Monday, April 22, 2013

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline


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“I was so moved by this book. I loved Molly and Vivian, two brave, difficult, true-hearted women who disrupt one another’s lives in beautiful ways, and loved journeying with them, through heartbreak and stretches of history I’d never known existed, out of loneliness toward family and home.”— Marisa de los Santos, New York Times-bestselling author of Belong to Me and Falling Together

Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Just months from “aging out” of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse.

Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be.

A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance. The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life.

A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

As her emotional barriers begin to crumble, Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life - answers that will ultimately free them both.

The 411 by Maria:

What a fantastic read. I highly recommend this to everyone.

Beautifully written story about Molly who is at the end of her Foster care and about to turn 18 is assigned to help Vivian, a 91 year old woman. I love the smoothly written way the story toggles back and forth between these two very different woman who are very similar.

Vivian was 9 when she was put on the Orphan train from Ireland and sent to New York City. Her life was anything but easy and it was honestly hard to imagine that this is a piece of history that children actually did live this way. Taken from their home land and sent to a foreign land where you were expected to be more mature than your years even with all the hurt and heartbreak you have had to go through in your little life.  My heart break for Vivian and I wished I could have just held her in all her red headed glory and told her that she was loved.

Although Molly is a main character, she wasn't fleshed out and I didn't find myself feeling anything for her at all.

For me, the story is all about Vivian and love how the two formed a friendship that helped them both heal.

Brilliant story, I couldn't put it down.
 

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Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy for my honest opinion.

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