I did enjoy
this book. It told the story of the McAlister
family who were so affected after they lost their Father and their Mother
became ill and went into the hospital with pneumonia. The younger children were sent to children’s
homes, one boy Garth to the boy’s home and Katie and Grace to the girl’s home
in London. Their older sister, Laura,
was away working as a lady’s maid so she could send money home regularly to
help out their Mom. By the time she got word, kids were forced into the orphan’s
homes and her Mom was at the Hospital and their home was locked out due to no
one paying the rent so Laura couldn’t stay there or get to their
belongings. She left her job, and went
in search of her sisters and brother.
Laura went about trying to find her siblings, at risk of costing her the
job she had, and found the orphan’s home wouldn’t let her see her siblings that
she had no say over what happened to them if she wasn’t married or had no legal
papers. Orphan’s at that time were sent
often by boat into Canada by the hundreds, where they were sold into homes to
work as household staff or farm laborers.
Whether they were truly orphans or not in some cases. This book is about Laura’s trip across the
ocean after visiting the homes and finding her siblings are gone.
Andrew
Frasier who is working as an attorney, but is due to inherit the home Laura was
working at, and they kind of form an alliance to find her family but at the
same time Andrew is looking for the truth, are these children who are sent to
orphanages or on to Canada, are they treated well and are they truly better off
in the homes they find for them…are they even truly orphans in the first place
all of them. He’s willing to help Laura
as much as he can. The entire book is
also about their relationship to each other as they are searching for these
children and checking on others who have been placed. This book also is a lot about Laura’s
relationship with God and how he helps her in the rough times. It is a book that could be easily read in
just a day or two. I tried to make it last.
I read so many kindle books and love to have books that I can hold in my
hands. The book was very interesting as
the back drop the stories of orphans or children whose parents fall on hard
times were truly forced into working for their livelihoods until 18 and many
were not treated well in the homes, they were placed in. There were hundreds that were placed against
their will as that was a common practice back then. The author spent a lot of time obviously
reading up on the history of this subject before she tackled this book. She did a fabulous job telling their stories through
this book. I think it was very well
written and very interesting.
I received
this book as I was put on the review team for this book through the publishing
house Waterbrook & Multnomah and was asked to read the book and to publish
an honest review which I have.
#NoOceanTooWide #CarrieTuransky #Waterbrook&Multnomah
Description
as found on Good Reads: Between the years of 1869 to 1939 more than
100,000 poor British children were sent across the ocean to Canada with the
promise of a better life. Those who took them in to work as farm laborers or
household servants were told they were orphans–but was that the truth?
After the tragic loss of their father, the McAlister family is living at the edge of the poorhouse in London in 1908, leaving their mother to scrape by for her three younger children, while oldest daughter, Laura, works on a large estate more than an hour away. When Edna McAlister falls gravely ill and is hospitalized, twins Katie and Garth and eight-year-old Grace are forced into an orphans’ home before Laura is notified about her family’s unfortunate turn of events in London. With hundreds of British children sent on ships to Canada, whether truly orphans or not, Laura knows she must act quickly. But finding her siblings and taking care of her family may cost her everything.
Andrew Fraser, a wealthy young British lawyer and heir to the estate where Laura is in service, discovers that this common practice of finding new homes for penniless children might not be all that it seems. Together Laura and Andrew form an unlikely partnership. Will they arrive in time? Will their friendship blossom into something more?
Inspired by true events, this moving novel follows Laura as she seeks to reunite her family and her siblings who, in their darkest hours, must cling to the words from Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God”
After the tragic loss of their father, the McAlister family is living at the edge of the poorhouse in London in 1908, leaving their mother to scrape by for her three younger children, while oldest daughter, Laura, works on a large estate more than an hour away. When Edna McAlister falls gravely ill and is hospitalized, twins Katie and Garth and eight-year-old Grace are forced into an orphans’ home before Laura is notified about her family’s unfortunate turn of events in London. With hundreds of British children sent on ships to Canada, whether truly orphans or not, Laura knows she must act quickly. But finding her siblings and taking care of her family may cost her everything.
Andrew Fraser, a wealthy young British lawyer and heir to the estate where Laura is in service, discovers that this common practice of finding new homes for penniless children might not be all that it seems. Together Laura and Andrew form an unlikely partnership. Will they arrive in time? Will their friendship blossom into something more?
Inspired by true events, this moving novel follows Laura as she seeks to reunite her family and her siblings who, in their darkest hours, must cling to the words from Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God”
