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ashleysilver7 's review for:
The Orphan Collector
by Ellen Marie Wiseman
This is a very enjoyable, yet heartbreaking novel set in Philadelphia during the Spanish influenza of 1918-19. As one might imagine, it definitely resonates with the current climate of 2021 (we are still in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic). Pia is a young German immigrant child who is the face of resilience. Her father is still fighting the "Huns" (Germans) in France, her mother succumbs to influenza, and she doesn't know where her twin baby brothers are located...Pia left them in her apartment to go find food, and several days later she returns to find them missing (she was convalescing in a hospital and almost died from the flu).
Bernice, by contrast, is a grieving mother and widow. One might feel sorry for her, except she is extremely cruel and close minded. She blames immigrants for all of our country's problems, and even blames them for the pandemic (sound familiar?). The book is mostly told from Pia's perspective, but we do hear Bernice's "voice" from time to time.
Bernice, by contrast, is a grieving mother and widow. One might feel sorry for her, except she is extremely cruel and close minded. She blames immigrants for all of our country's problems, and even blames them for the pandemic (sound familiar?). The book is mostly told from Pia's perspective, but we do hear Bernice's "voice" from time to time.