stuff up to tell the truth about adversity, creating characters to care about and stories to make you think. She explores identity, mental health and social justice with compassion, humour and hope.

An award-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, (my review can be found here) was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize. Lyrics for the Loved Ones is her fourth novel.

Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

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