The Lost Orphan

February 15, 2020
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.

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April 1, 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

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2020
With no means to care for her child, unmarried Bess Bright leaves her newborn daughter at London's Foundling Hospital in 1754. Vowing to buy her child back, Bess painstakingly saves for six years. When she finally has enough money, she is heartbroken to discover that her child has already been claimed, allegedly by herself. Bess sets out to discover who could have taken her child. Across London, Alexandra Callard, a wealthy widow who is afraid to go outside because of past trauma, is raising her daughter Charlotte in isolation. A friend recommends that Alexandra hire a nursemaid, and Eliza Smith soon starts. Eliza is Bess, who recognized her child after seeing her at a church service. As Bess grows closer to Charlotte, Alexandra begins to unravel, pushing Bess to act impetuously. Halls (The Familiars, 2019) tackles motherhood in all its forms with grace and insight. The strength of the novel is in the vivid details of Georgian London and the stark ways that all three of its women are lost because of the constraints society puts on them.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)