I very much enjoyed Orphan Train when I read it. From Goodreads:
Orphan Train
Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. 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.
Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. 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. 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.
The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life. A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. 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.
Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.
The tiny, well-ordered seaside village of Merham holds little to interest the adventurous — except for Arcadia, the breathtaking art deco house perched above the shoreline. Attracted to this magical place, young Lottie Swift surrenders freely to its temptations and ultimately must face the hard consequences of her actions.
Years later another young woman comes to Merham. A designer hired to make over the now-empty Arcadia, Daisy Parsons seeks a new beginning, as Lottie once did. Fleeing a broken relationship, Daisy finds refuge at Arcadia, and something more — a love she thought she would never know again.
To become one of only a few hundred certified wine experts in the world, Kate must pass the notoriously difficult Master of Wine Examination. She’s failed twice before; her third attempt will be her last. Suddenly finding herself without a job and with the test a few months away, she travels to Burgundy, to spend the fall at the vineyard estate that has belonged to her family for generations. There she can bolster her shaky knowledge of Burgundian vintages and reconnect with her cousin Nico and his wife Heather, who now oversee the grapes’ day-to-day management. The one person Kate hopes to avoid is Jean-Luc, a neighbor vintner and her first love.
At the vineyard house, Kate is eager to help her cousins clean out the enormous basement that is filled with generations of discarded and forgotten belongings. Deep inside the cellar, behind a large armoire, she discovers a hidden room containing a cot, some Resistance pamphlets, and an enormous cache of valuable wine. Piqued by the secret space, Kate begins to dig into her family’s history—a search that takes her back to the dark days of the Second World War and introduces her to a relative she never knew existed, a great half-aunt who was teenager during the Nazi occupation.
As she learns more about her family, the line between Resistance and Collaboration blurs, driving Kate to find the answers to two crucial questions: Who, exactly, did her family aid during the difficult years of the war? And what happened to six valuable bottles of wine that seem to be missing from the cellar’s collection?
I wish that all beginning readers were this entertaining! With a simple vocabulary, funny and fun illustrations and some good rhymes, this is a great choice for a new reader.
This brightly illustrated book will be a useful addition to classroom and library shelves. In this story, it is diversity week at school. Students from Japan, Mexico and Hawaii share some of their traditions and the children learn from one another. Suggestions for responding to new experiences will encourage politeness among those who are being exposed to something for the first time. Diversity is presented as a positive value in which all have something to contribute. The book also includes suggestions for the adults in students’ lives.
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Jill Mansell is an experienced writer of women’s fiction. Her titles have been available in England for many years and a number of them have now been released in the U.S. As is true for her other novels, in this one we watch as the “course of true love” goes awry before coming to the desired and anticipated happy ending. Mansell creates characters both good and less good; the reader roots for the good ones. This story involves a betrayal, a car accident, loss, complications, small village life and romance. How can you go wrong if this is your kind of read?
It requires suspension of disbelief to read this enjoyable second caper about Hollis and Finn. Their first adventure as amateur quasi-government agents took them to Ireland (see below) while this time they are in Buenos Aries. The plot is improbable but following this couple as they interact with one another is enjoyable. Another plus was the sense of place that the author provided; I think that the descriptions of the tango, Buenos Aries and other Argentinian locations were quite appealing for armchair travelers.
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Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 