The Lost Orphan: A Novel

by Stacey Halls

Overview

A Sunday Times bestseller!

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

London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate newborn at the Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the daughter she has never known. Dreading the worst, that she has died in care, she is astonished to discover someone pretending to be Bess 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 poor lodgings, in a quiet Georgian townhouse, lives Alexandra, a reclusive young widow. When her close friend—an ambitious doctor at the orphanage—persuades her to hire a nursemaid to help care for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.

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

“A gripping tale of motherhood, loss, and redemption. Hall’s distinctive characters and scrupulous historical detail drop us into a rich, Dickensian world full of desperation and lies, and shows us just how far a mother will go to hold onto her child.” —Serena Burdick, International bestselling author of The Girls with No Names

“The new Hilary Mantel!”—Cosmopolitan

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781488055324
Publisher:	MIRA Books
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	304,553
File size:	583 KB

About the Author

Stacey Halls was born in 1989 and grew up in Lancashire, England. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and has worked as a journalist since the age of 21, writing for publications including The Independent, Fabulous magazine, Stylist and Psychologies. She lives in London with her husband. The Familiars is her first novel. 

Editorial Reviews

"Vividly evoked."—Kirkus Reviews

"Halls tackles motherhood in all its forms with grace and insight."—Booklist

“Halls’s mysterious tale is full of intrigue. The characters are quirky, and their personalities will keep readers invested. The Georgian setting also plays a huge role, as does the formidable hospital. This is a page-turner with a satisfying and harmonious ending.” –Library Journal

"A gripping tale of motherhood, loss, and redemption. Hall’s distinctive characters and scrupulous historical detail drop us into a rich, Dickensian world full of desperation and lies, and shows us just how far a mother will go to hold onto her child."
–Serena Burdick, International bestselling author of The Girl With No Names

“Fantastic storytelling.”—Good Housekeeping

“I was completely swept up in this novel. Crammed with engaging characters, it possesses a beautiful sense of place, revealing hidden aspects of Georgian life. The central mystery of a missing child gradually plays out as a tenderly observed study of grief and loss, while offering the possibility that love will indeed find a way.” —Amanda Mason, author of The Wayward Girls

“A masterpiece of storytelling – a perfect, captivating mystery that expands to ask big questions about love and motherhood, all the while maintaining the breathless pace of a thriller, and the stunningly vivid and well-researched detail of the very best historical fiction. I can't recommend it highly enough.” — Katie Lowe, author of The Furies


"Pacey, highly atmospheric… With rich storytelling and a compelling narrative, The Lost Orphan is subtle, satisfying and intensely moving; a fabulous example of great historical fiction.” — Laura Carlin, author of The Wicked Cometh

“Stacey Hall's beautiful writing draws a compelling tale of love and hope from the vivid streets of Georgian London.” —Sonia Velton, author of Blackberry & Wild Rose

"If you loved The Familiars, then you won't be disappointed by The Lost Orphan. A gripping and moving read.” —Libby Page, bestselling author of The Lido

“Another gripping, immersive, intelligent work of historical fiction from the bestselling author of The Familiars.”—Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

PRAISE FOR STACEY HALL'S THE FAMILIARS

"The new Hilary Mantel!" —Cosmopolitan

"An intricate and sensitive portrayal of a brave, tenacious young girl carving her place in the world. A must-read novel."—Heather Morris, NYT #1 bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

"Assured and alluring, this beautiful tale of women, witchcraft and the fight against power is a delight."—Jessie Burton, NYT bestselling author of The Miniaturist

"A rich and atmospheric reimagining of an historical period rife with superstitions, misogyny and fear....Now with so many high profile men claiming to be victims of a witch hunt, it's good to understand what a real one feels like."—New York Times Book Review

"Set against the furor leading up to the Pendle Witch Trials, Halls's winning novel is a quietly powerful and richly evocative tale."— Publishers Weekly

"The lives of two young women intersect in a novel that imagines the story behind a famous 17th century witch trial ...when acting in socially inappropriate ways could get one condemned to hanging."—Kirkus Reviews

"Rich with intrigue and filled with details of the constraints faced by seventeenth-century women, both well born and common, The Familiars offers a look into the real-life world of the notorious Pendle witch trials that ended with eleven executions." —Booklist

"A mesmerizing historical novel that deftly plumbs a darkly textured tapestry of so-called justice to reveal the real crimes being carried out against society." –Seattle Review of Books

"Enthralling, spellbinding, terrifying, full of twists and turns, written with heart and soul." —Kate Williams, author of The Storms of War

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

Bess, an unwed woman in 1754 London, finds herself pregnant. Barely able to get by working as a shrimp hocker, she feels the only thing to do is give up her daughter to the Foundling Hospital, a home for unwanted children. Bess promises herself she'll be back to claim her daughter, and she does return six years later, to find that her daughter has already been claimed. Just a short distance away, Eliza is hired as the nursemaid to a young girl, Charlotte, at the request of a doctor who works for the Foundling Hospital. Charlotte's mother is a widow and has not left the house in a decade. As Charlotte and Eliza become fast friends, Eliza begins to unravel her employer's long-kept family secrets and is faced with a decision that will significantly alter her and Charlotte's worlds. VERDICT Halls's (The Familiars) mysterious tale is full of intrigue. The characters are quirky, and their personalities will keep readers invested. The Georgian setting also plays a huge role, as does the formidable hospital. This is a page-turner with a satisfying and harmonious ending.—Kristen Calvert, Dallas P.L., TX

Library Journal

2020-01-26
In 1740s London, a mother attempting to retrieve her child must first unsnarl a mystery—and so must readers.

Halls’ (The Familiars, 2019) two adult protagonists, whose stories alternate in long sections, are Bess Bright, a working-class London shrimp vendor, and Alexandra Callard, the wealthy widow of whalebone merchant Daniel. Like many impoverished Londoners, Bess cannot afford to raise her child, Clara, whom she delivers as a newborn to the Foundling Hospital. Six years later, after painstakingly accumulating the fee for Clara’s release, Bess is told that Clara was reclaimed the day after her admission—by Bess herself. Unpicking this conundrum will be the book’s major focus, to its detriment. As Bess continues her quest at the hospital, with the help of its sympathetic physician, Dr. Mead, she encounters Mrs. Callard and her child, Charlotte, on what will prove to be one of their rare outings. On a hunch that has everything to do with the brief assignation—with Daniel Callard—that impregnated her, Bess assumes that Charlotte is Clara. Cut to Alexandra, who is raising Charlotte as her own. Though she's a first-person narrator, Alexandra withholds information on several key issues, particularly how she came by Charlotte and exactly how much she knows of Charlotte’s parentage. Why is Alexandra housebound by choice? And obsessed with locks and maps? When Bess, calling herself Eliza Smith, wangles a position as Charlotte’s nursemaid, it is unclear why Dr. Mead, Alexandra’s only friend besides her sister, Ambrosia, recommends “Eliza” for the job when he knows her real name. The puzzle-box plot distracts readers from the far more compelling enigmas that have made “lost orphans” of all three main characters. A notable strength of the novel is the depiction of the entrenched social injustice that affords slum-dwellers like Bess so few options. Various mid-18th-century subsistence occupations are vividly evoked, including Bess’ workdays doling out boiled shrimp from her hat and “linkboys,” who guide people through London’s unlit streets at night.

Character motivation is the main puzzle here.

Kirkus Reviews