Love Stacey Halls, love the period setting, love the premise of the story but it didn’t stand out from other more powerful stories with a similar troupe. And I was hoping it would and was expecting it to be a favourite. I fell in love with this book instantly and really enjoyed, I’d be happy to recommend Stacey Halls and her books and I hope to read more by her again in the future.

Bess is forced to give up her baby at birth and into the protection of 'The Foundling'. However, despite the promise of keeping the child until the mother was better placed to care for her, Bess is informed her child was collected the day after she put her into the care six years earlier. And so, the heart-breaking search begins. Halls preference for a feel good and simplistic tying up of a story but given that the novel was intended as an exploration of the meaning of motherhood it feels like a missed opportunity. The plot is a familiar one that I feel has been done to death over the years, albeit in different eras with every story posing the exact same question of what it means to be a mother. Apart from the Georgian setting and the inspiration of the Foundling Hospital for abandoned babies there is little original about the book and aside from a few choice bits of slang the story fails to deliver on period atmosphere. MY THOUGHTS: Don't expect this to be a deep and gritty read, because it's not. It is a light read, but it is also touching. Secondary characters from Bess’s siblings to Doctor Mead added to the tale. We also have elements of romance but these are secondary to the central theme of Bess and her daughter.A token and a number is given in exchange for a baby, many of whom were near death and did not make it through their first year. The healthy ones often made it into the homes of the rich against the mothers wishes who were branded 'insane', when they dared come to collect the child and reverse the swap. Although she’s sad to be asking for the chance to leave Clara in their care, Bess sets her mind to patiently saving the money needed to reclaim her. Like the other mothers, Bess also leaves a token by which Clara can be identified. Who has taken Clara? The filth and danger of Ludgate Hill sits in stark contrast to well-heeled Bloomsbury across town and uptight widow, Alexandra Callard, whose fear of losing loved ones keeps her and her six-year-old child, Charlotte, confined inside a home that is to all intents a prison. Self-contained and still dealing with an upbringing that has left her emotionally stunted, Alexandra is persuaded by her husband’s great friend, a doctor at the Foundling Hospital, to hire a nursemaid. No prizes for guessing who gets the job and the explosive collision that ensues with both women having their own claim on Charlotte, with the man that brought them together, kind-hearted and honourable Doctor Elliot Mead, caught in the crossfire. The characters are splendid. Icy Alexandra and strong, able Bess, with her ne’er-do-well brother, Ned, and kind, reserved father, Abe. I thoroughly enjoyed The Foundling by Stacey Halls. It had all of the ingredients I love in an historical fiction novel and I highly recommend it.

She rarely leaves the house, unable to touch or interact with her daughter meaningfully on any level. Alexandra and Charlotte are recluses, to all intents and purposes, with only the servants and family doctor allowed into the house. The second novel by Ms Halls tells a story of a very young woman who in 1754 gets pregnant and is forced to part with her daughter the day after she is born. Bess Bright knows she will have to collect money for several years to reunite with Clara, and this hope gives her the strength to work and be patient. London is evoked in its dank and dangerous glory. It reeks of inequality and poverty. Contrast part one which is firmly set in the area of Ludgate Hill to part two, where we meet the Bloomsbury wealth and the mysterious widow who refuses to leave her home. She reluctantly employs a nursemaid and you just know there are secrets and pain in that house. They seep through the plush wallpaper slowly but surely and into the streets where the carriage smash them up on the cobbles with the permanents of Bess’ story. What a depiction of two women’s stories and the London of that time.DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Mira via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Lost Orphan by Stacey Halls for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Stacey Halls has done it again! I was so mesmerised by The Foundling that I read it in one sitting. If you enjoyed the writing style of The Familiars and the mix of fiction and history, then you will ADORE this one as well.

Although I didn’t quite get the 18th century feeling, more the 19th, I did find the setting very atmospheric. Billingsgate came alive with the shouts of merchants shouting their varied fish and seafood offerings. I could smell and visualise the muddy pathways that seemed prevalent in every turn of the area, with the traps, carriages and horses that travelled on them. Less than a mile from Bess’s lodgings in a quiet town house, a wealthy widow barely ventures outside. When her close friend—an ambitious doctor at the Foundling Hospital—persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her young 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 will soon tear her carefully constructed world apart. THE FAMILIARS was probably one of my top 5 favorite historical fiction reads of 2019, so I was really excited to receive an ARC of THE LOST ORPHAN by the same author. THE FAMILIARS is a dark but unexpectedly feminist story that takes place during a time that was historically unkind to women but manages to have an empowering message that reads as being fairly accurate to the times as well as a sympathetic heroine. THE LOST ORPHAN is the same, but the vehicle through which it accomplishes this is an entirely different beast. Don't make the mistake that I did and assume that the books are going to be similar: they are not-- at all. Not in mode, not in pacing, not in character. I was surprised they were by the same person, tbh.

THE LOST ORPHAN has mystery, historical fiction, a main character with agoraphobic problems that stem from an incident in her childhood, secrets, and to what lengths a mother's love takes her. 5/5