The Foundling

Don't miss Stacey Halls' incredible new novel THE HOUSEHOLD - available to buy now! The captivating Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Familiars. Two women, bound by a child, a nd a secret that will change everything . . . London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, Bess is astonished to be told she 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 lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend - an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital - persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart. 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 . . . 'The new Hilary Mantel' COSMOPOLITAN 'Stacey Halls is a writer of great originality, great imagination and great sense of place. Atmospheric, intelligent, accessible, every novel is worth reading, then reading again and again' KATE MOSSE Another gripping, immersive, intelligent work of historical fiction from the bestselling author of The Familiars ' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of THE MERCIES A moving, atmospheric chiller ' INDEPENDENT ' A breathtaking achievement' SUNDAY EXPRESS ' Enjoyable and atmospheric ' THE TIMES ' Historical drama at its very best ' MY WEEKLY ** THE HOUSEHOLD, the brand new novel from Stacey Halls, is available to pre-order now** *Sunday Times bestseller February and September 2020* *Winner of Women's Prize for Fiction x Good Housekeeping Futures award - Good Housekeeping 14 Oct 2022*

Don't miss Stacey Halls' incredible new novel THE HOUSEHOLD - available to buy now! The captivating Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Familiars. Two women, bound by a child, a nd a secret that will change everything . . . London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, Bess is astonished to be told she 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 lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend - an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital - persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart. 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 . . . 'The new Hilary Mantel' COSMOPOLITAN 'Stacey Halls is a writer of great originality, great imagination and great sense of place. Atmospheric, intelligent, accessible, every novel is worth reading, then reading again and again' KATE MOSSE Another gripping, immersive, intelligent work of historical fiction from the bestselling author of The Familiars ' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of THE MERCIES A moving, atmospheric chiller ' INDEPENDENT ' A breathtaking achievement' SUNDAY EXPRESS ' Enjoyable and atmospheric ' THE TIMES ' Historical drama at its very best ' MY WEEKLY ** THE HOUSEHOLD, the brand new novel from Stacey Halls, is available to pre-order now** *Sunday Times bestseller February and September 2020* *Winner of Women's Prize for Fiction x Good Housekeeping Futures award - Good Housekeeping 14 Oct 2022*

If you love Bridgerton, you'll love Georgette Heyer! 'The greatest writer who ever lived' ANTONIA FRASER 'A rollicking good read that will be of particular joy to Bridgerton viewers ... the permanent glister of scandal [...] ties the whole thing together' INDEPENDENT 'My generation's Julia Quinn' ADJOA ANDOH, star of Bridgerton __________________________ Gilly Ware, the shy young Duke of Sale, has never known his parents. Instead, he has endured twenty-four years of pampering and pandering from his uncle and valet, which he accepts without quarrel. But his natural diffidence conceals a rebellious spirit, and when Gilly hears of Belinda, the beautiful foundling who appears to be blackmailing his cousin, he absconds with glee. Yet no sooner has he entered this new and dangerous world than he is plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnap and adventure . . . __________________________ 'One of my perennial comfort authors. Heyer's books are as incisively witty and quietly subversive as any of Jane Austen's' JOANNE HARRIS 'Elegant, witty and rapturously romantic' KATIE FFORDE 'Utterly delightful' GUARDIAN ' Absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes. . . Utter, immersive escapism' SOPHIE KINSELLA 'Georgette Heyer's Regency romances brim with elegance, wit and historical accuracy, and this is one of her finest and most entertaining ... Escapism of the highest order' DAILY MAIL 'If you haven't read Georgette Heyer yet, what a treat you have in store!' HARRIET EVANS 'Georgette Heyer is unbeatable.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH __________________________ Readers love The Foundling ... ***** 'What a delight. Loved this one from start to finish, often reading with a smile.' ***** 'The Foundling is a fast paced, witty, humorous, well written book that I enjoyed very much.' ***** 'Every time I read this book I love it more.' ***** 'I love this book for the humor and the characters, and I highly recommend it.' ***** 'I'm a big Heyer fan and this one lives up to all expectations.'

