It is a very rare event for some of my friends to rate a book highly on Goodreads around the time that I actually look at it. I was so excited by this occurrence that I reserved the book without even looking at the content of the book.
This book is based on the historic existence of the ‘orphan train’ that was run in the late 1800s to 1930. The orphan train moved destitute children to the midwest in hopes of settling them with good families. These children who are not allowed, even if they remember, to carry their past with them. There are two women whose lives seem to resemble each other decades apart. There is always an elemental lack of control in our lives and these two women have seen the proof first hand.
Molly a 17-year-old in the foster system crosses paths with Vivian Daly previously known as Niamh and Dorothy. Slowly they help each other and learn more about the past. ( I was overjoyed by the mere mention of a well-thumbed copy of Anne of Green Gables within the story).
It is a simple story and as simple written, but it mentions in passing very different lives which are harsh in just imagination and must have therefore been far worse in reality.
It is another book that had me counting my blessings for the time and place that I exist in.
2 thoughts on “Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline”