Dee Kohler's Reviews > The Foundling

I really liked this book. It took me a bit to get into it but I'm glad I stuck with it. Ann Leary weaves a historical fiction, suspense story based on her real life grandmother's time working at a Pennsylvania institute for "feebleminded women of childbearing age." The story deals with eugenics - a misinformed belief that "inferior"people can be bred out of a population creating a better society.

This story could have gone down the conventional path - women heroes fighting against injustice in an immoral world who manage to look great and snag their handsome sidekick along the way. This was a thought provoking story aided by multidimensional characters that surprised me, disappointed me and stirred my compassion.