I’m not sure who recommended Orphan Train to me but it’s also our March book club book so when it came available at our library, how could I not take the opportunity to read it?
I’m not sure what I expected. For one, I didn’t expect that it was based on a true fact, that hundreds of thousands of children/orphans were shipped from NYC to the midwest over a period of spanning the late 1800s until 1929. I didn’t expect that the story would take place at all in modern times. Lastly, I didn’t think I really expected to like it. I did though with some caveats.
First off, again, we’re treated to an author who likes to bounce us not only between points of views but through periods of time. Who was the first person to do this? And when did become almost a norm for current literature? Enough, please people. I wasn’t too confused but I did find some of the timing circumspect – for example it’s only 10 days from the time one of our protagonists arrives at her new home until the stock market crash of 1929 yet the way the author describes all that happened, and because of the bouncing, I was left feeling as if more time had really lapsed. I don’t like having to go back to recheck dates but I found myself doing that often.
Second, just as I was thinking thank god, the author didn’t use the old romance novel/soap opera ploy of having her run into her long lost acquaintance from the train and having them fall in love, she did! Literally, the next page after I had that thought she runs into him and months later they’re married! C’mon… Then of course it wasn’t long before, of course, he was killed in World War II – who didn’t see that coming?
Lastly, of course the Molly ends up befriending Vivian and moving in there because eventually everyone must have their happy ending – it all felt so cliche and contrived.
I could have dealt with one set predictable results but there were just too many here for my comfort. That said though, it didn’t push me over the edge of believability until the very end, and it was a quick read, so I didn’t mind it terribly. On the Goodreads scale of two stars meaning it was Okay and three stars meaning I liked it, it wold probably fall at the 2.5* range.