In The Foundling, we are told the story of a young woman, Bess, who, on one dark and dreary night in 1754 London, is forced to give up her illegitimate, new-born daughter to the Foundling Hospital. Over the following years, Bess works hard selling shrimp with her father at the market, she saves up and eventually returns to the hospital to take her daughter back only to find that she has already been collected – by Bess herself.
The chapter where Bess hands over her infant daughter is heart wrenching; her desperation pours out of the book leaving you feeling just as bereft and heartbroken as she does. The mothers are asked whether they want to leave any tokens so that they can easily find their children again in the future. Bess leaves her daughter a whalebone shaped into half a heart, whilst others tear off parts of their dresses, too poor to offer anything else. The fact that this is the first chapter in the book shows you how quick-paced the narrative is, I was utterly captivated from the start and I read this book in one sitting – Halls has that sort of power over me!
The Foundling is the second novel by bestselling author of The Familiars, Stacey Halls. If you haven’t read my review of The Familiars yet, be sure to check that out. And if you have read it, you’ll know that I absolutely love Halls’ style of writing. It’s magical and almost at times lyrical. She expertly takes figures or places from history and breathes new life into them and more than that, she makes them relatable to modern-day readers.
Potential spoilers in the next paragraph!
The story focuses around, and is narrated by, two women: one born of means and another born poor. What I loved most about this book is that it didn’t pit two women against each other – a narrative I’m afraid we see far too often. Instead, it was about female unity and how motherhood gives you a strength you’d never thought you could possess.
I did some research into The Foundling Hospital in London and I learnt that the hospital was set up as a way to help poor families and their children. Many families living in London during the 1700s were so poor they had little other choice than to abandon their babies on the streets – many of which died as a result. True to Halls’ story, Thomas Coram set up The Foundling Hospital in 1739 as a way to take care of London’s most vulnerable citizens, give them food, shelter and education. There was even legislation that helped parents claim their children back.
In that first chapter, where Bess and the other mothers wait to find out if their child would be accepted into the hospital, we see that there are members of the rich and elite who have bought tickets to “the show”. They apparently got their kicks out of watching poor women in their most desperate moments. We learn that this is how the hospital funds itself. I couldn’t find any information on whether that is true, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it was.
The hospital closed its doors in 1954 when there was a shift in focus towards foster care systems. Today, the Foundling Hospital runs as a charity with a “mission to improve the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people”. If you want to learn how to you can help, I have posted a link below.
Have you read this book, what did you think? Or have you read any other of Stacey Halls’ work? Let us know.
- Ellie
P.S. Thank you to PRH for letting me get my grubby little hands on this proof copy.
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