The Foundling, Ann Leary
The Foundling, Ann Leary
7 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
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The Foundling

Author: Ann Leary

Narrator: Laura Benanti

Unabridged: 12 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/31/2022


Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Good House, the “harrowing, gripping, and beautiful” (Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author) story of two friends, raised in the same orphanage, whose loyalty is put to the ultimate test when they meet years later at an institution—based on a shocking and little-known piece of American history.

It’s 1927 and eighteen-year-old Mary Engle is hired to work as a secretary at a remote but scenic institution for mentally disabled women called the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age. She’s immediately in awe of her employer—brilliant, genteel Dr. Agnes Vogel.

Dr. Vogel had been the only woman in her class in medical school. As a young psychiatrist she was an outspoken crusader for women’s suffrage. Now, at age forty, Dr. Vogel runs one of the largest and most self-sufficient public asylums for women in the country. Mary deeply admires how dedicated the doctor is to the poor and vulnerable women under her care.

Soon after she’s hired, Mary learns that a girl from her childhood orphanage is one of the inmates. Mary remembers Lillian as a beautiful free spirit with a sometimes-tempestuous side. Could she be mentally disabled? When Lillian begs Mary to help her escape, alleging the asylum is not what it seems, Mary is faced with a terrible choice. Should she trust her troubled friend with whom she shares a dark childhood secret? Mary’s decision triggers a hair-raising sequence of events with life-altering consequences for all.

Inspired by a true story about the author’s grandmother, The Foundling is compelling, unsettling, and “a stunning reminder that not much time has passed since everyone claimed to know what was best for a woman—everyone except the woman herself” (Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author).

About Ann Leary

Ann Leary is the New York Times bestselling author of a memoir and four novels including The Good House. Her work has been translated into eighteen languages, and she has written for The New York Times, Ploughshares, NPR, Redbook, and Real Simple, among other publications. Her essay, “Rallying to Keep the Game Alive,” was adapted for Prime Video’s television series, Modern Love. Her novel The Good House was adapted as a motion picture starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline. She lives with her husband in New York. Visit her online at AnnLeary.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ on January 21, 2021

Maybe one of the lesser lights in the universe of Georgette Heyer novels, but I still found it charming! Gilly is a 24 year old duke, orphaned at a young age. Raised by his concerned but overbearing uncle and a slew of devoted servants, he’s been coddled and ordered around all his life. Gilly is a k......more

Goodreads review by Anne on February 06, 2016

4.75 stars, just short of being a top favourite! Dear friends, readers, and fellow Georgette Heyer lovers, I am really, really surprised at the low popularity of The Foundling amongst the Heyerites. I don't recall anybody ever featuring this wonderful gem of a book in their top favourite Heyer reads.......more

Goodreads review by Jacob on October 02, 2021

This one is kind of a mess. Seeing Gilly come into his own was enjoyable enough, but the romance is thin and the plot scattered. And the first quarter or so, where it's mostly Gilly being bullied by literally everybody around him frustrated me no-end. The pompous uncle who demands that he start havi......more

Goodreads review by Marta on June 10, 2019

Esperaba leer una historia romántica, sin embargo, me he encontrado con una comedia de enredos al más puro estilo shakesperiano, pero ambientada en la época de la Regencia. Tenemos un caballero andante, una hermosa doncella boba, un pícaro bribón, y un astuto maleante. Un cóctel explosivo que asegur......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on June 18, 2019

Okay, I'm PRETTY sure I read this back in the day, about 15 or more years ago, when my sister and I first discovered Heyer and went on a binge. I remember Gilly, the Duke of Sale, and the title of the book. But the HILARITY of it all either faded far too soon, or . . . I don't know what! Far and awa......more


Quotes

"Benanti provides authentic voices for the large cast, including the staff and inmates of the facility, as well as residents of the rural Pennsylvania community in which it is located. She captures the refined yet adamant tone of Dr. Vogel and portrays the attitudes of others who promote the segregation of women from poor backgrounds whose views and experiences with race, sexuality, and/or marriage conflict with the social norms of that time. Benanti gives a vibrant depiction of a sad chapter in American history."