Ann Leary is a New York Times bestselling author of a memoir and four novels, including The Good House, and her work has been translated into 18 languages. She has written for The New York Times, Ploughshares, NPR, Redbook, and Real Simple, among other publications. Her essay, “Rallying to Keep the Game Alive,” was adapted for Prime Video’s TV series, Modern Love. Inspired by a true story about Leary’s grandmother, The Foundling: A Novel (Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books) is her first historical novel. It offers a rare look at a shocking chapter of America’s recent past. It’s 1927, and 18-year-old Mary Engle joins as a secretary at one of the largest and most self-sufficient public asylums for women in the country: the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age. She’s in awe of her employer, the brilliant, genteel psychiatrist Dr. Agnes Vogel. But then Mary learns that a girl from her childhood orphanage is one of the inmates. She was a free spirit; could she be mentally disabled? Then Lillian begs Mary to help her escape, alleging the asylum is not what it seems. Mary’s decision triggers a hair-raising sequence of events with life-altering consequences.
