Luck of the Irish

ORPHAN TRAIN                          By: Christina Baker Kline               4.5 Stars

I enjoyed learning about an era in our American history that I was not previously aware of. The book starts with Molly, a foster child who is in jeopardy of being sent to juvie after stealing a worn tattered book that she thought no one would miss. To avoid this fate her boyfriend is able to arrange community service through cleaning the attic of an old lady by the name of Vivian.

As the story progresses we learn that Vivian started out as Niamh (pronounced “Neev”), an Irish immigrant who is sent on an orphan train from New York to Minnesota. These trains were a precursor to foster care and the main purpose was to provide orphans with stable families and adoption, or at least allow for an education.  

Most of the characters were one and two-dimensional to progress the story, but Molly and especially Vivian, are characters that are hard not to find endearing through the enfolding of their back stories. My only hang up was based around the language. I prefer authors who can portray character types without constantly throwing the f bomb and other language at me. Fortunately, it was only found with Molly’s story and I only remember it at the first and a little bit toward the end.

I love books where I feel engaged with the characters as well as learn something at the same time (yes, I like to learn). This book covered both of that with the story of the parentless and how their lives could change through the orphan train system. Some children were lucky. They went from having no future to having a family and a pleasant life. Unfortunately, some other children were little more than slaves in their new homes or were placed in homes with unloving families. Christina did a good job of tackling what could be a heavy topic and turning into a better future for the orphan train passengers.

 

A SHINE OF RAINBOWS (DVD)                    4 Stars

I love Saint Patrick’s Day. Green is one of my signature colors; add the happiness of gold, rainbows and luck, it is impossible to resist. This year on St. Patrick’s Day I decided I needed a celebratory movie to watch while I made some goodies to share. As it was a last minute idea, all of the initial movies I looked at were all checked out or required travel, which wasn’t part of my plans that day. Then I came across A Shine of Rainbows.

A Shine of Rainbows has Aidan Quinn, a brother from Legends of the Fall, as the husband of a dear lady who decides to adopt a boy who is down on his luck. She takes him to Ireland to raise as her own since she has been unable to have children. It is a feel good family story where the mom becomes the parent he always wished for, while the dad doesn’t quite feel the same. It is great for almost any age and will make you want to visit Ireland with the beautiful green landscape which is hard to tear your eyes away from.

After researching a little more I did find out that the movie was adapted from the novel of the same name by Lillian Beckwith. The book looks like it is out of print and none of the libraries in my area carries it. I am trying to see if I can have it sent from somewhere else through interlibrary loan. The Goodreads reviews sound like the book is as good as or even better than the movie, so if you find it in a garage sale someday you might want to pick it up.