{"id":1600351,"date":"2020-07-20T23:27:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T03:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/?p=1600351"},"modified":"2020-07-20T23:27:23","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T03:27:23","slug":"divine-reads-the-lost-orphan-by-stacey-halls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/divine-reads-the-lost-orphan-by-stacey-halls\/","title":{"rendered":"DIVINE Reads: The Lost Orphan by Stacey Halls"},"content":{"rendered":"

About the Book<\/h3>\n

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\u2014and why.<\/p>\n

Less than a mile from Bess\u2019s poor lodgings, in a quiet Georgian townhouse, lives Alexandra, a reclusive young widow. When her close friend\u2014an ambitious doctor at the orphanage\u2014persuades 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Review<\/h3>\n

The story is told from the perspectives<\/a> of two women: Bess, the single mother living in one of the poorest neighbourhoods \u00a0in London, and upper-class Alexandra.\u00a0 Bess makes her living selling shrimp for her father.\u00a0 Alexandra is whale bone merchant Daniel\u2019s widow.\u00a0 Single Bess gives birth to her daughter Clara and immediately takes her to the Foundling Hospital, giving her up, with every intention of reclaiming her.\u00a0 Her story is initially the more interesting of the two women.\u00a0 A life fraught with poverty and tragedy is always more interesting than Alexandra\u2019s seemingly closed off life.<\/p>\n

When the book switches to Alexandra\u2019s perspective, it becomes less interesting at first. She only leaves her house once a week to go to church, and she only allows her six-year old daughter to leave with her.\u00a0 As the chapters build, you begin to wonder why she refuses to leave her house and why she is so strangely awkward around her daughter when \u201cEliza Smith\u201d is able to connect so quickly with her.\u00a0 Alexandra becomes more and more interesting as the book moves on and as her secrets are slowly revealed.<\/p>\n

The book is definitely one where there is an emotional connection between two women, but it is not typical in any way.\u00a0 The story of the disparity between the upper and lower class makes it a very compelling read.\u00a0 Stacey Halls writing is so interesting.\u00a0 The story is very much entrenched in 17th<\/sup> century England, but the writing and language almost keeps a modern tone.\u00a0 It is a good book for someone who wants to begin reading historical fiction, but finds Old English off-putting.\u00a0 She also was able to keep the story suspenseful from start to finish while providing the reader with the motivation of each character.\u00a0 Bess\u2019s motivation was obvious from page one, the interest came from understanding what Alexandra\u2019s motivations were.<\/p>\n

The Lost Orphan<\/a> is a must read for lovers of historical fiction who like the dichotomy of a character worth rooting for, and one that you grow, begrudgingly, to root for too.<\/p>\n

Favourite Line From the Book<\/h3>\n

This line showcases Bess\u2019s perspective on Alexandra\u2019s cold relationship with her daughter Charlotte and was the beginning of understanding Alexandra\u2019s motivation:<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him of Alexandra Callard and how she stroked the pictures of her dead parents but could not touch her daughter.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About the Book 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,…<\/div>\n
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