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    The Orphan Collector
    The Orphan Collector
    The Orphan Collector
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Orphan Collector

    Written by Ellen Marie Wiseman

    Narrated by Rachel Botchan

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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 page-turning novel as suspenseful as it is poignant, set amid one of
    history’s deadliest pandemics.

    In the fall of 1918, thirteen-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 U.S. 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateAug 4, 2020
    ISBN9781980075707
    The Orphan Collector
    Author

    Ellen Marie Wiseman

    Ellen Marie Wiseman is the New York Times bestselling author of the highly acclaimed historical fiction novels The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind, The Plum Tree, Coal River and The Life She Was Given. Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in northern New York, she’s a first-generation German American who discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in New York State. Since then, her novels have been published worldwide, translated into twenty languages, and named to “Best Of” lists by Reading Group Choices, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, The Historical Novel Society, Great Group Reads, and more. A mother of two, Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and dog. Visit her online at EllenMarieWiseman.com.

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    Reviews for The Orphan Collector

    4.5/5

    268 ratings31 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Interesting characters and engaging story but rather convoluted and overly dramatic.
    • 3/5
      The plot of this book was very intriguing. I especially loved that there were two villains in the story: Nurse Wallace and the Influenza itself. My only difficulty with this book was that it went on for too long. Parts of it seemed repetitive to me, especially with Pia agonising over the loss of her brothers. However, I suspect that was done to recreate the internal strife that she was constantly battling with so all in all it was a good read.
    • 5/5
      Very well written and loved the ending
      Great character development
    • 5/5
      My heart was encaptured by this novel. I recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Kept me going to the end - fascinating to compare against our pandemic. We just don't know how good we have it. Over the top descriptions of the characters internal struggles were a little much at times but the book is certainly worth a read. It is harrowing at times though, I don't know if I was prepared for the degree of discomfort I was facing in parts.
    • 5/5
      Well done!We’ve learned a lot from this book, it emphasizes the power of one, or a team …
    • 3/5
      Great event to write about, but way too long and repetitious. It could have been a sleek stark tale but Pia spends too much time chastising herself. Zzz…Also a couple of aggravating plot holes. Wiseman needs a tougher editor.
    • 5/5
      Quite interesting reading after going through COVID. I am grateful that medicine has improved so much over the last 105 years.
    • 5/5
      All I can say is only the characters are fictional. The Flu Epidemic of 1918 taking place in Philadelphia. Although it had hit the world much like today’s COVID19 Virus.

      Pia is pre-teen immigrant who not only has to fight poverty, ignorance the horrific losses of her family but also the ever-present ugliness of prejudice.
      Pia watches as the horrible virus ravages not only her family but as far as she can see every family in her forlorn tenement. Those not affected lived in fear and weren’t helpful to anyone in need.

      Her four-month-old twin brothers are hungry, her mother has died and left to rot in her bedroom. With only the desire in her heart to find food for her brothers, she must find a way to keep them safe until she returns, and she hides them in a place where she is positive no one will ever look.

      In a building across the courtyard, a woman embittered by the loss of her only child is consumed with hatred of immigrants and wishes she too could die to be with him in heaven. Having had words with Pia’s mother prior to her death she wonders why the “dirty foreigners” children were allowed to live while hers died.

      She watches Pia slip out of her building and wonders why she is leaving. She goes over to investigate and finds Pia’s dead mother but where are the babies?

      Pia gets sick while searching for sustenance for her brothers and faints, when she awakens, she finds that she is in an orphanage and has been their for days. What has happened to her brothers.

      It sets in motion a heinous crime against the disenfranchised hidden effectively under the cloak of the epidemic.
      This novel tells of the horrors of a time that could have easily been us in 2020. I had just retired from job (a second time) just before it hit. I dodged a bullet, because a few people got really sick after I left.

      You would think we would learn from the past, but alas in a time of narcissistic political leanings, many lives were lost and continue to do so.

      Unfortunately, we are leaving our children a hell not of their making. Hopefully there will be someone strong and determined like Pia to NEVER GIVE UP.





    • 5/5
      Great book, I didn’t realize the Spanish Flu was so much worse of an epidemic than covid! So many children were orphaned.
    • 5/5
      Great book!! Especially considering the current pandemic. You won’t want to put it down.
    • 5/5
      This story is heart wrenching. I almost stopped reading it several times because one of the main characters is so vile that I couldn’t stand to listen to her inner thoughts another second. But I pushed through and finished it. I am so glad I did! The ending was satisfying.

