Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (147)

Content

Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Orphan Train in Books

Dec 17, 2018

<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>

Steve Brigman’s historical novel <i>The Orphan Train</i> takes place in the Missouri Ozarks during the late 19th and early 20th century. Large groups of orphaned children were transported from New York across to the west where other families adopted them. Ten-year-old James was one of these children and this is his story.

Initially the title implied that the story would be about the orphan train itself or at least the life of James as a child however it was his adult life that the book was focused on. The novel opened with the train journey and James meeting his new parents, Clara and Joshua Crawford but this, as well as his remaining childhood on the Crawford ranch was over in a short amount of chapters. By this point both his parents had died in accidents before James had reached the age of twenty. The story goes on to show how James improved and built on the ranch with the help of friend and employee Luke as well as Henry, an older black man who he let live on the ranch with is daughter and grandchildren – something that sparked prejudices in town.

James soon finds himself a wife and the remainder of the book recounts their life together. I admit that I was a little disappointed not to read more about James’ childhood but I began to enjoy reading about the love he had for his wife and his friendships with those living on the ranch.

One issue with this novel is that it lacks much of a climax. I was forever waiting for something bad to happen as it all seemed too good to be true and slightly predictable. That said, it was a good read and it was easy to become attached to the characters.