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The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic is a work of an internationally bestselling author Ellen Marie Wiseman. This book was an instant New York Times Bestseller. This heroic novel is a gripping and powerful tale of upheaval--a heartbreaking saga of resilience and hope--set in Philadelphia during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak--the deadly pandemic that went on to infect one-third of the world's population.
In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the US Army. But as her city celebrates the end of the war, and even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish Flu. Funeral crepe and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off illness. When food runs out in the cramped tenement she calls home, Pia must venture alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind.
Bernie Grove has become lost in grief and bitterness since her baby died from the Spanish flu. She makes a shocking, life-altering decision when she sees Pia leaving her brothers alone. It becomes her sinister mission to tear families apart when they are at their most vulnerable, planning to transform the city's orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are 'true Americans'.
Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum - the first step in a long and arduous journey. As Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost in the months and years that follow, Pia must confront her won shame and fear, risking everything to see justice - and love -triumph at last. Powerful, harrowing, and ultimately exultant, The Orphan Collector is a story of love resilience, and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.
"Readers will not be able to help making comparisons to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he little has changed since 1918. Wiseman has written a touching tale of loss, survival, and perseverance with some light fantastical elements. Highly recommended."-- Booklist
"An immersive historical tale with chilling twists and turns. Beautifully told and richly imagined."-- Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of America's First Daughter
About the Author
Ellen Marie Wiseman is a first-generation German-American who was born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in Northern New York. She is the New York Times bestselling author of highly acclaimed historical fiction novels: The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind, The Plum Tree, Coal River, and The Life She Was Given. Her novels have been translated into nearly 20 languages. They have been a boon part of many prestigious reading groups such as Women's National Book Association and National Reading Group Month.
Her debut novel 'The Plum Tree' is loosely based on her childhood memories when she visited her mother's hometown in Germany. She fell in love with the country's culture and tradition and learned the heartrending details of her family's struggle to survive the poverty and chaos of WWII.
She is a mother of two and lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and dogs. When she is not busy meeting her deadlines, she would be spending her time with her children and grandchildren, cooking, swimming, and boating. She can be found @ EllenMarieWiseman.com
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| Ellen M Wiseman |
Author: Ellen Marie Wiseman
Publisher: Kensington
Publishing Date: August 4, 2020
Edition Language: English
Genre: World War II Historical Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction, Literary Fiction
ISBN-10: 1496715861
ISBN-13: 978-1496715869
Pages: 304 (Paperback)
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