The Orphan Collector
Fiction
Kensington books
August 4, 2020
Advanced reader copy
304
Publisher via Bookish First
In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone . Since her baby died days ago, Bernice Groves has been lost in grief and bitterness. If doctors hadn’t been so busy tending to hordes of immigrants, perhaps they could have saved her son. When Bernice sees Pia leaving her tenement across the way, she is buoyed by a shocking, life-altering decision that leads her on a sinister mission: to transform the city’s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are “true Americans.” As Pia navigates the city’s somber neighborhoods, she cannot know that her brothers won’t be home when she returns. And it will be a long and arduous journey to learn what happened—even as Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost. Only with persistence, and the courage to face her own shame and fear, will Pia put the pieces together and find the strength to risk everything to see justice at last.
My review:
3.5 stars
Talk about a time warp! This novel about the 1918 Spanish flu was eerily in sync with what is happening with the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm sure that this was already well on its way to publication when our current crisis happened, so I will be anxious to hear if the author has any thoughts on being clairvoyant? Obviously, this story is heavily concentrated on a portion of the disaster that we are not seeing now, with a woman who takes immigrant children and places them in orphanages (I take that back, we ARE seeing this, but not in connection with the pandemic!). What I found fascinating was the reaction to the flu, complete with a newspaper clipping from Philadelphia stating that the news media was over reacting and people should calm down and go about their business (hmmm.....rings a bell). Also, the character of Bernice with her bigotry, could be any number of people who exist right now. I love this author's writing, and found this story compelling and well told. The characters were wonderful (whether you loved them or hated them), and while I was rooting for a happy ending, this is where I had some problems. It was all just too coincidental (and not believable) when certain pieces fell into place at the end. So much so, that it put a pretty big dent into my rating for the book.
I loved this book about the Spanish flu in Philadelphia. A sweet thirteen year old girl pitted against a mean spirited bigot made for a great read right up until the end. The ending left me wanting a more believable scenario, but for many that will be overlooked. Such an interesting parallel between viruses over a century apart.
