Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This book has been on my NetGalley TBR pile for some time. I am very slow at getting round to reading them before the books are published. This book got moved up when it became a quarterly reading group read in an online book group that I have been in for years.

This is the second book that I have read by Stacey Halls. I read The Familiars by her back in 2019.

Telling the story of Bess who left her baby daughter Clara in a Foundling Hospital and when she went back to claim her young daughter Clara, hoping that she was not going to be told that Clara had passed away instead she was told that her daughter had been claimed. How was this possible as she had never been to claim Clara, so who had? Bess is beside herself and does not know where to turn.

How will Bess find her young daughter, will they ever be reunited and why was she taken?

Not far from where Bess lives a young widow is struggling to care for her young child. She needs help, not knowing where to turn to, a young Doctor that she is friendly with, tries his best to encourage her to take in help with the young child. She is loathe to do so, but doesn't know how much more she can cope with.

How will things work out for this young widow and will she take the offer of help or not?

I really enjoyed this book and felt for all the characters really, they all had their issues and reasons for doing what they did. I can only imagine what mothers had to go through emotionally to give up their child and place it in a Foundling Hospital. This is a story set in the past, when times were hard and people found it really hard to cope (mind you times aren't great at the moment for a lot of people). There are so many issues that the story covers, this would make a great reading group read.

Enjoyed this even more than The Familiars! Hall has a really accessible way of writing historical fiction that is entertaining and really keeps me interested.

I loved Hall’s first novel, The Familiars, and expectations were high as I began, The Foundling.

What a surprise to discover a story so different, still set in the past but it’s themes, it’s location a world away.

What struck you first was Hall’s portrayal of London, it’s dank, dark poverty stricken back streets, that were somehow vibrant with its myriad of voices selling their wares, its inhabitants going about their daily lives. At the other end, the smart streets and houses of Bloomsbury, wealth and privilege hidden behind its gilded doors.

Onto its streets Hall introduced us to Bess, daughter of a shrimp seller, who worked hard to survive, food scarce, warmth and comfort not a given. A hard worker with one aim, to reclaim the daughter, she left at The Foundling Hospital. She was brilliantly feisty, and brave, uneducated, but intelligent, life starkly black and white.

Alexandra, widow, rich, comfortable, yet alone, frightened to leave the confines of her home bar a weekly visit to church. You disliked and liked her all at the same time, and as her story unfolded you empathised, but couldn’t quite warm to her cold exterior as you wondered if there was anything soft beneath.

Two women who were somehow destined to meet but under strange circumstances, a tale Hall told with great emotion and tenderness,

Their link, Charlotte, a young girl, a young girl that shattered their worlds, opened the cracks that had lain dormant for many years. This poor girl who lived in a gilded cage, denied a world outside, friends to play and learn from, was the catalyst that set in motion a chain of events that held you in their grasp and pulled you further into the characters lives.

And what a journey Hall took us on. The relationship between mother’s and daughters closely examined, the maternal pull that never leaves us, that forced actions with one aim, to get what we left behind, to be true to ourselves and fight for what we wanted.

Do we all have that maternal instinct, can you have it even if not related by blood, or do past events hamper our capacity to love and be loved?

Whatever the answers, Hall gave us it all, the tension and drama almost unbearable, the outcomes uncertain, the reader hopeful for a happy ending.

The historical detail was brilliant, seamlessly threaded throughout, as Hall placed you right there with Bess and Alexandra. The imagery and story would lend itself wonderfully to a BBC Sunday evening dramatisation and i have my fingers crossed it will become a reality.

A really good read . When Bess gets pregnant and can't care for her daughter she takes her to the Foundling hospital to be looked after until she can save up enough money to get her back. She struggles as she earns her living selling shrimps and when she returns for her child six years later she discovers that the child had already been claimed by someone believed to be her mother. Bess tries to find her child and will do everything possible to have her back as she fights to claim her she faces many difficulties and struggles, before she gets answers but will she get her beloved daughter back.

In my role as English Teacher, I love being able to spend time reviewing books for our school library which I use to help the students make great picks when they visit us as well as running a library junior and senior book group where we meet every week and share the books we love and talk about what makes a great read. This is certainly a book that I'd be happy to display at the front as one of my monthly 'top picks' which often transform into 'most borrowed' between students and staff. It's a great read and ties in with my ethos of wishing to assemble a diverse, modern and thought-provoking range of books that will inspire and deepen a love of reading in our students of all ages. This book answers this brief in spade! It has s fresh and original voice and asks the readers to think whilst hooking them with a compelling storyline and strong characters It is certainly a book that I've thought about a lot after finishing it and I've also considered how we could use some of its paragraphs in supporting and inspiring creative writing in the school through the writers' circle that we run. This is a book that I shall certainly recommend we purchase and look forward to hearing how much the staff and students enjoy this memorable and thought-provoking read.

