Orphan Train - TLC Book Tour

 Orphan Train
Christina Baker Kline

I fell in love with this book from the moment I read the blurb.  Now I know that sometimes you can read a blurb and think it will be one thing, only to find out that it’s not quite what you were thinking.  But this book, oh this book hit the nail on the head.

As you all know, I love historical fiction and this book bounces back and forth between modern times and Depression-era Minnesota, to a time period between 1854 and 1929 where the very common orphan trains were at their peak.

As a lover of period pieces, I have often come across some popular tv series that have either brought up the subject or focused on these orphans who are sent in trains to farmlands carrying thousands of abandoned children, in the hopes of finding a family they can become a part of.

Some find just that, a loving mom and dad and sometimes siblings, but others unfortunately end up in a life of hard labor from a very young age.

This book is so powerful in the sense that it takes you back in time and places you right in the middle of those children, and one such child is Vivian.  You can almost feel her sadness as she is removed from the home she’s been living in and told she is being sent on the orphan train to a family in a small farm.  It’s heartbreaking to think that a child can feel so sad, so broken and in such despair, but the author does a wonderful job of conveying those feelings across.

Fast forward to present time and we meet Molly who is doing community service to avoid juvenile hall, and the person she is helping out is none other than a now 90 year old Vivian.

Two very different women, from very different backgrounds, but brought together by fate and what they find out is that they’re not that different after all.  Molly has been through numerous foster homes and doesn’t exactly feel wanted or loved either.

Through moments spent together cleaning out Vivian’s attic, they form a bond.

Beautifully written, emotional, tugs at your heart strings and leaves you wanting more.  This book is going on my favorites shelf for this year.

Thank you to TLC for providing a review copy of the book.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own.