October Book Club Meeting Notes

Betty, Janet, Alice, Mary Ann, Carole, Robin, and Dianne met for October's discussion of Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, which Kathleen hosted. Everyone liked this book, so we started with a round-the-table sharing of reasons why. Betty liked the feel-good fairytale aspect of the story, and how it was a coming-of-age story not just for Molly, but for Vivian. Mary Ann particularly liked Molly's part of the story. Robin was struck by the theme of how what we go through makes us who we are, and the emphasis Kline placed on happiness as a choice. Janet enjoyed the differing points-of-view and how the stories intertwined, as well as the sense of place (the Maine setting); she also liked learning about the historical background of the orphan trains. Alice mentioned meeting a man once who said he was an orphan, but what he meant was that his family couldn't afford to raise him, and placed him in an orphanage. Carole wondered why all these orphans were being shipped west when at the same time, whole families affected by the Dust Bowl were managing to stay together to migrate further west. Everyone was rather taken aback by how so many of the children were just sent off to new families without anyone following up very closely, and Janet pointed out that even the best intentions can wind up very twisted. Dianne reminded us that the state of Maine had an unfortunate history of doing something very similar with Native American children, who until very recently were often taken away from their families and placed with white foster families on flimsy pretexts.

Kathleen posed the question of whether the book would have been stronger if Kline had just told Vivian's story, without moving back and forth through time. Robin felt that Molly was needed as the catalyst to help Vivian confront her past and bring her back to the land of the living, and Janet said that by including the present-day story, we are reminded that as a society we have not solved all of our problems. Then we had a bit of a discussion about the big secrets that Vivian keeps; why didn't she share them earlier in her life? Everyone felt it was a part of the time period (some things just weren't talked about), as well as an indication of Vivian's problems with trust. Janet wondered if perhaps we don't keep enough secrets now, and there was strong feeling that maybe we don't!