What a timely read for 2020!
I've read every book by this author and have enjoyed them all, and this one really tugs at your heart, even more-so with the tragedy of Covid this year. It's interesting to read how over 100 years ago they figured out how masks were saving lives from the Spanish flu, yet here we are still disputing it.
The first half of the story was difficult to read only because of how many children became orphans or were placed in orphanages where they were mistreated (one of the characters has the same name as one of my grandkids and I really found it difficult to read about the way she was treated!)
I can't imagine the research done for this book (which has a much more uplifting ending - stick wit it!) and how ironic to have it written before the Covid pandemic.
It's a wonderful story of resilience and what makes up a family.
Another must-read by Ellen Marie Wiseman!
( )

This had all the ingredients for a fantastic work of historical fiction. That coupled with the glowing reviews for it is why I picked it up. Having finished it, I don't get it. I don't get what the fuss is about.

The Orphan Collector is set in Philadelphia during the 1918 pandemic. It mainly follows Pia, a 13yo German immigrant, who is left to care for her infant twin brothers when her mother dies from the flu and her father is away fighting in the war. Pia must leave her brothers alone one afternoon to find food but she collapses from the flu and wakes up days later. During that time Bernice, a bitter, racist bitch from across the way, who had lost her own child to the pandemic, steals Pia's brothers. The story also follows her from time to time.

Riddled with the guilt of not knowing what has happened to her brothers, Pia must go to the orphanage run by brutal nuns and figure out how to find them or find out what happened. At the same time Bernice begins a bizarre evil crusade of her own to rid the city of foreign scum.

Don't worry, I haven't even given anything away. That's all just the beginning.

Sadly, this book lacked any depth whatsoever. You couldn't drown a fucking flea in its depths. Despite having a very real backdrop of the brutal and terrifying 1918 pandemic, Wiseman manages to concoct a Disney story complete with the innocent but determined ragamuffin protagonist; the eeeevil, racist baby stealing antagonist; filthy orphanages run by cruel nuns; scrappy Irish bestie; and clean, benevolent doctor and wife saviours. Then she throws in a set of coincidental circumstances which rivals the odds of me becoming a fucking billionaire by this evening.

Even worse, she writes these characters so one-dimensionally that they simply become grotesque caricatures. The writing is lacklustre and repetitive. So much so that it was exhausting to read. She does a lot of telling and little showing. It got to the point where I would read that "Pia was feeling guilty about the twins..." and I would simply skip the rest of the paragraph because I had read it before.

I think this book lucked out with timing. It was released in early 2020 which coincided with the beginning of our current pandemic and I'm sure that helped the sales and excitement far beyond what was expected or, in my opinion, deserved. ( )

What an amazing novel. The book tells the story of Pia, who has to leave her twin infant brothers alone while searching for food during the 1918 flu epidemic in Philly. The author brings those terrible times to life, and made me feel as if I were there. Excellent. ( )

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

1918 Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu. Thirteen year old German immigrant Pia Lange (is) living in the slums with her Mother and infant twin Brothers, her Her Father is off at war. Tragedy strikes and Pia does what she thinks is best for her family. She then wakes up after collapsing on the streets and is taken to St. Vincent’s Orphanage. Now she wants answers and begins a journey for truth, justice and redemption.

Bernice Groves is living in grief after the death of her infant son and Husband. She watches young Pia leave and not return. Despising immigrants, blaming them for all that is wrong in the Country, she sets out on an evil mission, one that will destroy the lives of many.

A compelling story of life during the Spanish Flu and what people will do to survive. Told with accuracy of the era, tragic (often) heart-breaking events was chilling, emotionally charged. I was engrossed from the first page until the end.

I highly recommend The Orphan Collector to those who enjoy Historical fiction. A true five-star read that will leave an impression on your heart. ( )

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman (4 stars)
I picked this up on one of my browsing expeditions at Barnes and Noble after stores were starting to open up again from the current pandemic. It seemed particularly relevant in our Covid recovering world, because it is a historical fiction novel about the Spanish flu epidemic at the beginning of the 1900’s. It follows people living in a poorer section of Philadelphia, which was particularly hard hit during the flu epidemic. It mixes historical details of the time by specifically delving into the life of a German immigrant family whose father, wanting to prove loyalty to his new country, enlists in the Army and is sent off to battle in Europe during WWI. His family, for various reasons, are unable to contact their father, and this leaves the mother and her children struggling along to make ends meet as the epidemic hits, then the mother dies of flu and the children are left to fend for themselves. Many of the residents suffer terrible losses, one woman who lost her infant son to the flu, tries to mitigate the loss by ‘informally adopting’ (i.e., kidnapping), the twin infants from the German immigrant neighbor where the mother has died from the flu by impersonating a traveling nurse, which was a service that was going on at the time of the epidemic. Things were so chaotic at that time, and people in the neighborhood generally kept to their own kind with communication barriers from the differing immigrant populations, so who would have really known any better? The reader follows along with their struggles and through the aftermath and gets an idea of what it was like during that period of time. It also reminds you to be grateful that Covid was not as bad as it was first predicted to be, even though it was pretty bad. ( )