A really interesting and riveting book. It first intrigued me with its cover, so sparse and beautiful, and even though the plot isn't one I typically go for (historical), I gave it a chance. And I wasn't disappointed. The story, told from several different perspectives and in different times, revolves around Mary Finn, a young girl who is sent away by her stepmother to work in a tavern but who then makes her own way to working as a maid in London, and James Nelligan, an orphan living at the Foundling Hospital in London. "This leads to that," Mary remarks, quoting her deceased mother, and she describes how she fell in love with a young man and got into a bit of trouble. James, having spent six idyllic years in the country with the Peeveys, now must return to the Foundling Hospital to be educated and made a productive member of society. Along with these characters narrations, we also get the perspective of Oliver Chester, a former foundling and now History Master at the Hospital, and Eliza Pigeon, the other maid in the house where Mary works. These characters' stories interweave in such an intricate way that, while the twist near the end isn't entirely unexpected, readers might be surprised by the turns their lives take over the course of the years. And yes, the main twist was fairly obvious (you might even be able to guess it now), but there is another, smaller twist at the very end which took me very much by surprise, even though a few small hints had been laid down for several chapters.
All in all, this was a brilliant book, especially for anyone interested in the history of Victorian London, but the every day history and not the grand royal kind. It was also remarkable to learn that some of the novel's contents are based in reality (there really was a Foundling Hospital created by Thomas Coram), especially how her own personal history played into the creation of Jocelyn's story.
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