But here is Kline's mark of brilliance: She didn't make it like any other story because the threads that is the social and eocnomic make up of the Depression Era is tighly woven into the fabric of Vivian's story. Sounds familiar? It's the classic orphan suffering story and you'd think you've heard it all before. She endured a harrowing fate was put to hard labour and was subjected to other abuses until she got a break and even then it wasn't an instant happy ending. In this story, Vivian was not one of the lucky ones. But in fact many end up in situation of hard labor and servitude. If you are lucky, you are adopted by a kind and loving family. Records suggests they actually amounted to the tens of thousands. Secondly, and strangely enough, the efficient and sometimes matter-of-fact prose also left the reader a lot of room to emotionally connect with the story and appreciate the bravery of the two strong protagonists.īut most of all, I loved the bit of well-researched history: Between 18, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck.
I got quickly absorbed into the book and couldn't put it down.Īfter I had finished the book I also realised that the detachment in the narration seemed to serve a dual purpose: Firstly, to make readers aware of the deliberate distance that foster home children tend to develop to their immediate ones in order to protect themselves emotionally. But what lacked in language was compensated in the story: The sole revelation that these Orphan trains existed, where some of the abandoned children had been shipped into indentured servitude, tugged at my heartstrings. I am a little bit of a lit fic snob and I place high value in emotive language that expresses nuances of the human nature. In the beginning, I wasn't crazy about the writing. At first, there seems to be nothing in common between Molly, a Penobscot Indian, who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, dresses like a Goth and seems to be inviting trouble the moment she opens her mouth to speak, and Vivian, who made her fortune expanding the department store business she inherited from her parents.Īs Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possesion, the story of Vivian's turbulent past as a rider of the so-called orphan train started to unravel and they find themselves forging a bond that helps each other seek answers to some unanswered questions in their lives. To keep herself out of juvie, troubled teen Molly Ayer agrees to do 50 hours of community service helping out an elderly widow to clean out her attic. It's a little gem that I'd recommend to everyone. Borrowing the voices from different generations, the author has created a an endearing tale of resilience, hope, second chances and intergenerational bond forged over shared experiences. The Orphan Train is a gripping story which cleverly weaves a relatively unknown part of American history and the contemporary. This hardcover edition of Orphan Train will feature a deckled edge. Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they appear. Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall.
But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitudeĪs a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Available in a special hardcover edition, Christina Baker Kline’s smash bestseller that is “a lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of American history” (Ann Packer).īetween 18, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck.
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