A riveting family drama evocative of Angela's Ashes and The Glass Castle, about a woman who discovers the shocking secret at the center of her mother's life. 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. Years later, ...
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A riveting family drama evocative of Angela's Ashes and The Glass Castle, about a woman who discovers the shocking secret at the center of her mother's life. 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. Years later, when her mother sent her an envelope filled with secrets from the past, Justine buried it in the back of an old filing cabinet. Overcome with grief after her mother's death, Justine found herself drawn back to that envelope. Its contents revealed a mystery that stretched back to the early years of World War II and beyond, into the dark corridors of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. Established in the eighteenth century to raise "bastard" children to clean chamber pots for England's ruling class, the institution was tied to some of history's most influential figures and events. From its role in the development of solitary confinement and human medical experimentation to the creation of the British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts, its impact on Western culture continues to reverberate. It was also the environment that shaped a young girl known as Dorothy Soames, who bravely withstood years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmistress--a resilient child who dreamed of escape as German bombers rained death from the skies. Heartbreaking, surprising, and unforgettable, The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames is the true story of one woman's quest to understand the secrets that had poisoned her mother's mind, and her startling discovery that her family's fate had been sealed centuries before. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
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Add this copy of The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: a Memoir to cart. $43.19, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by HarperCollins B and Blackstone.
Add this copy of The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: a Memoir to cart. $60.31, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2021 by Blackstone Pub.
Add this copy of The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: a Memoir to cart. $75.29, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by HarperCollins B and Blackstone.
While this was definitely a sad story of neglect, organizational mistakes and the results of social stratification, I found it didn't grab me as I expected. Something about the story fell flat for me and I can't quite put my finger on the problem. Was it the too-close to the story writing by the author or her continuing reference back to the origins of the foundling home? Whatever it was, overall I was disappointed by the book. I will, however, give it a second reading and perhaps I'll find out why I wasn't as moved by the book as some reviewers were.