      The author did an amazing job at making you feel what the characters were feeling. Some of the best writing I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I had to remind myself that the characters were fictional.
    • 5/5
      The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman1918 Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu. Thirteen year old German immigrant Pia Lange (is) living in the slums with her Mother and infant twin Brothers, her Her Father is off at war. Tragedy strikes and Pia does what she thinks is best for her family. She then wakes up after collapsing on the streets and is taken to St. Vincent’s Orphanage. Now she wants answers and begins a journey for truth, justice and redemption.Bernice Groves is living in grief after the death of her infant son and Husband. She watches young Pia leave and not return. Despising immigrants, blaming them for all that is wrong in the Country, she sets out on an evil mission, one that will destroy the lives of many.A compelling story of life during the Spanish Flu and what people will do to survive. Told with accuracy of the era, tragic (often) heart-breaking events was chilling, emotionally charged. I was engrossed from the first page until the end.I highly recommend The Orphan Collector to those who enjoy Historical fiction. A true five-star read that will leave an impression on your heart.
    • 4/5
      The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman (4 stars)I picked this up on one of my browsing expeditions at Barnes and Noble after stores were starting to open up again from the current pandemic. It seemed particularly relevant in our Covid recovering world, because it is a historical fiction novel about the Spanish flu epidemic at the beginning of the 1900’s. It follows people living in a poorer section of Philadelphia, which was particularly hard hit during the flu epidemic. It mixes historical details of the time by specifically delving into the life of a German immigrant family whose father, wanting to prove loyalty to his new country, enlists in the Army and is sent off to battle in Europe during WWI. His family, for various reasons, are unable to contact their father, and this leaves the mother and her children struggling along to make ends meet as the epidemic hits, then the mother dies of flu and the children are left to fend for themselves. Many of the residents suffer terrible losses, one woman who lost her infant son to the flu, tries to mitigate the loss by ‘informally adopting’ (i.e., kidnapping), the twin infants from the German immigrant neighbor where the mother has died from the flu by impersonating a traveling nurse, which was a service that was going on at the time of the epidemic. Things were so chaotic at that time, and people in the neighborhood generally kept to their own kind with communication barriers from the differing immigrant populations, so who would have really known any better? The reader follows along with their struggles and through the aftermath and gets an idea of what it was like during that period of time. It also reminds you to be grateful that Covid was not as bad as it was first predicted to be, even though it was pretty bad.
    • 4/5
      I was a little reluctant to read The Orphan Collector because I knew it had to do with the 1918 Spanish Flu. With the Covid-19 pandemic going on, I wasn't sure I really wanted to read about people dying in a similar state. I was, however, intrigued by the idea of someone taking advantage of the situation to mishandle children even with how horrible that sounded. I have to say, that when I finally took the time to read the book, I found it to be a very interesting and well written book. It felt very well researched in regard to the Spanish Flu epidemic. I was able to feel the horror of the situation through the writing. 4 stars from me.
    • 4/5
      Good fast read. Ending a bit too hollywood. A few loose ends.
    • 5/5
      This book was tremendous reading especially in light of the current pandemic. Such a story about a young girl named Pia and an evil woman named Bernice. The reality is that there is probably a lot of truth to this story in the facts of the selling of children from orphanages in times of old. Reading this book gives one much to think about for sure.
    • 3/5
      The premise to this book is great; however, the writing style was just not to my liking. It read like a young adult novel with far too many questions when the author tried to reveal what the character was thinking: "Who will be behind the door? What if father is not there? Where will I go?, etc. Pia Lange is a young girl in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu of 1918. Her father has left for the war and her German speaking mother is attempting to raise Pia and her baby twin brothers by herself. When the mother dies, Pia is left in charge. Attempting to find help, he temporarily leaves the brothers only to get sick while away. When she returns days later, they are gone. From there the story follows Pia through her days in an orphanage, her time working for a kind family, and her constant search for her brothers.There is a bit too much coincidence to seem realistic and the babies (there are many babies in the book) all seem to easily fall asleep and take many naps. The story was alright, but not near as engaging as it could have been. The good characters are all good, and the bad characters are all bad.
    • 4/5
      Wiseman really captures the time period of the Spanish Flu epidemic in Philadelphia and the devastation it caused to children and families. It was so eery reading this during our present Covid Pandemic, the similarities were extraordinary!
    • 4/5
      I have mixed feelings about this book. It was gripping in the way it depicted the effects of the Spanish flu on the people (especially the poor) of Philadelphia. For a large portion of the book, Pia suffered at the hands of adults. I don't find it easy to read about children suffering, so I didn't really enjoy those parts. I don't think that affects my rating though.What does affect my rating is having so much of the book told from Bernice's point of view. Generally I don't enjoy reading chapters from the point of view of a villain anyway, and Bernice was an exceptionally horrible person. Though she was far from the only person at the time to experience loss, she thought her loss justified lying, stealing, and worse. Plus she was full of hate. Every chapter she seemed to be up to something even more evil than the previous chapter. I did not enjoy her chapters at all.I did find the very end to be satisfying.
