The Lost and Found Girl

by Catherine King

Beth thought she had been rescued from a life of servitude by an offer of marriage from gentleman farmer Edgar Collins, but her future would be bleaker than she could ever imagine and the married life was far from bliss. When the legitimacy of her twin babies with Edgar is called into question, the tiny infants are taken from Beth and sent far away. James is adopted by Edgar's uncle, the very wealthy Lord Redfern, master of Redfern Abbey. But little Daisy is sent to a cold-hearted childless couple who raise her to be a maid rather than a daughter. When Daisy, at 16, finally escapes her hard life with her adoptive brother Boyd, they arrive at the Abbey to seek work and refuge. Little does Daisy know that her flesh and blood is the next in line to be Lord of the Abbey. There is a strange connection between Daisy and James, something they can neither explain nor ignore. But will the truth be discovered in time?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction

480 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Sameeksha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is beautifully written historical, contemporary book which takes us to the time when women had no power, no identity, nothing except the name of the man she is married to.

The book starts with Beth getting married to Edgar Collins with high hopes of leaving her bleak past and having a house of her own. Little did she know that her future is going to be worse than what she has seen. Accused of having an affair outside of her marriage bonds, she is left alone to go insane as both of her children (twins) are taken away from her.
James is brought up as a ward of a rich lord Lord Redfern whereas Daisy is brought up as a maid rather than a daughter in a pathetic family. After sixteen years of suffering, Daisy finally escapes from her home with her adoptive brother and arrive in Redfern village to find work and shelter. James and Daisy's paths cross and there forms a kind of connection between the two. Will they ever know that they are twins separated at birth? Will they ever be reunited with their family?

The pain and desperation of what Beth and Daisy went through in their life is something which is palpable in this book. It makes us understand how little value did the women of that time had.

It is a slow placed book which takes us through the life of different people within the span of approximately seventeen to eighteen years.

I will recommend it to all adults who are into historical contemporary genre and enjoy a slow paced, not gripping but free flowing book filled with a lot of downs and downs and downs and then ups of the life.
The first part of the book is very painful to read and hence I suggest that if someone is suffering from any mental condition then he/she should wait for sometime to get better before picking this up.

[ReadAlongWithSue ★⋆. ࿐࿔catching up · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book from start to finish. If you liked Catherine Cookson or Joan Jonker type of reads then this book won't disappoint you one bit.

Its not a straight forward storyline that you know what the ending is going to be,and I'd love to see a follow up of this book.

It only took me 2 days to read this, or should I say, nights at I read mostly on the evenings and before going to bed.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me two days to read this book, it's currently 8am and i stayed up all night in order to finish it. It's an exciting journey, extremely well written, amazing - the ending was a teeny bit predictable but that's what made it awesome.. some parts i was uncomfortable - you can only understand it you read it - but i absolutely recommend it!

[Kelly Mannion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the type of book I would usually read but after reading this I have already purchased another one by the same author. I would genuinely say this is one of the best books I have ever read. When reading it you get lost in that era.

[Isidora · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book was absolutely amazing! I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for some things I didn't like. First of all, the writing is amazing and I cannot wait to read another of the author's books. It is historical fiction and I didn't think I would enjoy it that much but I was so wrong. The characters were okay. I didn't quite care what would happen to them. Maybe except Beth. She's one of the main characters that is forced to marry a man she doesn't know and gets treated terribly by both him and his mother. I literally wanted to throw up during some scenes from how awful they were. But it is set in 1829 and I understand that women were treated that way, to fulfill their husband's needs and do everything he says, basically a servant, but it just makes me sick. She didn't have the right to do anything without her husband's permission. And the thing that irritates me the most is that there are still some women that suffer from this torture by men. And even I personally know someone who gets treated that way... okay so the whole book was so interesting, there were some slow moments but some fast-paced as well. The thing that prevented me from giving it more stars was the ending. I didn't like it AT ALL! The girl is literally going to fall in love with her own brother?!?!? That is gros! The author could've given them a love relationship, make them feel a connection but not a love LOVE one. It just made me sick. And at the end, Daisy ends up being with her adopted brother?!?!? They were raised as brother and sister and now that they found out that they're not biologically related, they want to get married?!?!? I didn't like that part much. To sum it all up, it was an okay book, I do recommend it, but it could've been better.

[Christine Byleveld · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this story is just sad. The way Edgar and his mother treat Beth, and the humiliation and degrading bedroom scenes (which I personally feel is unnecessary to describe in such detail - for that I would give the book 2 stars).
In the second part the real story start, we meet Boyd and Daisy. I liked Boyd from the start, the way he indulge Daisy and rescues and protects her.
In places the story drags a bit, which makes you want to skip a few paragraphs. And the ending is too rushed - I would have liked more time with Boyd and Daisy in the end.
Overall, the story was likable.

[Ann Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beth married Edgar hoping for a better life, however the marriage was horrendous. When Beth gave birth to twins they were taken away from her very quickly. The twins were seperated, James being adopted by his very wealthy uncle and Daisy sent to live with a couple who only wanted her to be a servant, she led a poor cruel life until she ran away with her adoptive brother. The ending is predictable but it was still a good read.

[Christina Rochester · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly good read. The characters are extremely well developed, and I really felt quite sorry for Beth. She lost everything and it did tug at my heartstrings.

However there were some parts that seriously disturbed me such as the relationship between Daisy and James.

[Brian Odhiambo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a good novel

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um.... was that supposed to be a happy ending? Yuck. This book is a touch too incest-y (real and faux) for my tastes.

[Karin Jongman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story follows a twin boy and girl that get separated at birth. The boy grows up in luxury and the girl gets adopted into a family where she has to work as a servant. The story follows her and how everything turns around when her unknown father dies and she learns that she was born as part of a twin. In the family where she was treated as a servant, she also has a brother. They like each other a lot and in the end she is able to marry him as she is not related, which she thought her entire life. This book is set in the eighteen hundreds when things were done in a different way. I enjoyed reading the book a lot.

[Michelle Tissong · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book almost became too sick to continue near the end there.. Thank goodness for nosey characters.

Otherwise, I liked the story but the only word that came to mind when I finished was "eh". If Ms King's books are all like this, I probably won't be reading another title.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it .. Well Worth Reading :)

[Omi · Rating 1 out of 5]

wouldn't recommend at all.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story it is along time since I read a story based on the lives of people from along time ago.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down. Ending quite predictable but still loved it

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book.

[Pawan Sharn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really liked this book but i want to find out more opinions about this book.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a great read. I did find the ending hurried. I would have been happy for another 100 pages or so. Is there a sequel? I hope so.

[Xondra Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it!

[Lorna Shearing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving this book can't put it down

[Penny Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable historical saga with twists and turns.

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this story is told in 3 parts, I preferred the first part which told the story of the children's mother

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another awesome book by Catherine king. It kept my interest and was a great story. It shows you can still keep your dignity when your poor.