The Orphan Train

by Steve Brigman

Set at the beginning of the 20th Century, The Orphan Train is the story of two children who meet on one of the infamous trains. Separated by adoption, they find each other later in life, and together, as outsiders, take on local prejudices and the perils associated with taking a stand.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Book Club, Fiction, Historical

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

After a decade as a newspaper editor, Steve Brigman left the newsroom to become a freelancer while beginning to write fiction. “The Old Wire Road,” his second historical novel, follows “The Orphan Train,” both set in the Missouri Ozarks. These days he splits his time between the Missouri Ozarks and the Colorado high country. His wife of 43 years, Kathy, and their best friend, Charley, enjoy driving backroads, hiking rocky trails and fly fishing clear streams, forever seeking discovery.

Reviews

[Reavis Wortham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fine writing and character insight by a master storyteller. Not since reading Power in the Blood by Greg Matthews have I found a study of Americana that's as compelling as The Orphan Train. Brigman has quickly established himself as a new novelist with a superb, coarse-grained voice that makes you want more. The Orphan Train is based on a history that was cold-hearted, sometimes tender, and extremely embarrassing for the Eastern U.S. between the years of 1859 and 1929. He takes the rich power of Dee Brown and mixes it with Thomas Berger's sprawling easel to paint a portrait of what it was like to hack a life out of the Ozark wilderness. Brigman is the Ozark's new narrator who will stand with Alan Le May, A.B. Guthrie, and of course, the above-mentioned Greg Matthews.

[Lori Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Orphan Train is an endearing story of a young boy’s life. Though he grows up an orphan, he maintains an optimistic vision of his future. Through the book, we learn his adult life is riddled with some tragedies, but there are wonderful surprised and great moments to treasure throughout the story. I adored all of the characters and quickly became invested in finding out his whole story. The book moves quickly and keeps your interest until the jaw-dropping end.

[Lindsay Andros · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is somehow not about the orphan train at all. It’s more of a romantic novel about people falling in love, getting married, and moving away. Not much true conflict until the final 5% of the book, and then it ends abruptly. Extremely tedious.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is NOT the book I thought it was. This is The Orphan Train by Steve Brigman. I thought it was Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline. But once I started it, I figured I would finish it. The only reason 'orphan train' is in the title is the fact that the 2 main characters met as children on one of those trains. This is more of a 'romantic' novel...not my favorite genre.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I was expecting the story be more about the orphan train experience. Instead the majority of the story is about their lives after they were adopted. Having said that, the story is an enjoyable read.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Orphan Train" actually is not a fitting title for this work. It is the story of two orphans from the trains who were adopted separately and is of course, fiction. There are some gaps in the story, some weak parts, but not a bad read overall.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just okay. I'm disappointed because it has little to do with trains and less to do with orphans. The title is misleading. I'm a fan of historical fiction and this was not that. I often forgot the time period because so few current events were mentioned. The writing was entertaining, but all over the place. I kept wondering - What does this have to do with the story? Where is this going? The ending is intense, but again, I had a hard time thinking about the book as one story. It felt more like a chronicle of a man's life and that man happened to be an orphan and happened to arrive in the Ozarks by train.

I cringed a few times when James would say things like "us men went on the porch for cigars because the we didn't enjoy female prattle" or some such line. The author's points about race discrimination comes across loud and clear. It seems he is trying to say something about sexual equality also, and the main female character is portrayed as strong, but she is overly chatty and trivialized in some ways. Her main strengths seem to be she can be coy when appropriate and can shoot as well as the men. Uggghh...

On the plus side, I enjoyed the characters. They are well developed, although I can't say I liked any of them. Except maybe Teddy and Sarah. Also, the description of the Ozarks and ranch life are well done and bring them to life.

Not a bad read, just not my cup of tea and not at all what I was expecting. On to My Heart Remembers or The Mail Order Kid? I'm open to suggestions.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, the title to this book is misleading. The two main characters did meet on an orphan train but very little about the book is about the orphan train experience which was disappointing to me since I had chosen it because I enjoy reading books sharing experiences people had with the orphan train. In spite of my initial disappointment, I did enjoy the book and it was a quick read for me.