*My apologies for the delay in writing this review as I was rushed to hospital two weeks ago and then had surgery last week and now I have clots in my leg and lungs, and I haven't been up to reading or reviewing since.*

I love historical fiction and this is historical fiction at its best! I was swept away into another world from the opening page and I did not want to put it down until the end. And even then I didn't want to. It is engaging, it is engrossing and it is atmospheric.

London, 1747: Set in Georgian London, THE FOUNDLING is the story of Bess Bright, a young woman who found herself in the family way after a brief encounter with a charismatic gentleman in a dark alley. Unable to provide for her baby girl, Clara, Bess is forced to give her up at the Foundling Hospital with the clear intention of going back for her just as soon as she has saved enough money to pay for her keep at the hospital and to support them both.

The Foundling Hospital is a place where many a woman finds herself - whether they are unwed or unable to feed another mouth. They line up and pick a token from a bag to decide their baby's fate. If it is one colour, their baby is taken in, health checks pending; another means they must wait for a place and their babies declared healthy; the final colour means they are turned away. It is devastating to see the desperation of these women, most of whom are of the poorest and cannot support a child. Yet while they are giving up their babies, lining the walls are the beautifully adorned and festooned gentry with theirs fans and masks and wigs piled up high. To them, this is a form of sport they love to spectate on...the utter desperation of the poorer classes giving up their own flesh and blood. It is despicable to think the gentry see themselves far above those who cannot afford to feed or clothe their babies, and therefore must give them up. It most certainly reveals the chasm between the classes.

Bess draws out a token that puts her on a waiting list for another's child to be rejected. When she is called up, baby Clara is taken away for a health check and Bess is asked for her details. Unable to read, she can only leave an 'X' as a signature. Clara is deemed healthy for admission and Bess leaves her with a token - as proof of identity - one half of a whalebone heart with the initials 'B' (for Bess) and 'C' (for Clara) engraved within.

1754: Six years later, Bess has worked hard with her father at the docks selling shrimp, smelling like a fishwife and saving everything she could, that now she finally has enough money equivalent to two years' wages and is ready to reclaim her daughter. However, when she arrives she is shocked to discover that her daughter has already been claimed...by Bess herself! The day after she relinquished her! All these years and Clara was never at the Foundling. Bess is devastated but determined to find out who took her daughter.

In her desperation, Bess meets a young doctor and member of the Foundling Hospital and he takes pity on her story. He invites her to chapel the following Sunday where the other members of the hospital attend in the hope that they can help her in her search for Clara. It is there, Bess sees a young girl who catches her eye and is sure without a doubt that she has found her daughter.

The tables are then turned and we are swept away from the docks to the terraced houses of Bloomsbury affluence. It is here we meet Alexandra Callard, a wealthy widowed recluse who leaves the house once a week only for chapel and her young daughter Charlotte. Through the kindly Dr Mead of the Foundling, Alexandra takes on a nursemaid for Charlotte, despite her worry about allowing another person into the house that she has filled with secrets.

Eliza moves into the Callard household as nursemaid to 6 year old Charlotte, a bright and lively child who yearns for life on the outside. Her mother, Alexandra, has not set foot outside (except for chapel) since her husband Daniel died before Charlotte was born and for reasons known only to Alexandra, has therefore become a recluse and insisting her child be also. Eliza is young but very capable in her position as nursemaid, taking little Charlotte under her wing as they giggle together and become fast friends. For while Charlotte lives a life of privilege and wants for nothing, money may be plentiful but it is soon obvious that love is not.

But unbeknownst to Alexandra, Eliza has an agenda. One of which she did not foresee or ever expect. And when one night, those intentions are made clear, the lives of these two women are changed forever.

Alternating between Bess and Alexandra, THE FOUNDLING is divided into "parts" that are told in the respective narratives of both women. I loved this aspect as the reader becomes privy to each character's thoughts and the complexities of their lives as we watch the two become intertwined to create an even bigger picture.