    • 4/5
      An girl named Pia and a woman named Bernice play out their stories during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Pia is young, naive, and emotionally devasted by the losses she suffers as the pandemic rages around her tenement in Philadelphia. Bernice also suffers terrible losses, but responds very differently and in a much more calculated manner. As their intertwining stories play out the reader is given vivid descriptions of the horrors of the influenza, and the poverty that immigrants like Pia faced every day. Pia loses her family and has to navigate life on her own, finding some people kind and helpful but others not. It takes a while to sort out who is truly on her side, and for her search for the truth to be satisfied. Fortunately, the pieces are all resolved by the end.I enjoyed this book, though the descriptions of the horrors of the influenza and the hardships Pia faced were hard to read at times. I really disliked Bernice's actions and I found it hard to fathom a reasonable motive for some of her actions. Pia's unusual ability was an interesting twist, and she was by far the most interesting character. Seeing how she grew and adapted to her changing circumstances was a part of the joy of reading the book. I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction and coming of age stories.
    • 4/5
      This novel is set in Philadelphia in 1918 at the confluence of the Spanish flu and the end of WWI. The Langes are a German family in a community that is often hostile toward Germans, so they do their best to hide their heritage. The father, Vader, enlists in the army, leaving his wife, daughter and twin infant sons. The family lives in an apartment in a very poor section of Philadelphia. Pia is 13 when her beloved mother dies of the flu, and she does everything possible to care for her tiny brothers. When she eventually decides she has to find sustenance for them, she places them in a cubby in the closet to keep them safe, and heads out with little money to find all the shops are closed due to the virus. The twins are found by a neighbor, Bernice, who has just lost her infant son and husband to the virus.What follows is a harrowing account for Pia when she is confined to an orphanage. Bernice would best be labeled a White Supremist, and makes it her business to rid Philadelphia of all children who are not "real Americans" by sending them to different parts of the country in her guise as a Red Cross nurse while lining her own pockets. This book is particularly fascinating given our current climate of the pandemic and immigration.
    • 3/5
      When 13 year old Pia's mother falls ill from the Spanish flu, she is left alone to take care of her twin brothers. Once they run out of food, she leaves the twins behind and searches for supplies. While out, she collapses and is sent to a hospital for Spanish flue victims. Bernice Groves, after losing her infant son, see's Pia leave her apartment. She enters the apartment and upon finding the twins alone, takes then. Once Pia has recovered, she is sent to an orphanage, but she never stops looking for her brothers. Across the city, Bernice finds ways to take immigrant children, putting them on trains, taking them away from their families and to the orphanage, all in a misguided attempt to "Americanize" them.This book was a bit slow to start. The beginning chapters felt very much like rambling. I almost put the book down, but pressed through. The story vastly improved once the author finished introducing the city, time period, and characters. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      Ellen Marie Wiseman’s The Orphan Collector is set in 1918 Philadelphia, during the Spanish flu pandemic. Thirteen year-old Pia lives with her German immigrant family- Mom, twin baby brothers, while her father is away fighting for his new country in Europe in WWI as part of the U.S. Army. The war has just ended, and thousands of people attend a celebratory parade, including Pia, her mother and brothers. Soon, people all over Philadelphia are dying from the Spanish flu. It is a gruesome death, and people fear seeing the black fabric tied to doors indicating a death there.Pia is left to care for her baby brothers, but soon the food runs out and she must venture outside to find supplies. When she faints and comes to in the hospital, it is days later and Pia is panicked about her brothers.Unbeknownst to Pia, her neighbor Bernice sees her leave and hears the babies crying. Bernice is bereft after losing her beloved baby boy to the flu, and makes a decision that will define her and Pia’s life going forward.Pia ends up in an orphanage, filled with children who have lost their parents to the flu. Even though she is trapped, she cannot stop searching for clues as to what happened to her brothers. Bernice meanwhile has come upon an idea. Angered at the immigrant families she believes responsible for the deadly flu, Bernice uses the children in orphanages to fulfill a greedy plan.When Bernice and Pia’s paths cross, can Pia discover what happened to her brothers? The Orphan Collector is a brilliantly written, riveting piece of historical fiction. Every detail feels so authentic. You will find yourself dropped right into 1918 Philadelphia, and feel like you are right alongside Pia as she never gives up her quest to find her brothers. Fans of Christina Baker Kline’s The Orphan Train and Lisa Wingate’s “Before We Were Yours” should put this next on their reading list.
    • 5/5
