The Lost Orphan

 The Lost Orphan by Stacey Halls 288 pages

 In late November, 1754, Bess Bright has given birth to a daughter earlier that day. Bess lives with her father, Abe, and her brother, Ned. They live in the London slums selling shrimp to earn enough to not die.  The conditions the family lives in are deplorable. Less than twelve hours are giving birth, Bess is forced to give up her child, whom she has named Clara. The only saving grace is that Bess knows she can reclaim her daughter as long as she can pay for her room and board.

 

I think that scene should have come later. While I felt sorry for Bess, it was hard for me to generate a lot of empathy as I didn’t know Bess or about her life.  I believe it could have been a very powerful episode if it had been the second or third chapter.

 

But it wasn’t.  Chapter Three starts six years later. Bess has been saving to retrieve Clara from the Foundling Hospital.  When she has a pound saved, she makes her way to the hospital, only to learn that her child had been picked up the following day by someone pretending to be Bess. She is distraught over the loss of her child and cannot understand who took her child or how they were able to obtain the information needed to have access to the child.

 

Then the story switches narrators to Alexandra, a widow living with her daughter Charlotte and a few servants. She is afraid to go out of the house and in fact, hasn’t been out of the house in six years. Alexandra’s doctor convinces her to hire a nursemaid for Charlotte, which Alexandra reluctantly agree to do.

 

This is a very complicated plot line. I can’t say much more without spoiling the suspense. However, until the end of the novel, for me, there were a lot of questions, which were answered, but with information I felt could have been revealed earlier.

 

I found the beginning of Alexandra’s story rather slow for most of her first part, but when it did pickup, it was unputdownable! “The Lost Orphan” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.