Kensington, Belletristik, The Orphan Collector (Englisch, Ellen Marie Wiseman, 2020)

Instant New York Times Bestseller From the internationally bestselling author of What She Left Behind comes a gripping and powerful tale of upheaval&mdash a heartbreaking saga of resilience and hope perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams and Kristin Hannah&mdash set in Philadelphia during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak&mdash the deadly pandemic that went on to infect one-third of the world&rsquo s population&hellip &ldquo Readers will not be able to help making comparisons to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how little has changed since 1918. Wiseman has written a touching tale of loss, survival, and perseverance with some light fantastical elements.&rdquo &mdash Booklist &ldquo An immersive historical tale with chilling twists and turns. Beautifully told and richly imagined.&rdquo &mdash Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of America&rsquo s First Daughter In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia&rsquo s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an 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. Bernice Groves has become lost in grief and bitterness since her baby died from the Spanish flu. Watching Pia leave her brothers alone, Bernice makes a shocking, life-altering decision. It becomes her sinister mission to tear families apart when they&rsquo re at their most vulnerable, planning to transform the city&rsquo s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are &ldquo true Americans.&rdquo Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent&rsquo s Orphan Asylum &ndash 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 own shame and fear, risking everything to see justice &ndash and love &ndash 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. &ldquo Wiseman&rsquo s writing is superb, and her descriptions of life during the Spanish Flu epidemic are chilling. Well-researched and impossible to put down, this is an emotional tug-of-war played out brilliantly on the pages and in readers&rsquo hearts.&rdquo &mdash The Historical Novels Review, EDITOR&rsquo S CHOICE &ldquo Wiseman&rsquo s depiction of the horrifying spread of the Spanish flu is eerily reminiscent of the present day and resonates with realistic depictions of suffering, particularly among the poorer immigrant population.&rdquo &mdash Publishers Weekly (Boxed Review) &ldquo Reading the novel in the time of COVID-19 adds an even greater resonance, and horror, to the description of the fatal spread of that 1918 flu.&rdquo &mdash Kirkus Review &ldquo An emotional roller coaster&hellip I felt Pia&rsquo s strength, courage, guilt, and grief come through the pages clear as day.&rdquo &mdash The Seattle Book Review.