I enjoyed this book a lot. When I read a book about people living in a poor house, I feel empathy for them. There are so many circumstances that could lead them to being there. This story features a woman in the poor house who gives birth there. Then we see her daughter grown. This follows the life of her daughter, and we see the ups and downs of it. I would read more by this author.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Although this is a reprint, it still qualifies as historical fiction because of the timing of the narrative. I picked it up because it sounded a little like a serious version of Anne of Green Gables, and I am fond of reprints of late.
There were parts of this book that worked but overall, I was left dissatisfied by the reveal. There was a lot of build-up to an eventuality that did not pan out the way I expected it. I cannot say more without revealing any spoilers.
We begin in the dismal location of a poor house; the people who run it are human in a very ordinary way, mean when required, empathetic without doing anything about it. There is an arrival of a woman who subsequently gives birth there. After this event, we move forward quite a few years, and the baby is now grown and come into some money, making her the talk of the town (even though her antecedents are unknown).
It is a depiction of town life, on the fringe of both rural and city life. It was slow but was steadily building up. If I could make my peace with the ending, I would have given it three stars out of five, making this a very personal rating.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.