Juliet Nicolson

My mother’s secret life was a Dickensian horror story

Justine Cowan discovers, too late, how her cruel parent had herself endured a brutal upbringing at London’s Foundling Hospital

A sketch of the foundling maids in 1901. Beneath their smart uniforms they wore shapeless, brown serge shifts as a constant reminder of their origins. Credit: Bridgeman Images
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  • The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: A Memoir

    Justine Cowan

    Virago, pp. 320, £20

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