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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780595436293
ISBN number: 0595436293
Label: iUniverse, Ltd.
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Ltd.
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 226
Printing Date: August 21, 2007
Publishing house: iUniverse, Ltd.
Release Date: August 21, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 910994
Studio: iUniverse, Ltd.
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From 1854 to 1929, more than 200,000 homeless children left New York City on orphan trains to find new lives across the country. Some found loving homes; others experienced physical and mental abuse. Bridie’s Daughter brings that world to life in this second novel in Robert Noonan’s Orphan Train Trilogy.
Bridie’s Daughter is an eye-opening tale that follows four teen-aged children who are filled with hope, concern and uncertainty, as they ride the rails to an unknown future. Once the train stops, however, it’s a roll of the dice where they’ll each end up.
Bridie McDonald, a wealthy spinster, finds in Catherine the daughter she has always wanted. Catherine learns to love Bridie and her new elegant home, but is concerned about Bridie’s relationship with Jack, her mentally challenged handyman.
Though most of the citizens of Newberry, Illinois, befriend these children, some are not so welcoming, believing all the orphans from New York City are bastards and should be treated as such.
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Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (3/08)
"Bridie's Daughter" is the second of three books in Robert Noonan's "Orphan Train Trilogy." This book begins on June 8th, 1899, in an orphanage in New York City where the children are preparing to ride an orphan train to the Midwest in the hopes that they will be chosen for adoption. Fourteen-year-old Catherine was one of the orphans on this train and she was drawn to, and grew close to, three other orphans that were around the same age as her: Monica, Brian, and Jason. At the train's very first stop in Newberry, Illinois, Catherine, Brian and Monica were adopted by people waiting at the station. Catherine was adopted by Bridie MacDonald, a well-to-do woman who had never married, and Brian was adopted by Tom and Margaret Holmgren who were friends of Bridie. The people of Newberry had difficulty in accepting them as most thought that they were [...] children and shunned them. Despite that hurdle, Catherine settled into her new life well and grew closer and closer to Brian.
At very first when I began reading this book none of the characters names were familiar and I thought that it was going to be a stand-alone book with the only tie-in to the previous novel being the orphan trains. However, I was incorrect in that assumption as the links began appearing when I least expected them. This novel contained a lot more surprises than the very first book in the trilogy and I read it from cover to cover in one day because I could not wait to find out was going to happen next.
"Bridie's Daughter" is a definite page turner and skillfully written. The novel is very thought-provoking in that it really makes you think about the orphan trains of our past and the lives of the children who rode them. The author himself is a member of the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America and his knowledge of the history of this time period provides for a very realistic work of fiction. I am eager to begin reading the third and final book in the trilogy "Secrets."
Rated by buyers -
Bridie's Daughter: In the midst of this charming coming of age story which begins in 1898, Bridie McDonald's future daughter Catherine becomes fast friends with Brian and Monica. All three are fifteen-years-old and wards at the Society for Children's Orphanage in New York City. As fate would have it, the three are sent west on an Orphan Train together and are adopted into three homes in Newberry, Illinois. While Catherine and Brian are chosen to live in loving and affluent homes, Monica's fears of an unhealthy adoption are realized. All three have difficulties being accepted into the community until they meet Pina, a twelve-year-old girl adopted from an orphan train the previous year. Pina brings hope to the former orphans and their parents, and that hope sets Bridie McDonald into motion to plan for the children's acceptance into society. In a surprising reunion, Pina and Hillary, from Wildflowers, are reunited after being separated for over a year. As the group expands, their joys and sorrows increase setting up a variety of possibilities for a third novel.
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Expertly written by Wisconsin author Robert Noonan (who moved from Chicago, Illinois to Hatfield, Wisconsin to write his books), the 'Orphan Train Trilogy' is a set of three novels that, taken together or read separately, draw upon the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century phenomena of orphaned boys and girls from the eastern seaboard who were placed upon trains traveling west for exploitive foster home placements, menial factory jobs, and agricultural laborers. "Bridie's Daughter" follows the lives of four teen-aged children, including Catherine who ends up with Bridie McDonald in Newberry, Illinois. While some welcome the children, others hold them in dark suspicion thinking that all orphans brought in from New York City are cast off bastards and should be treated with contempt. The three titles comprising this superbly written trilogy showcase an obscure historical event in American history that ran began in 1854 and continued until 1929. The intent was to improve the lives of children in otherwise desperate circumstances in the cities of the east. The results were often more harrowing that anything the children had experienced prior to boarding those orphan trains headed west. Informed and informative, Robert Noonan is a master storyteller whose novels are as entertaining as they are thoughtful and thought-provoking.
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Robert Noonan's second book in his trilogy has just been released! Bridie's Daughter follows Wildflowers and if you haven't yet read it, I highly recommend it to you. These books are a taste of Americana that you don't want to miss!
The "orphan trains" moved across the country from 1854-1929. Reverend Charles Loring Brace was shocked in 1850 when he learned of and saw 10,000 homeless children prowling the streets of New York City. He founded a Society through which many of these desperate children were sent west to begin new lives.
And so another trip was planned; the orphan train would carry 37 children under the age of 15. They were optimistic that all of the children might find homes this time since other trips had carried as many as 150 orphans. The children came from many different places but they were able to meet and make new friends during the train trip. They would ride two days to their very first destination in Illinois.
Two of the older children were immediately attracted to each other; Catherine and Brian easily found a way to meet and shared many hours together during their trip. Monica and Jason were their respective friends and they all speculated about what kind of homes they might find. Brian and Jason had been living on the streets, but Brian shared that he had dreams of becoming an engineer if he ever had a chance to go to school. In each seat on the train, whispers and dreams and fears were shared as children turned to others who could share their feelings.
Bridie McDonald was already waiting at the Newberry, Illinois train station as it rolled in. Her dear friends, Margaret and Tom Holmgren, who were hoping to find a boy to call their son, soon joined her. Bridie wanted a daughter and she would know her when she saw her. Indeed, that is exactly what happened and she moved quickly toward the young girl, Catherine, who was already deep in conversation with a couple.
Deciding it was only fair to let the young girl choose, the couple and then Bridie quickly shared with Catherine why they would like to have her come live with them. But Birdie had inside information--she had noticed the apparent relationship between Catherine and Brian and quickly highlighted that her good friends had asked Brian to come to live with them and that they lived only two streets away. How could Catherine fail to choose Bridie as she stood there with her twinkling eyes?!
The heartwarming stories of these new families will pull readers into each life--those of the children and those of the new parents. However, there in Newberry, one of the orphans, Monica, Catherine's friend, did not find the happiness she sought. Her story is one that also occasionally happened to those riding the trains. She was finally forced to leave the family that had adopted her, but she was smart enough and brave enough to find another life for herself; her story just might be the most gripping tale you'll read!
The orphans' saga leading to new lives with new families is one that you will always remember. I've found the stories very similar to the series "Little House on the Prairie," based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that were set in the 1870-80s. So if you've enjoyed this family-oriented program centered on the Ingalls children or Wilder's books, you will indeed agree with me that Noonan's Trilogy is a Must-Read!
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