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The Early Life of Walt Disney

Andrew Kiste

7.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Most biographies of Walt Disney portray him as a creative genius who revolutionized the...

SING to READ

Education and Music

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

“Educational, great fun and simply the best way to help adults and children understand the choices...

ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Foundling in Books

Jan 14, 2020

The Foundling

Stacey Halls | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry

9.0

(5 Ratings)

Book Rating

Gothic historical fiction - just my cup of tea!

The Foundling is set in Georgian London, and is packed full of secrets. No-one in it appears to be telling the truth.

Bess Bright, a hawker of shrimps on London’s streets, leaves her newborn, Clara, at the London Foundling Hospital with every intention of reclaiming her when she is older. When Bess does return having saved the money to pay for the care her daughter has received over the last six years, it’s to discover that Bess Bright has already claimed her baby the day after she left her. So someone has taken her daughter.

In a much wealthier part of London, a widow is persuaded by her doctor to take on a nursemaid for her daughter. The widow rarely leaves her home, and doesn’t let her daughter play outside. The child’s only time outside is the journey to church at the Foundling Hospital every Sunday. The new nursemaid, along with the doctor, convince the widow that she should allow the child some times outside to play, and some fresh air.

This is just the tip of the iceberg though. The widow is a complex, damaged character who tries to hide from her past - but as secrets have a habit of doing, hers catch up with her. The nursemaid is instrumental in this.

The descriptions in this book are all so vivid - I was transported into the contrasting world of Georgian London and those who lived in poverty living alongside (streets away from) those who lived with unmentionable amounts of money. The oppression in the widows household was overwhelming: claustrophobic, even.

I loved everything about this book - I loved the gothic, suspense-filled atmosphere, and spent a large part of the book with my heart in my mouth!

Another wonderful book by Stacey Halls, and one I’d highly recommend reading!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for the reading AND the listening experience (I loved the narrators on the audio book!), and Stacey Halls for reading along, too!

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Script for Scandal in Books

Jan 8, 2020

Will a Movie Script Revive a Scandal?

In 1936, a bank robbery took place in Los Angeles. While the robbers were killed, the money was never found, and rumors have circulated that there was someone else involved. Most suspect that the someone else was LAPD Detective Gene Morrow, the boyfriend of Lillian Frost. While the rumors have mostly died down, they are about to come out again in 1939 thanks to a new movie being filmed at Paramount. Costume designer Edith Head has seen the script, and she gets a copy to her friend Lillian so she and Gene can be prepared. Lillian is more concerned than Gene and actively tries to find out who the writer is claiming is his source for this movie. She hasn’t been looking for too long before someone turns up dead. Can Lillian and Edith figure out what happened back then and how it is impacting what is happening today?

I was so happy when this series found a new home because I enjoyed the first two books so much. This book is just as strong. The authors mix real people with the fictional characters so expertly I am sure I missed some of the cameos. Yet everyone comes across as real. I did think the plot was wandering a bit early on, but everything became an important part of the story before it was over. Not that I was complaining since I was hooked for most of the book and couldn’t wait to see how it would all turn out. Both Edith and Lillian are instrumental to solving the crime in the end. Meanwhile, there is a delightful subplot involving Lillian’s boss preparing for a job as an extra that leads to a hilarious scene. This book brings old Hollywood to life in every detail, and I enjoyed every minute spent in that world. This book will delight Edith and Lillian’s fans and win them new ones.