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whatithinkaboutthisbook 's review for:
The Forgotten Home Child
by Genevieve Graham
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Book Review - The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham
A historical fiction novel based on the compilation of true stories of children sent from orphanages and work houses in Britain to Canada. Between 1869 to 1948, over 120,000 children were transported. As a Canadian I had never heard about this part of our history so I was intrigued and horrified.
8 year old Winny meets siblings Jack and Mary, Edward and Cecil on the streets of London after she left home due to physical abuse by her mother’s boyfriend. Together they create their own version of family and try to keep each other safe. They are caught by the police , separated and sent to Dr. Barnardo’s homes for orphans. They are well cared for and provided with schooling and trades training. Eventually they are told they are being shipped to Canada for a fresh start. In Canada, farmers have paid to become wards of the children. However, the majority viewed this as an opportunity to get labourers. The prevailing attitude was that the children were dirty, contaminated street urchins. The children are indentured labor. There was little oversight of the arrangements and the children lived in barns, sheds and experienced physical and sexual abuse. Many of them died.
“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat”. Mother Teresa
The story is heartbreaking made even more so by knowing it is based on true experiences. The children grasp for kindness and connection wherever they can find it; mainly through other Home Children. The commitment to find each other sustains the children in their new homes. The children are bright, and plucky and I was rooting for them to get away from their circumstances.
Graham does a great job describing the shame the children embed in their identity from all of their experiences and how they are treated at large. They can’t hide who they are because their accents give them away. The plot follows Winny and Jack’s story from childhood to present day in an alternating narrative. It highlights the amazing resilience of children and their ability to survive abuse and hardship.
This is a moving story filled with heartbreak, trauma and shame. It angered me to learn that on top of the atrocities of our treatment of Indigenous people, Canada has another unacknowledged history of abusive treatment of British children sent here for a fresh start. I am grateful to Graham for shining a light on this part of our history. I don’t feel that you can change unless you acknowledge your past so you don’t keep repeating history.
If you liked The Throwaway Children or Orphan Train you will love this book.