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ClareR (6157 KP) rated The Foundling in Books

Jan 14, 2020  
The Foundling
The Foundling
Stacey Halls | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.8 (4 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!
  
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The Black Midnight (True Crime #7)
The Black Midnight (True Crime #7)
Kathleen Y'Barbo | 2020 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
If you are a history lover and enjoy England, you will enjoy this book. Well, you will get a bit of a tour of London. Though we start in Austin, Texas. We are introduced to every strong Pinkerton detective and her partner. We seem to have unsolved murders in Texas. But our detectives seem to be quite busy otherwise while chasing down a killer.

Will Annie and her partner Isaiah solve the murders in Austin and London? Will they find the killer that is killing women in their beds in Austin and the connection with the killing in London? The queen seems to want her great-granddaughter to look into them with her friend from Texas.

The pages will make you want to read until the last page. You will be on your toes and turning or sliding your pages up reading until the end. Is the killer Jack the Ripper, or is it someone else? You will be trying to guess and figure out along with the Pinkerton detectives in their investigations.

I felt like I was investigating along with them trying to find the killer of the mysterious deaths. You do get pulled into experience the London along the way. Who or What is the Black Midnight? Is the Midnight Assassin the same person as The Black Midnight or Jack the Ripper?

All fans of historical fiction and crime will love this book and the series. It had me wanting more. It is in does go into details about investigations but not a lot into the deaths of killings. This is good in that way. What does the Prince want with his daughter? Why is he trying to bring his daughter home? Who is Annie Walters? Will she give herself away? What up with Cameron Blake and his reporting. Some entertaining story plots are going on. We go on as adventure with this one.