Aboard the Orphan Train

Orphan Train is a novel that’s based on a fact: in the first decades of the 20th Century orphans from New York City were sent by train to farming communities in the midwest where they could be acquired by adults who merely promised to look after them. In the good old days there were no background checks and often the child found him or herself in slave-like conditions. There was no such thing as protection for any child, let alone an orphan.

 

The novel provides a fictional story of a young girl in the 1930s based on the orphan train fact.

In addition a contemporary story about a foster teen weaves through the book until the two stories collide. By the time the two heroines meet in the present, one is very old and very rich and respectable. The reader learns about the two characters as the two come to know and appreciate each other. It’s a rich and well-told story and except for one unbelievable plot point, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.