Everything you need to understand or teach The Foundling by Ann Leary.
The Foundling is Ann Leary’s historical fiction novel about a fictional institution in the beginning half of the twentieth century founded to detain women of childbearing age who are at risk of procreating against the supposed best interests of the community. It was published in 2022 and is almost exclusively set at the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age with frequent flashbacks to incidents that occurred to the protagonist at St. Catherine’s Orphan Asylum. It is told from the first person perspective of the protagonist, Mary Engle, an employee at the Village. Mary discovers that a friend from St. Catherine’s is being held at the Village, and this slowly leads her to investigate whether the woman really should be institutionalized. Mary is highly motivated to go along with what happens at the Village, but eventually she experiences a moral awakening that no longer allows her to ignore what is happening. Key themes include how sexual assault frequently goes unavenged, the evils that can be perpetuated because of a lack of institutional transparency, the ways sexism continues to affect women even after women won the right to vote, the evils of eugenics, and the ability people have to deceive themselves.
FOLLOW BOOKRAGS:
