The Orphan Collector

By: Ellen Marie Wiseman

Narrated by: Rachel Botchan

Ellen Marie Wiseman, acclaimed author of What She Left Behind and The Life She Was Given, weaves the stories of two very different women into a thrilling novel as suspenseful as it is poignant, set amid one of history's deadliest pandemics.

In the fall of 1918, 13-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the US Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone....

Since her baby died days ago, Bernice Groves has been lost in grief and bitterness. If doctors hadn't been so busy tending to hordes of immigrants, perhaps they could have saved her son. When Bernice sees Pia leaving her tenement across the way, she is buoyed by a shocking, life-altering decision that leads her on a sinister mission: to transform the city's orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are "true Americans".

As Pia navigates the city's somber neighborhoods, she cannot know that her brothers won't be home when she returns. And it will be a long and arduous journey to learn what happened - even as Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost. Only with persistence, and the courage to face her own shame and fear, will Pia put the pieces together and find the strength to risk everything to see justice at last.

©2020 Ellen Marie Wiseman (P)2020 Recorded Books

Great story but narrator struggled

The narrator has a lovely voice but there were numerous instances when it clearly sounded as though she was reading a script, turning pages, or lost her place. It was distracting

Gripping tale unlike any other I’ve read!

This was an excellent historical fiction book. I am absolutely shocked that it was included with the audible membership. I would have paid to read this. It was exceptionally written, the characters were dynamic and the story kept me so engaged. Although, it is brutally sad.

Gripping story with a good ending

This was really a good book. So many horrible and sad deaths but in the end it all turned out right. Just enough to keep you reading!

Wonderful yet sorrowful story

This is a wonderful story, but so very sad. I wanted to listen to it at any free moment, it was very captivating, right from the get-go. I easily was able to imagine the characters and their emotions. Wonderfully narrated, and an absolutely mesmerizing story.

spellbinding to the end!

The story was told perfectly from beginning to end. I hurt along with Pia for her brothers and parents. I know so much of this is truly reflective of how children were treated in early orphanages and it is heartbreaking.