Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Foundling by Ann Leary - Available

The Foundling

A Novel

by Ann Leary
Laura Benanti
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
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).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 31, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797141473
      • File size: 365238 KB
      • Duration: 12:40:54

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 21, 2022
      Leary’s gripping latest (after The Children) chronicles a naïve young woman’s role in a eugenics program at a Pennsylvania asylum in 1927. Mary Engle grows up in an orphanage and, at 18, gets her first job as secretary to Agnes Vogel, head of the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age, where women are imprisoned for reasons including prostitution, same sex or biracial relationships, drinking, or having children while unwed. These “unfit” women are forced to perform unpaid farm labor until they are past childbearing age, at which point they are released. Mary is in awe of the accomplished Vogel until she recognizes new inmate Lillian, who was a close friend at the orphanage and was sent to Nettleton for having a child out of wedlock with a Black musician. Lillian begs Mary to help get her out, but Mary initially remains loyal to Vogel. Meanwhile, Mary falls in love with a journalist who tells her that Vogel and the institution are corrupt. As she learns about Vogel’s cover-ups of black market liquor dealings and the sexual assault on an inmate, she realizes neither Vogel nor Nettleton are what they claim to be. Leary makes an engrossing drama out of Mary’s shifting allegiance, and this ends with an impressive twist. Readers will rip through this tale of historical injustice. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, WME.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Laura Benanti gives a superb narration of this absorbing novel about the eugenics movement in early-twentieth-century America. Mary is the 18-year-old secretary of Dr. Agnes Vogel, superintendent of a facility for "feebleminded women of childbearing age." 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. M.J. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Best-selling novelist Leary (The Children) tackles a lesser-known element of women's history in this fascinating story. In 1927, 18-year-old Mary Engle becomes a secretary at Nettleton State Village, an asylum for women deemed "morally deficient" for bearing children out of wedlock, having same-sex relationships, or otherwise defying social expectations. Mary admires the institution's beautiful, cultured, and educated superintendent, Dr. Vogel, and hopes that her job at Nettleton will lead to a college education. When Mary recognizes a childhood friend among the inmates and begins a relationship with Jake Enright, an ambitious young journalist, however, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Laura Benanti gives a fully voiced performance with a range of accents and tones for major and secondary characters. Her expressive delivery highlights the characters' flaws, including Mary's na�vet�, Dr. Vogel's manipulativeness, and Jake's too-easy charm. Benanti ably captures Mary's growth, from willful innocence to her reluctant acceptance that Dr. Vogel--and Nettleton itself--may not be as benevolent as they first appear. VERDICT A lively performance of a thought-provoking novel.--Emily Calkins

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out what's being checked out right now