THE FOUNDLING is an incredibly well-researched tale and, although fiction, the hospital and its history shine within these pages bearing a sad reflection of life in Georgian times. The attention to detail given to the story reflects the chasm between the two main characters and their vastly different lifestyles, of that between the rich and the poor, in 18th century London. The two women couldn't be more different. Bess who, from a world of hawking by the docks for a living, is naturally warm and loving in nature while Alexandra, in her ivory tower of affluence and money, is cold, remote and distant. Bess is on the streets every day selling shrimp while Alexandra sits alone in her withdrawing room talking to the portraits of her dead parents.

I didn't like Alexandra to begin with but as the story unfolds and we find out more about her it soon becomes clearer why she is the way she is, and as the reader we understand her a little better. But having said that, my sympathies were always with Bess and her own heartbreaking situation. Just because you are not born into money shouldn't dictate whether you are able to love and provide for your child just as much as the next person. Life in Georgian London certainly proved to be a cruel time in which to live and having to face the desperate decision of whether to leave your newborn baby to the fate of strangers in a hospital in the hope one would be able to save the money to reclaim them at a later time is heartbreaking. Which just makes Bess' tale even more poignant.

A captivating tale from beginning to end, THE FOUNDLING is atmospheric and well written detailing the social injustices of the time, motherhood and love. But at the heart of the story is the question of what is more important: love and affection amidst a life of poverty, or a life of luxury without love?

While there is no real mystery as to how the two women are linked, there are several puzzling aspects of how and why that are gradually revealed making THE FOUNDLING an engrossing and addictive read that will leave you wanting more. Unlike many others, I loved the ending as no real closure is one of my pet hates in a book.

If you are looking for a dark historical tale fraught with social injustice yet filled with strong characters and a beautifully intricate plot, then look no further. THE FOUNDLING is definitely for you! I loved it from start to finish and it is well worth every star.

I would like to thank #StaceyHalls, #NetGalley and #BonnierBooksUK for an ARC of #TheFoundling in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful book, couldn’t put it down. Another great work of historical fiction by Stacey Halls. A completely different subject matter to the first but well researched and a beautiful story. She’s becoming one of my favourite authors.

I perhaps didn't love this quite as much as Halls debut 'The Familiars' but then there weren't any witches in this one... It was still very good though. I liked the fact she gave us two very different female main characters again but did find it a little jarring when we jumped point of view character from Bess to Alexandra the first time. Another great satisfying historical novel, I won't hesitate to read anything else Stacey Halls writes.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I really liked the first few chapters of this when you realise that it's pretty much a mystery and wonder who took the child? Really enjoyed it, a great read!

Another beautiful historical novel from bestselling author Stacey Halls, as she revisits ideas of womanhood, this time via the relationships between mothers and daughters, sisters and friends.

Bess Bright is forced to give her baby girl up to the Foundling hospital, as she is unable to provide for her as a single mother in poverty, but she leaves her with a distinctive token and the resolve to return for her as soon as she can. Six years later she returns with the money she has scraped together, determined to ‘buy back’ her beloved daughter. But Clara was collected the day after she was abandoned. Collected by Bess Bright.

Meanwhile, in a more prosperous area of London, comfortably well-off Alexandra stays tightly locked behind closed windows and doors after a violent incident left her traumatised. Alexandra is also a single mother, and her daughter Charlotte remains firmly imprisoned within the cage of her mother’s fears. As Charlotte increasingly chafes against her restrictions, Alexandra struggles to keep them both safe and is both relieved and anxious when persuaded to share some of that responsibility with a nursemaid.

The plot hinges on a lot of coincidences, some unlikely, but the whole story hangs together in a beautiful and intricate web spun around (funhouse) mirroring and fate. While the heart of the story is in the characters and their relationships, there is plenty of action and the pace is swift – skipping quieter interim times to move straight from one crisis point to another. I couldn’t stop reading due to the tension of what I could see coming, and the surprises that I didn’t!

The ending may not have been strictly realistic, but it was certainly satisfying and tied up the hanging loose ends neatly, leaving me feeling relieved for the characters I had quickly come to care about.

I would definitely recommend this to fans of historical fiction, similar to the style of Sarah Waters, and to anyone who enjoys a gripping, female-centred story.



These feminine vessels we inhabited: why did nobody expect them to contain unfeminine feelings? Why could we, too, not be furious and scornful and entirely altered by grief? Why must we accept the cards we had been dealt?

