The Foundling by Stacey Halls

          4.5 Stars

First things first, this came so close to being my first 5 Star read of 2020.  It was just a shame that the central theme of the book stretched plausibility far too thin and there is no way I could see that situation ever happening.  Honestly, by giving it away to the reader before events unfolded on the page it strangely devalued the story.  Even worse if it had been left as a twist in the tale at the end I would have moaned about that too so poor Ms Halls really can't win on this one.

Overall this is a strong novel but it does feel like Historical Accuracy is played fast and loose with.  This is the second book I have read that has The Foundling Hospital as a central theme and from the additional reading that led me on to previously the depiction of it's inner workings seems to be accurate.  Although it may be a Central Theme it features only in brief snatches throughout the book as the story is really all about people.

This is what the author does so well, she draws believable characters that live outside of the page and draw you in to their world.  The best of these in this book is Bess Bright, you can really feel her struggle as she tries to come to terms with having to give her illegitimate daughter away.  Her backstory is poignant without being cloying and when she goes to The Foundling to get her daughter, 627, back the reveal is as shocking for her as it is for the reader.

Unfortunately, this is where the plot muddies and leaves the reader with a lot of questions.  The main one I had is why any employer, no matter how odd, would take on an illiterate girl as a nursemaid for a 6 year old.  It just doesn't ring true at all and despite the rather peculiar mode of life in the Callard House it just doesn't work.  Throw in a rather gruesome explanation for Mrs Callard's hermit like existence and it does have a fair old whack of melodrama to it.

As you can tell there are a lot of things that I perceived as flaws in this book.  However, despite all this I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this world.  Ms Halls can certainly weave a story and knows how to keep her readers entertained - even when their brains are going "Really, this isn't a telenovella you know".  I know that the publisher's are pushing the "new Hilary Mantel" line but apart from Historical Fiction being their chosen fields these author's are chalk and cheese so please, I implore you, ignore that as it does everyone a disservice.

To sum up this is a fun read that has a lot of flaws but that you somehow enjoy despite (or maybe because of) them.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.