Book Review: Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train

I am deeply disappointed in my lack of reading this year, but I did finish one book that I found incredibly wonderful and gripping. I started this book right as I was beginning to watch the show Call The Midwife (which I would highly recommend, it’s one of my favorites!), so my brain felt like it was delightfully stuck in the past.

The story of Orphan Train follows two women during two different time periods. One is a teenager named Molly who has grown up in the welfare system in Maine. The other is young girl named Vivian whose family immigrated to New York from Ireland, but soon finds herself orphaned and sent to the Midwest on what they call an Orphan Train. These two women's lives come together in the present when Molly, to avoid going to juvie, is given a community service position and tasked with cleaning out an elderly Vivian’s home. As Molly combs through her attic, she finds boxes filled with items that leads to Vivian share her journey and unravel her past.

I would genuinely recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history, as the book does a great job at mixing real situations and events with a fictional story. At the end of the book there are some real historical images and information about Orphan Trains, which sent thousands of children to new homes, with some welcomed with love, while many others were not. The book was especially interesting to me having lived in the Midwest for many years. I could envision the places Vivian was sent to in Minnesota and see in my mind the farms, towns, and homes she moved from throughout her young years.

While the book details the sadness and hardship that the women face in both of their lives, I quickly grew to care about both characters and marveled at their constant resilience. I liked how the past and present weaved together and enjoyed reading how the two women grow to care about each other. While their experiences are decades apart, they are actually quite similar. Orphan Train is at times quite emotional, especially as Vivian deals with the many challenges she faces as a young girl. In spite of the harrowing moments, the story is also thoroughly heartwarming, especially when the two end up helping each other with the unresolved questions they possess. The end seemed to come to a close a bit too quickly, but perhaps I felt that way because I didn’t want it to end at all.