'The Foundling dragged me along in its narrative wake. With rich storytelling and a compelling narrative, The Foundling is subtle, satisfying and intensely moving a fabulous example of great historical fiction.' - Laura Carlin Stacey really has created warm and memorable characters, drawn with great sympathy and understanding, who deliver a taut and riveting read. The strands of tense and devastating maternal conflict are acutely observed and beautifully sustained throughout the book.

'Pacy, highly atmospheric and tantalisingly gripping from the very first page. 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 'A gripping tale of motherhood, loss, and redemption. Atmospheric, intelligent, accessible, every novel is worth reading, then reading again and again' KATE MOSSE Another gripping, immersive, intelligent work of historical fiction from the bestselling author of The Familiars ' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of THE MERCIES A moving, atmospheric chiller ' INDEPENDENT ' A breathtaking achievement' SUNDAY EXPRESS ' Enjoyable and atmospheric ' THE TIMES ' Historical drama at its very best ' MY WEEKLY ** MRS ENGLAND : the brand new novel from Stacey Halls is out now** *Sunday Times bestseller February and September 2020* *Winner of Women's Prize for Fiction x Good Housekeeping Futures award - Good Housekeeping * 'The new Hilary Mantel' COSMOPOLITAN 'Stacey Halls is a writer of great originality, great imagination and great sense of place. 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. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart. 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. 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.

Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl - and why. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, Bess is astonished to be told she has already claimed her. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. The captivating Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Familiars Two women, bound by a child, a nd a secret that will change everything.

The Foundling by Stacey Halls