– Stacey Halls, The Foundling

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I had been waiting for this book to released after I enjoyed the author’s previous release so much – and I have to say that I adore the cover for this book, it really suits the story and it was a superb read!

The pace was good and I thought that the characters were well developed too, the plot was great and I loved reading the pages, the author has clearly done her research to bring the story to life as she has done.

I thought that it was an addictive read for me and I thought it was a great story and a brilliant piece of historical fiction and so well written, it had me completely hooked.

I loved the characters and how they worked well together and I loved finding out more about the back stories as the book progressed too, this was definitely a story that pulls on the heart-strings and I felt for the characters so much at times.

It is 5 stars from me for this one - I thought it was a fabulous story, very well developed and the author has definitely put herself on my radar now as one to watch, the both books I have read to date have been so good! Very highly recommended!!

I’ve long been fascinated by the history of Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital (and would strongly recommend anyone who found this element of the book interesting to visit Coram’s Fields and the nearby Museum, both in Bloomsbury), so it was a no-brainer when the opportunity to read The Foundling was presented. And what a read! I absolutely loved this book. Told through two narratives - that of shrimp-seller Bess, who gives up her newborn daughter to the Foundling Hospital, and of Alexandra, a merchant’s widow - each is given a distinct voice and clear motivations. Even though both Bess and Alexandra do some morally questionable things, Halls does a superb job of helping the reader understand what is driving their decisions; even when I didn’t necessarily sympathise with Alexandra’s actions, I understood why she was behaving in that way. Relatedly, I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of mental illness, something that is relatively rare in historic novels outside of the “woman confined to an asylum” trope.

When reading Halls’ debut novel, The Familiars (set in the early 17th century), I felt that her female heroine was given certain freedoms that were ahistorical for a woman of her social class. The Foundling’s narrators also have a rather modern, feminist sensibility but (being set more than a century and a half later, and in London) their particular freedoms, which were necessary to power the plot, felt more appropriate to the period and to their circumstances. Equally, while I had a nagging sense that such a neat, happy ever after would be difficult for a woman such as Bess to achieve, I enjoyed the happy ending too much to complain. Meanwhile, something that is absolutely not ahistorical and instead documented fact (but too often missing from historic novels) was Halls’ portrayal of a truly multicultural Georgian London, which I particularly appreciated. Overall, The Foundling is a pacy and page-turning read which I would highly recommend.

Bess leaves her newborn daughter at the Foundling Hospital. It’s 1754 and as a single woman living on the poverty line, she has no means of supporting a child. Six years later, Bess returns to claim her daughter, only to be told she’s already been claimed. So begins a tale of two mothers and the lengths they’ll go to for their child. Gripping historical fiction at its best.

At first the notion of a Foundling Hospital horrifies the modern reader but then you begin to realise that perhaps they were quite a practical and, sometimes, the only solution.
But what if the young mother who goes to reclaim her child when 6 years old finds she is not there? Of course Halls has the reader suspecting things will not be quite as simple as they should be, but perhaps we don't quite expect the story that unfolds.
Halls incorporates a gripping use of description that increases your emotional involvement and has you rooting for, first, one of the main characters and then the other until you find yourself fretting about the possible outcome.
The dilemmas in this create a tension that make this quite absorbing. reading for those who like historical fiction.

Thank you to Bonnier Books (Manilla Press) and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so impressed with Stacey Halls’ debut novel, The Familiars, I knew I would have to read her latest book, The Foundling. Set in Georgian London, the story follows Bess Bright who left her daughter Clara at the Foundling Hospital when she was just hours old. Bess saves up all the money she can over the next six years and returns to claim her daughter, only to be informed that the young girl has already been claimed by her mother. Bess does not understand, who would impersonate her and why would they take Clara?
Alexandra Callard is the complete opposite to Bess, she is a wealthy widow living in comfort with her young daughter Charlotte. She only leaves the house once a week with her daughter to attend church. For the rest of the time she keeps herself and Charlotte safely indoors, the dangers locked outside. Alexandra’s world comes crashing down when a friend persuades her to take on a nursemaid for her child, the young woman is a natural with Charlotte and Alexandra becomes fearful that her secrets will be uncovered now she has allowed a stranger into her home.
The Foundling is beautifully written, one of my favourite elements of the book is Halls’ detailed descriptions of London. She creates such vivid images in your mind by describing little details that build up to a fantastically rich and vibrant picture.
Bess and Alexandra are from different walks of life and both have endured great difficulties. Alexandra has a lot more power due to her wealth plus the fact that her husband is dead. Bess is in a terribly vulnerable state: poor, unmarried and mother to an illegitimate child. Her situation highlights the difference between the social classes, however hard Bess works, she can never dream of having the life that Alexandra does.
The Foundling Hospital was a real place, I had very conflicted feelings about it. That something like this was necessary is shocking on its own. The lottery of babies being chosen is abhorrent to read about. To have reached rock bottom and made the decision to give up your own child and to have to endure being made a spectacle of for the entertainment of wealthy benefactors is just horrendous.
The Foundling is historical fiction as its best. Halls weaves a compelling story around historical fact which makes for an enthralling read. I highly recommend this book.

London, 1748: Hawker, Bess Bright, finds herself a single mother with no way to support a child. Taking the heart-rending decision to place her daughter, Clara, at London's Foundling Hospital, she leaves her there on the day of her birth - vowing that one day she will return to claim her.

Six years later, Bess heads to the hospital to collect the child she has never known, hoping that she is still alive and waiting for her. But when she gets there, she is told that someone giving her name and address collected Clara the day after Bess left her there. Who can have taken her daughter, and why?

Only a short distance from where Bess lives, a young widow has become a recluse and has not left her home in more than a decade, except to attend church. Her friend, who is a young doctor at the same foundling hospital where Bess left her child, has persuaded her to hire a nursemaid to care for her daughter, but she is reluctant to let anyone new into her home. The past haunts her and the time has come for a reckoning.

****************************************************************

If you have read Stacey Halls' mesmerising debut The Familiars then you will know exactly how her writing can completely transport you to another time and place. If you have not read it and love beautifully crafted historical fiction - in this case about the infamous Pendle Witch Trials - then you really should.

This time, with The Foundling, takes us to Eighteenth Century London and a young woman forced to leave her child in the care of The Foundling Hospital. Her heartbreaking decision based on the hard facts of a life on the breadline, not to mention the difficulties surrounding being an unmarried mother at this time in history. But this is not just a story of heartbreak and loss, we also have the mystery of a missing child, when our young mother returns full of hope to reclaim her babe. Where can she be?

The Foundling also takes us to the other side of London life - the life of the wealthy in Bloomsbury and a woman with a haunting past - a young widow scared to let the outside world in and determined that her daughter should have no part of it either.

This is a tale of what it means to be a mother. Is it the giving birth to a baby? Is it the care of a child? what does your heart tell you?

But enough of all that...no spoilers....it's wonderful, evocative, and deeply emotional. It will churn you up in side and make you cry your eyes out and boil over with rage.

Buy it. Read it. You will be glad you did.

I loved this book! Such an absorbing read about characters you really care about. I liked the way it shifted the perspective between Bess and Alexandra. I enjoyed this even more than the author’s first book. If you like historical fiction, you need to read this!

As someone who adored Stacey Halls debut novel The Familiars, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the blog tour for her new book The Foundling. Although very different to her first book, The Foundling is every bit as good, with the beautiful writing drawing you into the story from the very first page.

I had a vague knowledge of The Foundling Hospital in London, but this book took that knowledge to a whole new level. It’s shocking to believe that a place like this actually existed, with babies being accepted or rejected based on a lottery system. The whole concept is intriguing but horrifying, and I can’t even begin to imagine the anguish those poor mothers must have gone through.

Each mother must pick a coloured ball out of a bag. If she picks out a white ball and her child passes the medical, the hospital will accept that child, along with a token – some sort of memento that can be easily recognised – so that the child can be identified if the mother’s circumstances change and she’s able to reclaim her baby. But if she picks out a black ball, her baby will be rejected, with no hope of ever gaining entry. The final colour is red, which gives the mother the opportunity to wait and see if any babies fail the medical, or are older than six months, so her child can be considered instead.

It’s brutal and heartbreaking, but this is the position 18 year old Bess Bright finds herself in after the birth of her baby, Clara. With no means of supporting her, she has no choice but to take part in the humiliating lottery at The Foundling Hospital. Clara is accepted, but six years later Bess has managed to save enough money to be able to reclaim her daughter. But on arrival, she is heartbroken and bewildered.to discover that someone claiming to be her had already taken Clara – the day after Bess had left her there.

