Certain moments linger in the mind and others disappear.” But within two years disaster had struck the little family, and Niamh was suddenly alone and friendless in a big city where she knew no-one… “Time constricts and flattens, you know. The foggy arrival in New York harbour meant the Statue of Liberty was only a ghostly image in the distance, but she was sure their lives would not be as hard as they had been back home in Ireland. In 1927 young Niamh Power, her Mam, Da and siblings had left County Galway in Ireland (and her beloved Gram) for the shores of America, assured of a better life for the family. I’ve come to think that’s what heaven is- a place in the memory of others where our best selves live on. There is no “story-book ending” even Vivian’s adoption by a kind couple cannot heal the past. No platitudes proclaiming the resilience of children reality rips into the heart of the reader with searing honesty. Weaving together the stories of two abandoned children, one from the past and one from the present, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline explores the depths of emotion children experience and the devastating consequences of abandonment. As her emotional barriers begin to crumble, Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.īook Review: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. Just months from “aging out” of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse. Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Narrator: Molly’s story is told in a third-person-limited perspective Vivian’s story is told in the first person.īook Summary: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline Theme: Belonging and Connection, Self and Identity, Safety and Survival, Trauma and Loss, Secrets, Reality, and Illusions, Hope and Skepticism

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