The story starts with the main character, James, being chosen to go on an orphan train at the age of 9 or 10. On the orphan train, he meets a young girl who is extremely talkative and precocious. They quickly become friends but are separated when he is chosen by a family in the town of Joplin, MO and she is not. The book goes on from there to tell his story growing up to become a successful cattle rancher. Then his paths cross with that of the girl he met on the train. She now calls herself Venice and is the daughter of a wealthy rancher in Ft. Scott, KS---which is not far from Joplin. James meets her when her adoptive father comes to his ranch to purchase a bull.

Although I enjoyed the book, I am only rating it 3 stars because the character James seemed too perfect to me in every way. Also, the tragedy near the ending just didn't feel realistic to me. However, it was an enjoyable story and I particularly enjoyed reading about Venice's involvement in both social and political affairs. She was a much more realistic character for me.

[Nrofra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book for its honest depiction of history in America. Orphaned kids in big cities were put on trains and sent to the middle of the country to work. The violence the main character and other children fell victim to is horrific. This child just wanted to belong to a family and was repeatedly exploited. I had to put the book down just to digest it. It’s a good book however triggering and could be dangerous for some to even read. This book would be good to use to compare and contrast to Jane Eyre.

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is base on a true historical event, cold hearted, sometimes tender, and extremely embarrassing to the U.S. during 1824 - 1929. Thousands of orphan children were chosen to ride in trains to find Foster Parents. Some Foster Parents were cruel to the children, others were loving, it was pure luck to find good parents. This small piece of history is not well known throughout the United States. When the trains would stop, the local families would pick out the child to take as their own, mostly to work on farms or inside the house.

Steve Brigman brings us a fiction story of two children around 10 years old that was on the same train in the Ozarks, James and Vivian. James' parents owned a small ranch in the Ozarks. After they got settled in their home, a few years later James' father died in a tornado. A couple of years later James' mother was trying to save a calf during a strom and drown in the river. This left everything to James, he hired help with the ranch and became wealthy. As young people James and Vivian met again and married. Living a life of ups and downs with twists and turns, adventures and a surprise ending.

The story kept me turning the pages, it is well written, the characters were descriptive that came alive. The storyline is interesting and written by a good storyteller. I enjoyed this novel. Thanks Mr Brigman.

[Mike M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a very charming story throughout the lifetime of this character who began as an orphan and later grew and started a family after creating his own found family at first. Wonderful characters all around, and an incredible job at setting the scene in each chapter. My only gripe was the multitude of typos i ran into throughout the book that kind of tripped me up when i was invested.

[Ruth Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story

Wonderful book, although a bit long winded at times when describing scenery, or characters. Storyline was great, characters were wonderful, and easy to keep track of. Great read!

[Celeste Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! I enjoyed this book so very much. I really felt that I knew the characters personally as I was reading and I laughed, cried, shared their excitement and every other emotion with them. Bravo Steve Brigman!

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know about this time in history where orphans from the cities were sent to live and work in the midwest. While driving through Kansas we saw a sign for an orphan train museum. Unfortunately, could not stop.

[Beverly Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down. Although it is rather predictable it is an interesting story about part of our history I didn’t know that much about. Although not a lot of detailsAbout the actual orphan train it focuses on mainly one character. I really enjoyed it.

[Cindy Costerison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an ok book. Title is misleading since there are only a couple of pages that reference orphan trains.

[Aleisa Vanover · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Great story about love and loss

[TheReadingKnitter/ Kasey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is just a good love story. Not my typical read but still good and sad sometimes.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

History made by children

[Jolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story and learning about a part of history I hadn't known about before.

[Vikki Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and heartbreaking.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Held my interest all the way through.....abrupt, bombshell ending!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved story my Paw Paw on train

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know when I read this but the description it totally familiar. I recall feeling the plot a bit contrived.

[KDonoho · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good book. Very heartbreaking to read at times, but very impactful.

[J. Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok

I lost track of the orphans and a lot of characters to keep track of. I have read better books

[Lisa Gear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Club selection

[Elizabeth Gerich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Alicia Yip · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off as an enjoyable read but, then got monotonous.

[Haley Lott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It read nice. It was…simple? But the title is very misleading and it mostly was a romance where a lot of people died.