In 1847, in a quiet house in the countryside outside London, the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in common: they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty thieves […]
The Household by Stacey Halls
It’s 1847, and in a quiet house in the countryside outside London the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in common: they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty […]
Historia Live in April
Historia Live, the HWA’s series of author events showcasing historical fiction and history writing, is back at the Wheatsheaf in London on Tuesday, 16 April, 2024. The theme this month is Bad reputations: fortune-tellers, fraudsters & fallen women. On our panel are Laura Shepherd-Robinson, whose The Square of Sevens is out in paperback on 28 […]
Mrs England by Stacey Halls
West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear […]
Nanny state: why the golden era of Edwardian childhood is ripe for fiction
Mrs England, the latest novel by Stacey Halls, takes a young nanny in what we think of as the golden age of Edwardian childhood into what should be a happy home and exposes the tensions beneath the rose-tinted surface. Stacey tells Historia what drew her to this era – and this subject. Though children have […]
The Foundling by Stacey Halls
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 […]
The Foundling by Stacey Halls
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, she is astonished when she is told she has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries […]
Tokens of love: the moving objects left by mothers at the Foundling Hospital
Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars, writes for Historia about the inspiration behind her latest book, The Foundling: tokens left by mothers to help identify the babies they gave up at the Foundling Hospital in London. Some are beautiful, some simple, but all are poignant reminders of desperation and loss. A pink silk purse. A […]