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The Foundling

By: Stacey Halls
Narrated by: Hattie Morahan, Laura Aikman
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Publisher's summary


From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars

Two women, bound by a child, and a secret that will change everything . . .

London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, Bess is astonished to be told she has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl - and why.

Less than a mile from Bess's 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. 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. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.

From the bestselling author of The Familiars comes this captivating story of mothers and daughters, class and power, and love against the greatest of odds . . .

'The new Hilary Mantel' Cosmopolitan

Another gripping, immersive, intelligent work of historical fiction from the bestselling author of The Familiars' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

'A gripping and moving read' Libby Page, bestselling author of The Lido

'Fantastic storytelling that grabbed me from the off' Good Housekeeping



*Sunday Times bestseller February and September 2020*

*Winner of Women's Prize for Fiction x Good Housekeeping Futures award - Good Housekeeping 14 Oct 2022*

©2020 Stacy Halls (P)2020 Bonnier Books UK
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What listeners say about The Foundling

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Outstanding narration of a brilliantly written book!

While every word Stacey uses is remarkably chosen and placed to tell a heart wrenching story, the narration captures emotion and the language of the era.
Phenomenal performance of all characters!

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Trivial

What a predictable story! It has all the features of a kitsch novel. The good but dirt poor Bess is reunited with her lost daughter, whereas the fake mother, rich but emotionally underdeveloped, looses the daughter which was really never hers. The two women work out a visiting schedule, both find new love and everybody is happy ever after. Contrived. As a non British listener, I found the Cockney parts of this audiobook difficult to understand.

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