If you love Bridgerton, you'll love Georgette Heyer! 'The greatest writer who ever lived' ANTONIA FRASER 'A rollicking good read that will be of particular joy to Bridgerton viewers ... the permanent glister of scandal [...] ties the whole thing together' INDEPENDENT 'My generation's Julia Quinn' ADJOA ANDOH, star of Bridgerton __________________________ Gilly Ware, the shy young Duke of Sale, has never known his parents. Instead, he has endured twenty-four years of pampering and pandering from his uncle and valet, which he accepts without quarrel. But his natural diffidence conceals a rebellious spirit, and when Gilly hears of Belinda, the beautiful foundling who appears to be blackmailing his cousin, he absconds with glee. Yet no sooner has he entered this new and dangerous world than he is plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnap and adventure . . . __________________________ 'One of my perennial comfort authors. Heyer's books are as incisively witty and quietly subversive as any of Jane Austen's' JOANNE HARRIS 'Elegant, witty and rapturously romantic' KATIE FFORDE 'Utterly delightful' GUARDIAN ' Absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes. . . Utter, immersive escapism' SOPHIE KINSELLA 'Georgette Heyer's Regency romances brim with elegance, wit and historical accuracy, and this is one of her finest and most entertaining ... Escapism of the highest order' DAILY MAIL 'If you haven't read Georgette Heyer yet, what a treat you have in store!' HARRIET EVANS 'Georgette Heyer is unbeatable.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH __________________________ Readers love The Foundling ... ***** 'What a delight. Loved this one from start to finish, often reading with a smile.' ***** 'The Foundling is a fast paced, witty, humorous, well written book that I enjoyed very much.' ***** 'Every time I read this book I love it more.' ***** 'I love this book for the humor and the characters, and I highly recommend it.' ***** 'I'm a big Heyer fan and this one lives up to all expectations.'

This is the inspiring and "page-turning" (Booklist) true story of a man who discovered that he had been kidnapped as a baby-and how his quest to find out who he really is upturned the genealogy industry, his own family, and set in motion the second longest cold case in US history. In 1964, a woman pretending to be a nurse kidnapped an infant boy named Paul Fronczak from a Chicago hospital. Two years later, police found a boy abandoned outside a variety store in New Jersey. The FBI tracked down Dora Fronczak, the kidnapped infant's mother, and she identified the abandoned boy as her son. The family spent the next fifty years believing they were whole again-but Paul was always unsure about his true identity. Then, four years ago-spurred on by the birth of his first child, Emma Faith-Paul took a DNA test. The test revealed that he was definitely not Paul Fronczak. From that moment on, Paul has been on a tireless mission to find the man whose life he's been living-and to discover who abandoned him, and why. Poignant and inspiring, The Foundling is a story about a child lost and a faith found, about the permanence of families and the bloodlines that define you, and about the emotional toll of both losing your identity and rediscovering who you truly are.

This is the inspiring and "page-turning" (Booklist) true story of a man who discovered that he had been kidnapped as a baby-and how his quest to find out who he really is upturned the genealogy industry, his own family, and set in motion the second longest cold case in US history. In 1964, a woman pretending to be a nurse kidnapped an infant boy named Paul Fronczak from a Chicago hospital. Two years later, police found a boy abandoned outside a variety store in New Jersey. The FBI tracked down Dora Fronczak, the kidnapped infant's mother, and she identified the abandoned boy as her son. The family spent the next fifty years believing they were whole again-but Paul was always unsure about his true identity. Then, four years ago-spurred on by the birth of his first child, Emma Faith-Paul took a DNA test. The test revealed that he was definitely not Paul Fronczak. From that moment on, Paul has been on a tireless mission to find the man whose life he's been living-and to discover who abandoned him, and why. Poignant and inspiring, The Foundling is a story about a child lost and a faith found, about the permanence of families and the bloodlines that define you, and about the emotional toll of both losing your identity and rediscovering who you truly are.