Butler Women of Wisdom Book Club

Hi Everyone, Our meeting for the novel The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline was well attended. Becky, Barb K., Cheryl, Christine G., Ginnie, Lori, Mary Beth, Sharon, and I met at Panera Bread for our discussion. The book was hauntingly fascinating as we learned about an occurrence in American history of which none of us were familiar, the marketing of orphans.  The major themes in Baker’s novel include fortitude and the human ability to thrive. The main character Vivian, a 90 year old woman, must come to terms with her childhood and the trauma caused from her experiences of loss and the abuse she suffered as an orphan. Vivian draws her endurance during her orphaned years by remembering her family, especially the time she spent living with her dad’s parents in Ireland. Vivian kept that spark of faith close to her heart through the hardest of times as an orphan. She wore, unceasingly, the claddagh charm her grandmother gave her for many years. The charm represe...