⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
If you need a literary fix with accessible, beautiful writing and a good story, this is it. My first Christina Baker Kline book, but definitely not the last.
Switching between present-day Maine and Depression-hit Minnesota, the book highlights the real-life ‘orphan trains’ which, from 1859 to 1929, took thousands of discarded children out west to be placed with new families. Vivian Daly was one such child, and her story is one of survival and resilience. Now in her 90s, she’s living out her remaining days in a peaceful Maine town. But her attic is full of relics from a tumultuous past.
We also meet Molly, a teenager who knows what it feels like to be rootless, having moved around foster homes most of her life. When Molly avoids juvenile detention by helping Vivian clean out her attic, the two women discover they have more in common than at first glance.
It’s a slower-moving plot, but it’s rich, deep, and moving, and the writing is gorgeous.
Have you read this, or any other Christina Baker Kline books? Which is your favorite?
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