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The Foundling

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Reminiscent of The Orphan Train, this fictional story is rooted in fact and in some of the author's family history. Mary Engle gets a job as a secretary at a home for feebleminded women of childbearing age. When she recognizes someone from her childhood, she begins to question the foundation of the work the home alleges to be doing. Making friends with an investigative reporter moves the story along.

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Inspired by a true story, Ann Leary writes an extremely well-written tale with fascinating characters. Young Mary Engle is hired to work at the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age, in rural Pennsylvania. It's the 1920s and women can be admitted for any number of reasons, under the guise of "feeblemindedness". Here, Mary is amazed by her employer, the director of the institution and an outspoken crusader for woman's suffrage. And here too, Mary is reunited with a childhood friend, Lillian, who has been admitted as a patient and who seeks Mary's help. Mary is a smart girl and begins to question her surroundings. In doing so, she must make a decision on whether to help her friend and risk being exposed or continue on as the director's well-paid assistant with a promising college education ahead of her. What would you do for a friend?

I highly recommend. Please add to your TBR list. Expected publication date is May 31.

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

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I’m all about stories set in asylums. Granted, most of the time the stories are darker, of a more horrific or thrillerific manner, but most will do. Because no matter the direction the author chooses, the setting is simply much too dark to loan itself to lightheartedness. And I like dark tales.
This one to be fair is somewhat on the lighter side tonally, if only because of the sort of book it is…which is a work of historical literature with a distinct women’s fiction angle. There are so many books like this out there right now. It’s popular and it sells and everyone’s doing it, but in this instance, for the author it was personal. Specifically, inspired by a biographical fact she found out about her late grandmother, who as a young women worked an at institution just like the one featured in the book.
An institution so terrifying, so oppressive, you just know it had to be real. A place for women of child-bearing age deemed mentally unfit for society. The child-bearing aspect is important, because that presupposes the duration of stays, sometimes decades. It’s also directly to do with the ever so popular at the time and ever so reviled since field of eugenics…a fascinating science that has the absolute worse connotations because it was so consistently and staunchly practiced and believed in by the wrong people.
I mean, Margaret Sanger was a fan. Which of course means, that modern day PC police ought to discredit all her good work for women’s rights, etc. But yeah, Sanger believed that women who are imbeciles (word of the time) should be prevented from reproducing. So did the person in charge of the institution that the author’s grandmother had once worked for and so did her fictional counterpart Vogel who operates the place in the book.
They made it sound good on paper, attracting generous donors and support, but in reality, it was a place of nightmarish abuse of power.
For a young woman of barely eighteen, it was a dream job that slowly turned into a nightmare.
So, in theory the bubbly girly tone of the book can be excused by the youth of its narrator and we do get the entire story from her perspective…as her wild-eyed inexperienced naïveté gives way to the dawning awareness of the evil of the woman for whom she works, the evil of the institution she works for.
But the thing is there’s enough here to offset the youngness of the perspective as it were. The darkness of it, certainly, made all the more terrifying by the fact that it’s based in reality. These places existed, these beliefs existed. And you can’t even be comforted by the fact that it was oh so long ago, just think of how recently the Magdalene Sisters were still going in Ireland.
The most interesting aspect of this novel for me was the dynamic between Mary and Vogel. The way it devolves from respect and admiration into loathing. Vogel is a cleverly crafted character, she’s intelligent, educated, a woman in a position of power at the time when there was none to be had and she is all too willing to give Mary the world if only to recreate her in her own image, as a protégé, a daughter she never had – a gift irresistible to a young girl who’s never had a mother and was raised in a Catholic orphanage. That, combined with Mary’s general inexperience of the world, makes it so difficult for her to see Vogel as the amoral beast that she is.
It reminded me of a fascinating documentary about The Fuhrer’s secretary. A woman lived to a very old age and got to tell her story and in it, one of the worst men ever, the very personification of evil, is seen through the eyes of a young woman in his employ as a perfectly decent boss and a reasonable person. It’s such a striking reminder that people have different aspects and angles to them and can present differently on a micro and macro scale. That evil can hide beneath the most placid waters and masquerade as many things to many people.
Anyway, so yeah, that’s what made the book for me and tipped it more toward historical fiction then women’s fiction. Made it into an interesting and compelling read. Thanks Netgalley.

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Reading the description of The Foundling by Ann Leary I was intrigued. The historical fiction combined with the eugenics information was very interesting, but alarming as many of us had mother's and grandmother's living during this time. Despite my interest in the subject of the book, I was disappointed at how slowly the story developed. It did redeem itself in the end, but by that time I was just trying to finish.
The author's voice was clear and the historical information was interesting, however, it was difficult sustain my long term attention.

