There aren’t many books I sit down and read in one session, but Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline was that kind of book. The first person narrative told through the eyes of 10 year old “orphan”, Niahm, is very believable and satisfying. Christina Baker Kline backs up her story with solid research and interviews with actual Orphan Train orphans. The setting is a fictional town in Maine on Mount Desert Island. The narrator flip-flops between 91 year old Vivian (Niamh) and seventeen year old Molly, a foster child who is aging out of the system. Molly is in trouble for stealing a library book and has to do community service hours in lieu of “juvvie”. She ends up in Vivian’s mansion home helping her sort through eighty years of memories to fulfill her sentence. The result is therapeutic for both of them and an unlikely friendship develops because of their similar backgrounds despite the difference in age and circumstances.
Although some aspects a bit implausible – getting arrested for stealing a library book – come on, I’m a librarian. I suppose it could happen – I really enjoyed the story. Kline ties everything up prettily by the end, a tad hard to believe, too since everything seems to work out for Molly who has had little luck navigating the system prior to this. The story is character and plot driven. The characters are likable. I wanted things to work out for all them. Kline descriptive bits seem self-conscious, which makes them tedious. Her real strength is in her character development. I loved the characters and their stories, particularly Niamh’s. It’s good historical fiction, but I would also add it to the “tear jerker” genre. I cared so much for these characters that I got caught up in their stories and wept along with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment