The Foundling - A Good Yarn

The Foundling, by Stacey Halls is set in mid 18th Century London where, six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at a Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to claim her ... only to be told that she has already claimed her baby almost immediately after leaving her there. Bess is determined to find out how this could happen, and where her daughter is. Cut to Alexandra, a young widow who barely leaves her home for fear of what might happen on the streets. She is persuaded by her friend, Dr Mead (who works at the Foundling Hospital), to employ a nursemaid to help care for her daughter, Charlotte. The new nursemaid seems to have an instant bond with the girl, something Alexandra struggles to comprehend as she is a strict and almost hands off type of mother. Of course, all is not what it seems and everyone's life is turned up side down when the truth and trauma begins to unravel. This is an emotionally charged historical novel with heartbreaking moments. The characters are well drawn, though I found it hard to warm to Alexandra for quite some time. Full of detail about the society of the time and the huge divide between the haves and the have nots, this will please the history buffs. While the story is interesting, it wasn't difficult to see where things were heading and I'm not entirely sure that the ending was completely satisfactory, but it was still a good yarn. I did enjoy the audio edition, which has two narrators - each representing the narrative as told by the two main characters.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 400 print pages.

Price I paid: £4.00.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Slow Horses - Masterful

Slow Horses by Mick Herron is the first in the "Slough House" spy series which centres on a drab outpost of the UK's Intelligence Service where disgraced spies are sent to push paper for the rest of their career. But when a boy is kidnapped and his beheading is threatened to be shown live on TV, something nags at them that this links to the work they've been assigned to rake through the bins of a right wing journalist and it sets them off on a breathless journey to save the boy and maybe their careers too! Leading the team is Jackson Lamb, a disgustingly rude and unhygienic man who seems to hate everyone and everything, but, remarkably, is protective of his people and will not play by the rules to do so. He also gets the best lines! His team includes River Cartwright, a young spy whose failure during a training exercise landed him at Slough House, but he is convinced that he was fed false information on purpose by a colleague who wanted him out of the way. He is incredibly motivated to show HQ that he really doesn't belong in Slough House, but his impetuosity threatens to land him in yet more trouble. Full of snappy dialogue, strong characters of all creeds, enough intrigue and dirty tricks to shake a stick at, and all mixed together with moments of breakneck action, this incredibly well written novel is an unputdownable thriller that will not disappoint. Even if you have seen the TV adaptation, I would urge you to read the book as it provides greater depth to each character. But be warned ... you may end up having some very late nights trying to reach a suitable place to pause for breath - as they are few and far between! I cannot wait to dive into the rest of the series.

My STAR rating: FIVE. 

Length: 328 print pages.

Price I paid: free, was a gift.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.