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This book is a compelling story that, while fictional, discusses the type of treatment that occurred in the US (and other places I’m sure) surrounding women seen as “undesirable.” The protagonist, Mary Engle, transforms from a naive young girl to a more worldly and aware woman as the story progresses. This book forces us to think about the lenses that people can use to distort the facts to their own agendas, which unfortunately has happened in our country’s past and present. Without wanting to spoil it, I overall liked the resolution of the book and have thought about this book long after I was done reading it!

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The Foundling by Ann Leary will not be available until May 2022, but I was lucky enough to get an advance copy from the wonderful Netgalley. First, a quick synopsis.

Back in the 20's a hospital or "home" called the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age exists for women who have been deemed "feebleminded" for whatever reason. Some do need help, but some are classified this way for other reasons that seemed to be "the norm" back then. I won't go into the whole thing, because that's part of the journey with the story. However, suffice to say, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania thought it was doing society a favor by keeping this women from reproducing other humans that would cause havoc later. Hence, they kept them locked away during those childbearing years.

The story really involves Mary who gets a job with the head of the institution, Dr. Vogel. Mary finally feels, after a life of being in an orphanage and then with some unloving relatives, that she has finally made it and on her way to becoming someone important. However, after working for awhile for Dr. Vogel, she recognizes someone from her time in the orphanage and has no idea why she would be in any facility with "feebleminded" in the title. What follows is an investigation into why this girl would be here and what can be done about her circumstances. Can Mary help her? Will Mary's perceptions of the institution, its work and Dr. Vogel shift? What about Mary's future?

My two cents: I really loved this story. I have said before and I'll say it again, I LOVE stories that make me look more into a topic, place or issue. This was based on the author's grandmother's experience in a real institution that really did exist for this reason. It's hard to imagine this now, but it's important to know these things happened. From what happened to Mary to the other girls in the story to imagining that this kind of place really ran and operated for a long time kept me engrossed from beginning to end. I really think this is something that should be known and while it's educational, it was also a wonderful story where I felt very invested in the characters. Pick it up when it comes out May 2022. You won't be disappointed.

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Thoroughly enjoyed “The Foundling” by Ann Leary. An extremely interesting and well written novel that incorporates the practice of Eugenics in the early 20th century. Ms. Leary’s characters are well developed and the storyline is engaging. Highly recommend.

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I’ve enjoyed all of Ann Leary’s books and was fortunate enough to host her at our library a few years ago, so I was beyond excited to see that she had written a work of historical fiction and even more excited to have received an advanced copy.

In 1927, Mary Engle, raised in an orphanage, was thrilled to be offered a job as a secretary at the Nettleton State Village for Feebleninded Women of Childbearing Age. Like most people, Mary is under the impression that all the women there are in fact mentally impaired and that attending this institution is their best option. These impressions change when Mary sees that one of the patients is a very able-minded friend who grew up in the orphanage with her. From that point on, she begins to see that things are not exactly right and that the village’s director does not necessarily have the women’s best intentions in mind, but nefarious ulterior motives for running the facility.

Leary’s writing is always stellar and this was no exception. This is her first delve into this genre based on some genealogical research she has done on her own family, which is fascinating. The story moves along quickly and flawlessly and readers will be captivated by Mary, who is at first very naive but quickly learns that things are not right and only she has the power to change this. Her character is strong and lovable. The ending is powerful and very satisfying with an unexpected twist, making this another 5 star book for Ann Leary.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Scribner/Marysue Rucci and Ann Leary for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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This historical fiction novel highlights the injustice done to women in the 1920s when it came to reproductive rights. Women could be deemed "unfit" for child bearing for simply doing something that their husbands didn't like. The main character Mary, starts off being very naive about this home for "feeble minded" girls/women. She gets a job there and is hopeful for a new start in a new place. There, she meets someone from her past, with whom she had a hot/cold childhood relationship with. Mary ultimately has to decide who she can trust when the injustices starts to become clear. Does she have the courage to stand up for the voiceless?
This book stood out to me because I haven't read or seen many books about the eugenics movement in the United States. The reader really gets a sense of the type of life women had to live through in the 20s. The corruption, politics, and power struggles of modern day America are alive and well in this book. You will enjoy this book if you need a switch up from the usual wartime historical fiction books.

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I enjoy historical fiction set in this period and this was a particularly intriguing piece of history as it dealt with eugenics and the treatment of women at the hands of their husbands and society as a whole. I found some of the storyline to be a little gratuitous and wish that there was a bit more depth in some of the relationships and characters. Would a girl raised to be so strictly Catholic in that time period really have easily dated a Jewish man? There's a lot of fictionalization going on, but it does make for a good story apparently based on the author's own family history.

