Thank you to Rita for lending me this book. I just loved it! It's a wonderful, heartwarming story about resilience, love, and family, and it's based on actual historical events.
Molly Ayer is a 17-year-old foster child in present-day Maine.Vivian Daly is the 91-year-old wealthy widow whose attic Molly helps clean out for community service. To think that these two young women have anything in common is a stretch, but it turns out they do. Vivian started out her life as Niamh Power, an Irish girl whose family immigrates to New York City, who is sent west on an Orphan Train after the rest of her family die in a fire. Niamh winds up in Minnesota where she becomes Dorothy, then Vivian, and where she has a series of homes and families before finding the one that is right for her. And through Vivian, Molly learns about being strong, finding your way, and becoming who you were meant to be.
The Orphan Trains were real - they took thousands of children from the streets of East Coast cities to the Midwest where they were adopted - if they were lucky - or contracted as laborers if they weren't young or pretty enough. The author, Christina Baker Kline, obviously did a lot of research. But more importantly, she has written a moving and thoughtful story about a couple of very strong female characters, two women with great inner strength, but also humor and warmth. I'm so glad I read this book.
Orphan Train
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