Historic Horrors: A Review of The Foundling by Ann Leary

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

I am in the mood for some more historical fiction this week. I need more historical fiction in my life. Which is what led me to choose today’s read. A historical setting, many, many reminders that the world has always sucked, and a thrilling escape. Yeah, that sounds like my cup of tea.

Please give a warm welcome to The Foundling by Ann Leary!

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also must give a major content and trigger warning. The Foundling heavily mentions sexual assault and rape. This book also deals with Eugenics and is set in a 1920’s asylum so be prepared for quite a lot of incorrect and insulting medical talk from the time period. Please take care while reading. With that, let’s get to the synopsis.

Mary Engle has landed her dream job. She has obtained the coveted position of secretary for Dr. Agnes Vogel of the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age; the largest and most self-sufficient public asylum in the United States. Mary is in awe of her boss and greatly looks forward to working for Dr. Vogel.

But once at Nettleton, Mary begins to rethink her views of both her boss and the asylum. Many of the women there don’t seem “feebleminded.” In fact, Mary knows one of the patients. Her name is Lillian. The pair grew up together in an orphanage, she and Lillian were actually good friends, and Lillian certainly isn’t “feebleminded” as she was the one who planned most of the pranks and schemes back at the orphanage.

Upon seeing Mary, Lillian reaches out to her old friend for help in escaping Nettleton. The place is vastly different from the façade the public sees. Lillian doesn’t belong there, neither do any of the other women there for that matter. But will Mary help? Or will she follow along with Dr. Vogel’s nefarious deeds “for the greater good”? Find out in The Foundling.   

The practice of Eugenics is truly scarier than anything a horror author can dream up in their nightmares. A terrible blight in the world’s history, The Foundling is a great reminder that those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. The Foundling has so many scenes that include heartbreaking and disturbing details regarding the horrors of 1920’s “medicine” and “treatments.” I greatly appreciate that Ann Leary doesn’t sugarcoat the atrocities that occurred in the asylums of old; even though she doesn’t show the worst of the worst things that happened in these places.

Claps for Ann Leary's attention to historic details.

That said, the rest of book’s execution is lacking. The story begins with a slow pace. I feel that is to be expected while the setting and main character of Mary are introduced, but once Mary begins working for Dr. Vogel and Nettleton, and bears witness to what occurs there, one would think the pacing would pick up. One would think that once Mary sees her old friend struggling, she would take action. But no, it doesn’t, the story continues at a snail's pace; and this issue also bleeds into Mary’s character arc or lack thereof.

Mary is a highly naïve main character at the start of the novel. She’s only 18-years-old, working as a secretary for Dr. Vogel is her very first job, and she knows nothing about the Eugenics movement. This naiveté should quickly go away, even if she chooses to turn a blind eye to what happens at Nettleton. Yet Mary shows little to no growth by the last third of the book before she chooses to make a change. But she only does this for Lillian. Apparently Lillian is the only patient at Nettleton who deserves saving and/or better living conditions. While I can’t say Mary being selfish, ignorant, and only caring about Lillian’s well-being isn’t impossible, unrealistic, and/or improbable, this does cause Mary to be unlikable in the end. She witnesses first-hand what these patients go through, the horrible treatment they endure, and she knows many of the patients in Nettleton should never have been sent there in the first place, and yet she ignores them all. Again, I can’t say people haven’t done this. People have done exactly that all throughout history. But I feel the story would have worked better had Mary stood up for all the women at Nettleton. As it stands, Mary’s character leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I genuinely think Mary is going into my least favorite main characters of all time list.

But yes, in the end, change does occur at Nettleton. And yes, Mary is partially responsible for the change. But other side characters are the ones to do the heavy lifting. I would have much rather read the story from their perspective. I also would have liked Mary having much more growth and a proper character arc. It’s unsatisfying to watch as she does nothing for the vast majority of the novel and not form any opinions on her own. Mary is simply infuriating. She’s all over the place throughout the novel, doesn’t have a satisfying character arc, and ultimately brings down the story.

The Foundling is a decent enough read. Ann Leary put a lot of time and energy into researching 1920’s asylums and Eugenics practices, and it shows. Those real life horrors are the novel’s strong point. Alas the rest of the story is not well executed.    

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you all had a wonderful time here. I shall see you all again next week with a very special new review. If you can’t wait that long then you can always give Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then may I suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk anything and everything. I highly recommend listening to my bestie Amanda’s Disney series. We’ve been watching every single film Disney has ever made and have currently made it to the 1950s. You have lots of episodes to catch up on! Nothing to See Hear is currently available on Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!