I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. Though this was not one of my favorite books of the year I did enjoy it.

This is a well-written memoir about Dorothy Soames's childhood being a ward at the Corham Hospital for Foundlings told by her daughter, Justine. I found it fascinating and heartwrenching as I read about the awful way the children were treated. There was a lot of research done in writing this book and it shows in the way it was presented to the reader. The book also mentions the repercussions of isolating children which Justine saw first-hand living with a mother that was not very nurturing. I really wish that Justine would have found information about the time when Dorothy was reunited with her mother and how she came to America. That would have been excellent reading. I would highly recommend this book to readers that love a good memoir!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This is painful and beautiful and full of hurt and anguish and the search for the truth. Justin Cowan has taken this personal story and opened her life and her mother's life to others so that maybe something good can come from her tragic tale.

Heartbreaking and powerful writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book. Thank you to Justin Cowan for opening her life up for everyone to read.

This memoir of an author's discovery of her mother's well hidden childhood was heartbreaking and fascinating. Justine Cowan learned, after her mother's death, about the incredibly difficult experience her mother had as a child growing up in one of Britain's most storied and long running orphanages. Incorporated into the story is a lot of history about the roles of this kind of facility on society as well as children, and reading about the historical treatment of children there was at times quite hard. My grandmother was born within a few years of Justine's mother, and reading a story like this makes me extremely grateful that she was able to be adopted by loving parents. Justine's research into her mother's life gives her context for the way she was treated as a child and who her mother became.

The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames
A Memoir
by Justine Cowan
Harper
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 12 Jan 2021 | Archive Date 09 Mar 2021

I did not enjoy reading this book. There was too much information about mental illness which I feel could have been made into a narrative. Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for the ARC. I will not be recommending this one to our patrons.
2 star

I had high hopes for this book. Until I got to chapter 5, Bastards. The book is weighed down by this dense chapter about the history of the Foundling Hospital in London. This information could have been worked into the narrative instead of taking an entire chapter. I did not finish this book.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

Justine had always been told that her mother came from royal blood. The proof could be found in her mother’s elegance, her uppercrust London accent—and in a cryptic letter hinting at her claim to a country estate. But beneath the polished veneer lay a fearsome, unpredictable temper that drove Justine from home the moment she was old enough to escape.

This was not my cup of tea.
I like the premise of this book. But it just wasn't my thing.
I found it to be a little hard to keep up with.
Just want my type of genre.

Overall..... Didn't do it for me.

This was not a book for me. There was way too much extraneous information about mental illness for my liking.