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The Foundling
Dec. 26th, 2023 07:40 pmThe Foundling is the third book I've read by Stacey Halls, and probably my favourite so far.
It's about a young woman who is forced to leave her baby at the Foundling Hospital the day she's born in 1747 and what happens when she goes back to claim her daughter six years later.
I thought it was a bold choice to have the first 100+ pages of the book narrated by one character and then the next 100+ pages narrated by another - but it really worked.
I understood and felt for both Bess and Alexandra, even though they were very much on opposites sides of the main conflict. Both narratives were extremely well written to give the women very different voices, characters, motivations, backgrounds and impulses.
I liked the male characters who became involved in the story too - though their introductions, contributions and ultimate outcomes seemed a little easy and neat, perhaps depowering the women just a little.
But it was a complex story with lots of interesting layers and very emotive circumstances (the explanation behind Alexandra's odd attitudes and behaviour was very powerfully revealed) and I really enjoyed it overall.
It's about a young woman who is forced to leave her baby at the Foundling Hospital the day she's born in 1747 and what happens when she goes back to claim her daughter six years later.
I thought it was a bold choice to have the first 100+ pages of the book narrated by one character and then the next 100+ pages narrated by another - but it really worked.
I understood and felt for both Bess and Alexandra, even though they were very much on opposites sides of the main conflict. Both narratives were extremely well written to give the women very different voices, characters, motivations, backgrounds and impulses.
I liked the male characters who became involved in the story too - though their introductions, contributions and ultimate outcomes seemed a little easy and neat, perhaps depowering the women just a little.
But it was a complex story with lots of interesting layers and very emotive circumstances (the explanation behind Alexandra's odd attitudes and behaviour was very powerfully revealed) and I really enjoyed it overall.
