Lily: A Tale of Revenge from the Sunday Times bestselling author

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In London, in the winter of 1850, baby Lily Mortimer is found abandoned at the gates of a park by a young police constable, who takes her to the London Foundling Hospital. Another engrossing and memorable novel by Rose Tremain, Lily is the story of an abandoned Coram Foundling Hospital baby who is fostered by a loving farming family in Suffolk until she is six years old. This is a mystery/historical fiction book with a beautiful cover that sounded so good to me, I read the blurb and I was desperate to read it and I have to say I was disappointed. Many of her characters, including Lily, also seem to be in a state of exile – enforced, or self-imposed. To calculate the overall star rating and pe

Her story is told in alternating chapters by young Lily as she grows up, and Lily after she leaves the London Foundling Hospital to face the world. That treatment is in stark contrast to the affection Lily experiences from her foster family, Nellie and Perkin Buck and their three sons, on their farm in Suffolk. I don’t think many books have managed to emotionally connect with me as a reader as much as Lily did.Tremain’s natural curiosity and love of travel seem directly channelled into her fictional narratives. But if it really was a murder, he thinks there will be a confession … In his work, so he tells me, you would be surprised at how often a murderer confesses. She excelled herself in mendacity and cruelty, and, as a punishment for a deed she knew Lily had not committed because Maud had committed it herself, brutally and painfully violated the nine-year old.

It IS definitely of that genre, but beautifully written, gripping and peopled by, for the type, recognisable characters. Had Lily taken over the wig emporium, built her own business, or made a roaring success of herself in America, there would at least be the lesson that adversity can lead to opportunity and progress. The circumstances of the crime are only revealed towards the end of the book, posing the question whether a crime of this nature can ever be justified even if its motivation is to save others. It’s this spirit which makes the reader root for her to make something of herself, but frustratingly, this never quite happens. In places it reminded me much more of Sarah Waters’s novels such as Affinity and Fingersmith than of anything about else I’ve read about Coram hospital.You can unsubscribe from our list at any point by changing your preferences, or contacting us directly. My interest in Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital - which opened in 1741 and was operational in some form until the 1950s - began as a student, when I spent three years living a couple of blocks from the site. Her employer, Belle Prettywood, admired her skill and was very good to her, and there is a good deal about the warm relationship between them.

All of our books are 100% brand new, unread and purchased directly from the publishers in bulk allowing us to pass the huge savings on to you! In 1850 she had been abandoned at birth, had been found by PC Sam Trench, who had taken her to Coram’s Foundling Hospital. Lily's story is a winter's tale: a cosy pageturner that will whisk you away from the 21st century while engaging and sharpening your mind.It’s an emotional read, for sure, and indeed I was moved on occasion by the harshness with which Lily is treated, but perhaps the cruelty is taken just one step too far. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.