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A Novel
by Stacey Halls
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...
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.
"Fantastic storytelling" - Good Housekeeping
"Vividly evoked." - Kirkus Reviews
"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
This information about The Lost Orphan was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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.
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