Lily Mortimer is left in a London park in 1850, a nameless child carrying a secret she does not yet understand. Raised in the Foundling Hospital, Lily grows up under strict discipline and constant uncertainty, learning early that survival depends on resilience rather than kindness. After years of suffering brutal hardship, Lily is released into the world of Victorian London and the truth about her past begins to surface.
What begins as a search for belonging becomes something darker when Lily is reunited with policeman who first left her at the Foundling Hospital. Determined to confront those who have wronged her, Lily risks everything to claim control of her own life. ‘Enthralling… Tremain evokes Victorian London with visceral intensity in a gripping and deeply humane novel exploring themes of rejection, poverty, guilt and redemption’ Observer 'A heartbreaking story set in Victorian England from the pitch-perfect pen of Rose Tremain' The Times, BOOKS OF THE YEAR | Lily.