Participation in two book clubs keeps me reading. One book club is in our old neighborhood and we read a wide variety of books. The other book club focuses on history. Orphan Train, a novel by Christina Baker Kline was chosen by the neighborhood group but would also fit as history.
"Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains transported more than two hundred thousand orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children...many of whom, like the character in this book, were first generation Irish Catholic immigrants...from the coastal cities of the eastern United States to the Midwest for "adoption" which often turned out to be indentured servitude." afterword p. 8
The book is well written bringing to light an important phase of American life. However, while it did reveal the difficulties many "orphans" suffered, in my opinion, it still went a bit light on how barbaric this experience could be. Yet, I think it well worth reading.
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