I love the way this book is compiled with all the dates and links between the people involved in each case. This is how I like to write my own non fiction books. I learned a lot from this book about why we have the laws we have. I had no idea absolving men of responsibility led to this, but of course that makes sense. Also the stuff with the feeding broke my heart, but that is why we have formula now.
I fear that America is sliding back into this because do not have affordable daycare or housing. What else are people going to do?
Thank you SO much for granting my wish to read this book. I always wanted to learn more about how baby farming came to be and how it was dealt with in the moment.

An interesting read! Clearly has a lot of research behind it and I enjoyed reading about it all. I feel like the writing style was very textbook/police report and that did make it a little harder to get through.

This non-fiction book offers a comprehensive and well-founded insight into the dark chapter of baby farming in the Victorian era. Poverty and social constraints caused this business of commercial care for babies and children to boom. There were certainly caring carers, but there were also numerous black sheep who neglected, mistreated or even killed children. Such cases were rarely fully uncovered and punished. Well-researched and comprehensibly described facts in this book paint a portrait of the time and its society. Contexts and backgrounds become more comprehensible, even if you cannot, of course, fully empathize with every facet of the time. Numerous historically documented individual cases have been meticulously compiled, which I have never found in such quantities anywhere else. A book that is absolutely worth reading for anyone who has a historical interest in the time or in the notorious baby farms in particular.

Thank goodness times have changed..

Mis Dyer is an horrendous woman and what she did for nothing more than making money was grounds to secure her place in Hell..
That said.. this is an interesting read and one that made me think about the life and times of all involved. The mothers of babies the women who were supposed to care for the children after and the law..

I love historical reads and this is both chilling and intriguing, I learned a lot and the author has obviously done her research well.

Chilling in its level of detail about genuine cases, this book will shock many readers who may not have realised how recently baby farming was a common practice. The author takes us through case studies as well as explaining the legislative reform and social history surrounding how baby farming came to be a practice and how the community responded, including the introduction of laws against cruelty to children. It’s a fascinating book and so well presented, with a perfect blend of case studies and contextual facts. It’s important to remember histories such as these and the author has presented this in a way which certainly does not excuse or glorify poverty and neglect, but which does allow the reader to understand how such things can happen in the context of inequality, ignorance and disempowerment.

Very interesting book
Highlighting the terrible baby farming that happened
This book is respectful to all the babies who lost their lives
Well written

This was such an interesting read. I really didn't know anything about this but glad I read it. Very interesting.