The Orphan Collector

By Ellen Marie Wiseman

Book Overview

Ellen Marie Wiseman, acclaimed author of What She Left Behind and The Life She Was Given, weaves the stories of two very different women into a page-turning novel as suspenseful as it is poignant, set amid one of history's deadliest pandemics.

In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone ...

Since her baby died days ago, Bernice Groves has been lost in grief and bitterness. If doctors hadn't been so busy tending to hordes of immigrants, perhaps they could have saved her son. When Bernice sees Pia leaving her tenement across the way, she is buoyed by a shocking, life-altering decision that leads her on a sinister mission: to transform the city's orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are "true Americans."

As Pia navigates the city's somber neighborhoods, she cannot know that her brothers won't be home when she returns. And it will be a long and arduous journey to learn what happened--even as Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost. Only with persistence, and the courage to face her own shame and fear, will Pia put the pieces together and find the strength to risk everything to see justice at last.

• Format: MP3 CD
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1664760938
• ISBN13: 9781664760936
• Release Date: August 2020
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Length: 1 Pages

Customer Reviews

Brilliantly Written

This is the second book by Wiseman that I have read. Both of them are extremely high on my list of historical fiction books. She is a brilliant writer and draws you into the story and keeps you spellbound until the very end! This was a very sad and difficult read about the epidemic of the Spanish flu in 1918. Please know that it is based on history, but it is also a novel of fiction. Certainly there is a great possibilities that this type of thing happened during that time and the writer brilliantly used her research and her imagination to write an exceptional novel!

Really enjoyed this!

It reminds me of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" meets the Spanish flu. Add evil Bernice and it's amazing! Highly recommend this. You'll find yourself rooting for Pia.

Sad, relevant, amazing!

We’re told to learn from history so we don’t repeat it, yet it’s exactly what we do! So much of what we’re living through is in this book, it’s eerie. At the same time, it makes you feel grateful you didn’t live through THAT instead on this.

The Orphan Collector

One the best books I have read in a while. I could not stop reading!

A relevant and suspenseful story of the 1918 influenza epidemic

By lurkykitty The Orphan Collector begins with the Liberty Loan Parade in the city of Philadelphia in 1918. Pia, a 13 year-old German immigrant attends the parade with her mother and twin baby brothers, while her father fights in the war overseas. Her mother subsequently succumbs to influenza which has been ravaging the city. Pia attempts to survive with her brothers in their apartment until their food runs out. She leaves to get food, intending to be gone only a short time, while the babies remain in the apartment. Pia falls ill with the flu and is taken to a church. When Pia leaves, her neighbor Bernice Groves, who has recently lost her own baby to the flu, decides to take Pia's brothers. The story focuses on Pia's long journey to find her brothers, through her recovery from the flu, her stay at an orphanage and at a family's home. The parallel story is that of the bigoted and xenophobic Bernice who commits heinous acts with regard to the city's immigrant children. The Orphan Collector is well-written, emotional and suspenseful. The characters are created with depth and complexity. The story is so relevant to today's pandemic in terms of the loss and devastation caused by the virus, compounded b social injustice and poverty. The themes of prejudice and xenophobia are also echoed in today's events. The Orphan Collector is a must-read.

The Orphan Collector is a great story!

This was surprisingly similar to what is going on, comparing the Spanish Influenza with this current Covid 19. Thankfully it is not as bad but it was cool to read about how people had to wear some sort of mask and were blocked from trolleys and such if they were not wearing one. The book view switches between 13 year old Pia and Bernice. Pia is an amazing character! Very resilient despite what is going on and determined to protect her twin brothers until their dad returns from the war. Berenice on the other hand... I hate her! I do not like her views and what she does to try to make the world more to her liking, including stealing Pia's brothers when Pia falls ill. Bernice does provide a good foil for Pia though. This is a good story and I found myself rooting for Pia through all of it. And I do adore the ending! I highly recommend it!

☆Super Super Amazing!☆

This book was so good! I definitely could not put it down. I got it around noon and ended up staying up all night to finish it around noon the next day! So worth it!! The author keeps you on your toes. The setting is 1918 when the Spanish Flu came about. The way our country (USA) is dealing with Covid-19, and my being an STNA, it has its similarities to now. So many emotions and wonder! You just have to read it for yourself. I dont want to give any spoilers on accident. =)