In this, the novel really shines, as it depicts each woman assuming agency over her own life. Connected by a man and a child, these two women overcome much to eventually work together towards a mutual solution to their problem. Within each woman’s perspective, the reader was invited to step into their lives, be it gilded or impecunious, and to experience what day to day living might have been like for an 18th century woman living in London. It’s a rather feminist story, which I appreciated greatly, and very atmospheric. The Foundling is a story of two women living lives as far removed from each other as possible. The midwife had handed her to me, slick and bloodied, only this morning, but the Earth had turned full circle, and things would never be the same.’ ‘My own daughter was inside, her fingers closing around thin air. The Foundling, like The Familiars before it, is historical fiction, but that’s where the similarities end. For those who have read The Familiars, expect something different with this one – and isn’t that one of the best examples of literary talent: the ability to write each book different, to not write to formula, or stick to what worked for you before. You can’t really make that call after one book, but now I’ve read her second and it’s as equally good as what her first was, so she can officially rank as a favourite now.

Stacey Halls just might be my favourite historical novelist now. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart. When her close friend – an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital – persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life.

Less than a mile from Bess’ lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl – and why.

Dreading the worst – that Clara has died in care – the last thing she expects to hear is that her daughter has already been reclaimed – by her. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. From the bestselling author of The Familiars, and set against the vibrant backdrop of Georgian London, The Foundling explores families, secrets, class, equality, power and the meaning of motherhood.

The Foundling by Stacey Halls