Check out my interview on The Authors Show.
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Book review from The National Orphan Train Complex.
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"Highly recommend for fans who are interested in tales of family history, 1920s America, or who enjoy a hint of mystery in their historical fiction."
Review by Jennifer C. Wilson.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.
Review by Jennifer C. Wilson.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.
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BOOK REVIEW
Discovery, the first book in The Orphan Train series, grabs you from the very moment Cindy Moore opens the storage shed containing her grandmother’s possessions. You are there, with her, every step of the way, rummaging through the memories and dust, anxious to find a treasure or skeleton hidden away. The stage is set and offers the reader a story of real family life – of buried secrets we all know families keep and take to their grave. The one Cindy’s grandmother, Mildred, kept reveals itself in a most unusual way. There is a doll, a pinned note, a key, and journals in an attic room. But what these inanimate objects reveal is the heart of an abandoned little girl, a rider on the Orphan Trains of the 1920s, whose hard-knock life leads to a closed-off woman afraid of sharing her feelings and her secrets with her family. I think we all know someone like that, which makes this book so satisfying and real, a book that tugs at your heart.
The history of the Orphan Trains, a new historical tidbit to me, kept me intrigued and I read the entire story in one sitting; and the transition from the modern-day to the past wove together without creating any sort of abruptness or confusion.
I think, ultimately, this is a book about survival under the most trying circumstances and how “life” creates the person we become. Sometimes we harden ourselves, and sometimes we soften, and more often than not, we learn from others.
Mildred is all our grandmothers pieced together into a quilt, dealing with a time in history we cannot imagine, but her experience helps not only Cindy but all of us see beyond our circumstances towards hope. I wished for more about Mildred in the story, about her history in Poland, as I imagined her speaking and thought of my own grandmother. The way Sherry A. Burton relays Mildred’s story left me curious about the complete lack of emotions at some extremely critical times, times you might expect a flood, and other times when the abundance appeared unwarranted. Thus, the skill and complexity the author shows in the fragility of human nature, especially growing up as a confused orphan.
The story is extremely well-written and highly recommended. Thank goodness there are more in this series!
DISCOVERY is the recipient of the "Highly Recommended" award for the best in historical fiction and now entered into the HFC 2021 Book of the Year awards.
Discovery, the first book in The Orphan Train series, grabs you from the very moment Cindy Moore opens the storage shed containing her grandmother’s possessions. You are there, with her, every step of the way, rummaging through the memories and dust, anxious to find a treasure or skeleton hidden away. The stage is set and offers the reader a story of real family life – of buried secrets we all know families keep and take to their grave. The one Cindy’s grandmother, Mildred, kept reveals itself in a most unusual way. There is a doll, a pinned note, a key, and journals in an attic room. But what these inanimate objects reveal is the heart of an abandoned little girl, a rider on the Orphan Trains of the 1920s, whose hard-knock life leads to a closed-off woman afraid of sharing her feelings and her secrets with her family. I think we all know someone like that, which makes this book so satisfying and real, a book that tugs at your heart.
The history of the Orphan Trains, a new historical tidbit to me, kept me intrigued and I read the entire story in one sitting; and the transition from the modern-day to the past wove together without creating any sort of abruptness or confusion.
I think, ultimately, this is a book about survival under the most trying circumstances and how “life” creates the person we become. Sometimes we harden ourselves, and sometimes we soften, and more often than not, we learn from others.
Mildred is all our grandmothers pieced together into a quilt, dealing with a time in history we cannot imagine, but her experience helps not only Cindy but all of us see beyond our circumstances towards hope. I wished for more about Mildred in the story, about her history in Poland, as I imagined her speaking and thought of my own grandmother. The way Sherry A. Burton relays Mildred’s story left me curious about the complete lack of emotions at some extremely critical times, times you might expect a flood, and other times when the abundance appeared unwarranted. Thus, the skill and complexity the author shows in the fragility of human nature, especially growing up as a confused orphan.
The story is extremely well-written and highly recommended. Thank goodness there are more in this series!
DISCOVERY is the recipient of the "Highly Recommended" award for the best in historical fiction and now entered into the HFC 2021 Book of the Year awards.