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This is a strangely compelling book, for being one without a tremendous amount of action. Ever read one of those books where you immediately know that you dislike one of the characters and that feeling keeps growing throughout the book? This was like that. By the end of the book I wanted to go and kill the doctor myself. Especially after the maid incident. (You'll have to read it to find out.)

I really took to a couple of the characters in this story, particularly Lillian. It is great when an author can make you feel a kinship with one of their characters, and even more impressive when it is multiple characters. I also enjoyed the historical setting, and thought it was brilliant that this was based on things that were happening in the past.

If you enjoy books with depth, the kind that make you stop and think, this would be an excellent choice.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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Here you meet a novel about a young girl named Mary that grew up in an orphanage/poverty that is given the chance to work at a mysterious institution for "the feebleminded" as a young adult. She is smart, able and likeable so she quickly finds herself in the company of the institutions leader - Dr.Vogel - quite often. However, as she spends more time there, she runs into a girl from her past and is thrown into the mystery of why this girl ended up there and the closeness to home. This novel was a delightful glimpse into an important story.

"but when one hates a Jew, one is never alone. A man will also find himself in good company hating a Negro, a prostitute, an imbecile, or a pauper... All people want is too feel worthy and that they belong"

This Quote is a perfect example why a book like this is important. It shows how women and minorities were mistreated because of certain views and the human nature to point fingers and blame others to be part of a collective group or view. In the past, there were practices,beliefs and institutions that continued on and prospered on the expense of others. I feel there is such an important lesson in this novel and there is a terrific story to be told here. I loved the setting and time period of this novel. There was a mysterious ambiance to Nettleton and it left me turning pages to get to the bottom of the "why." I also liked the family ties to the author and the character development that made the story easily likeable. My only criticism would be some hurried details towards the end with some backtracking fill in details. I think these areas had the room to be expanded upon. But, Ann Leary writes with an old-fashioned prose that makes the letters and interactions believable and transportive. I highly recommend this novel. It was a historical fiction mystery that stands out for its uniqueness.

I appreciate the opportunity to review this novel and will gladly attach my review near the publication date. Thank you very much. A very strong 4-5 stars. I will continue to follow Ann Leary

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Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Foundling.

I've never read a book by this author before and the historical context behind the premise was intriguing so I was pleased when my request was approved.

Based on facts the author unearthed about her grandmother, The Founding is about a tragic period in history (when is it not tragic?) when capable, intelligent women were imprisoned on baseless reasons to restrict their freedoms.

Mary Engle is a young, impressionable woman who had been raised in a convent. When she receives a prestigious position as a secretary in the office of Dr. Vogel, a renowned female psychiatrist at a reputable institution for troubled women, she is flattered and excited.

When she discovers a former friend from the orphanage is at the institute, a young woman she knows quite well is not unintelligent, Mary realizes her idol, Dr. Vogel, is not who she says she is.

I did like that the premise is based on historical events some people may not be aware of but I found most of the narrative boring and lacking suspense.

Mary is an unlikable heroine; she is timid, meek and naive; shocking considering the way she was raised and surviving her predatory uncle's unwanted advances.

As events escalate, Mary continues to wear her rose-colored glasses that Dr. Vogel is the end-all, be-all, and is not spurred into action until Lillian and Mary's boyfriend, Jake's, move things forward.

The drama is kicked up a notch in the last 30 pages; so much so it may read as melodramatic, as some readers have noted.

The writing is good, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped.

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I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel with a fast-moving pace! It was interesting to learn more about the infuriating eugenics practice of imprisoning women for being “feebleminded” under the guise of their own protection in the 1920’s. The story was spooky at times and had some unexpected twists and turns, and I found the characters to be well developed and appropriately complex. Although it was a difficult topic to explore at times, I found the ending hopeful and satisfying. I have become a big fan of Ann Leary between this book, and The Good House!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Scribner, Marysue Rucci Books for the advanced reader’s copy of this book.

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This is the first Leary novel I have read, but it won’t be my last. 1927 was difficult for Mary and Lillian. Both found themselves in a facility for the “feeble minded.” Mary was and employee and Lillian an inmate. Through flashbacks the reader learns about the relationship between the two. Much of the novel is slow-paced. The last quarter I had my heart in my throat many times worrying about the outcome. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

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I was excited to see the new book by this author as I have enjoyed her works in the past. Not so much with this one. I found the storyline boring, it reminded me of too many other books that I have read. Very predictable and I I had a hard time finishing it.

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I have been a fan of Leary's work for some time now, and I think she should stick with family dynamic novels. This historical fiction is weirdly childish and pearl-clutchy and gives strong LifeTime Television for women vibes.

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