What follows is an intricate and well researched tale that follows two very different women whose stories are deeply intertwined, as what happened to Clara is slowly revealed. Warm hearted Shrimp seller Bess has very little but is desperate to find her daughter, whereas widow Alexandra lives a rich and comfortable lifestyle with her daughter, Charlotte, in one of the better parts of town. Stacey Halls exquisite writing and attention to detail brings 18th Century London vividly to life, with the differences between the lifestyles of the rich and poor becoming even more apparent as the story progresses.

The two women are as different as night from day, with Alexandra being cold and aloof, which is the complete opposite of the lovely Bess, who is warm and loving. I found it very difficult to like Alexandra, although I did come to understand her better as the story continued. But I warmed to Bess from the outset and felt every emotion right along with her, becoming almost as desperate as she was for her to have the happy ending she craved.

The Foundling is a captivating story that had me enthralled from beginning to end. A complex and beautiful tale of a mother’s love for her daughter that I would thoroughly recommend. Stacey Halls has shown once again that she is a gifted storyteller and I can’t wait to see what this talented author will come up with next.

A stunning historical novel to remember.

Wow - just wow! Does Stacey Halls have a time machine in her spare room, that she uses to go back to Georgian London and this is how she manages to conjure such an evocative sense of place and time?

I knew after reading and loving The Familiars that Stacey has the magic touch for writing, but The Foundling is once step further again. Beautifully written but honest and clear and rich in detail of London and its grubby underbelly, it wasn't all petticoats and delicate ladies. Stacey creates a world of pretty lace and wallpaper in Mayfair and Bloomsbury against a gritty back ground of degradation in the working part of East London.

Bess sells shrimp, day in day out. One day she comes across a man, who greets her with warmth and kindness. This chance meeting leaves Bess with child and with no means to provide for it. Born at only 4am, baby Clara, as Bess names her is taken to The Foundling hospital, to hopefully gain a place there.

Entrance to The Foundling Hospital was not a right, there was no NHS back then, it was by luck. A lottery was held and attended by the gentry of the day. Seen as a funding process for the hospital and entertainment for 'polite members of society' who would attend to see the poor and depraved hand over their children to be cared for and probably never ben seen by their mothers again. Would donate funds that would run the hospital. The Lottery - the mothers were asked to pick a coloured ball from a bag, it contained 35 balls, there were 20 White balls - picking this meant they gained a place - if after a medical examination the child was deemed healthy and the right age - they had to be under 2 months old. only 5 Red balls - meant they were on the waiting list. And 10 Black balls - they were a simple - no place granted. And where the saying 'blackballed' come from, as this was often used as a means of a ballot system.

Imagine Bess, still bleeding from child birth, holding a brand new still mewing baby Clara in her arms, picking a ball from a bag to chose her fate. Stacey writes with care and shows the love that clearly weighs heavily on Bess's heart. Then the token that is left to show, should Bess return to collect Clara one day, that she is indeed her real Mother. Half a whalebone heart engraved with a B and a scratched in C and Clara's number - 627, now engraved upon Bess's own heart.

After 6 long years of saving a penny here and there, Bess returns to The Foundling Hospital, only to be told the devastating news that her baby is no longer there, she assumes her to be dead. But is asked to return and consult Dr Mead, Senior.

Our next character is Alexandra, who locks herself away in her more bountiful home with her young daughter Charlotte. They have a maid Agnes and a cook Maria, who both attend to their needs. They only leave the house to go out on Sundays to attend church and who despite having everything they could want - they don't have what they need, in the form of love. Alexandra is teaching Charlotte Italian and to be a lady, befitting her upbringing, but Charlotte, like any child wants to play and run outside, being caged doesn't make her happy. Due to the absence of her sister and Charlotte's father mean it is down to Alexandra to protect Charlotte and clear signs of anxiety and a delicacy show themselves, despite her strong and independent demeanour.

Along the way and with the involvement of the younger Dr Elliott Mead, Bess's and Alexandra's lives become entangled when Bess is brought into to their home to be Charlotte's nursemaid and a firm bond is created between them.

When you know the depth of research that has been done by Stacey Halls regarding The Foundling - it really sheds light on the story and how much Stacey invested in it. I attended an event, held by Mostly Books in Abingdon, where Stacey said at the Pudding, Read, Love event that she had taken inspiration for her character of Bess from the George Howarth's painting - The Shrimp Girl - of course Howarth is the artist of the painting that young Dr Mead gives to Alexandra. And yes I can only now picture Bess as this rosy checked woman. Though perhaps more sullen, thoughtful and maybe even sad and lonely.