      Pia is a young, German girl living in the slums of Philadelphia with her twin brothers and her mother. Her father is fighting in the war overseas and they are struggling to survive. Then her mother dies of the Spanish Flu and the struggle worsens. Pia does everything she can to keep her family together. She slips out one day to find food and leaves her brothers at home alone. She collapses in the street and wakes up in a hospital sick with the flu. She is desperate to get to her brothers, but sadly, she is sent to an orphanage.Pia struggles through most of her life. She is constantly trying to find a way to find her brothers. Adding to her stress is the orphanage…don’t even get me started! Then there is Bernice. She is pure evil and you MUST read this to find out why!When I finished this read, I honestly said, “WOW!” This story is ripped straight from today’s headlines. Even though it is set in 1913, we are still fighting the same battles, immigration, racism and an epidemic. This novel also pulls at your heartstrings and I swear you just want to cry over some of these children.You DO NOT want to miss this one! Grab your copy today!I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
    • 5/5
      Of the 75 books I have read so far this year, this is one of the best! The writing quickly pulled me in, and I became totally lost in the story. Definitely a selection for my book club.It may have been 102 years ago, but the story is especially relevant to us today as we fight a pandemic and deal with immigrant and racial issues. The story has moments of tenderness, but also the grim reality of those who strove to survive through the rampant illness and lack of food, while others took advantage of them. I sometimes found myself holding my breath, afraid of what might happen next as the paths of 13-year-old Pia Lange and Bernice Groves, a widow and grieving mother, continued to cross over the years.Pia is a wonderfully brave little girl, and my heart ached for her as she endured one loss after another. She carried too heavy a burden of guilt and secrets for such a young girl. And Bernice Groves, the villainess you love to hate, was very well portrayed. Amongst all her cruelness and deviousness, there were fleeting moments when I almost felt sorry for her. The pacing of the story is superb! It is a complex book, introducing us to a wide array of wonderful characters. But they are gradually introduced and well developed, so I had no difficulty keeping track of them. My attention never once waned from the story. The plotlines were masterfully controlled so that as one would start to lag, another would pick up. The story tugged on my heartstrings, while also filling me with disgust over how some people could be so cruel and heartless. I am in total awe of the writing in this incredibly special book. Put this on your TBR list right now.
    • 5/5
      The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman is Historical Fiction about the Spanish Flu and World War I that took place over a hundred years ago. Realistic descriptions of sounds, sights and smells of a plague with cries to bring out your dead to be picked up by collectors. All of these deaths at the same time as World War I, another tragedy of death that impacted so many. People take advantage of others in unexpected ways especially the weak and orphans. Evil and greed abound with an ease that seems unimaginable. I did not want this book to end because the history, woven into the character’s stories, seemed very real. I especially enjoyed the historical information, research notes and suggested reading.What a pleasure to be an early reader of this newest historical fiction by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Don’t miss any of her books if you love historical fiction. I highly recommend every book she has written.I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 5 Stars
    • 5/5
      What a gift you are getting when you begin turning the pages of this read, and believe me they go fast, and the end is there before you realize.What a timely read, who would have thought that in a way history would be repeating itself?This story is set in Philadelphia, and life is hard, but no one could have seen how bad it was going to get. First there is a war raging in Europe, then the pandemic, and now orphans.The author used to magic with the character of Pia, and her counter, not so nice character of Bernice, aka Nurse Wallis, and our journey for reuniting.Come journey with Pia as she searches for her brothers, ends up in an Orphanage, and is sent as a helper, as she shares her gift!Be sure to read the author's notes at the, excellent!I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Kensington, and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 5/5
      THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR reads like the best kind of Historical Fiction = it comes a total surprise that it is not based on real people or events!The "stench of dead bodies" is rendered as vividly as the reality that New York City holds for its citizens today: van after van carrying more Coronavirus dead to the morgue and then to an island for burial. Doctors, nurses, nuns, and funeral people dying along with the many, many rich and poor, adults and children.Important red alerts warn us that this 1918 Spanish Flu had three waves before normalcy of a sort returned after 9 long months.Dialogue and Pia's inner monologues carry the plot which is exciting to follow, yet often repeats her concerns. A name for Pia's healing abilities would be great.With so much death and loss, Pia's care by the Hudson family and final redemptions, though fairly predictable, were welcome.
    • 5/5
      This author is a favorite since I read "What She Left Behind." So I was very happy to be chosen by Netgalley and the publisher to read this book in exchange for a review. This book did not disappoint and turned out to be a very timely book with the COVID outbreak and quarantine. The book begins with the victory bond parade in Philadelphia during WWI in 1918. Pia the eldest daughter and child in her family wanted to stay home but her mother made her go as they want to be seen by their neighbors as very patriotic. They are German from Germany. Pia and her mother attend the parade with her baby twin brothers. Unfortunately, the Spanish flu attended also. Within a couple of days, large numbers of people are dying in the city and there is no help to be had. Whole families die or parents die and children are left to starve. Pia's mother dies but she and her brothers remain healthy. Pia makes do but eventually she must leave her brothers alone to find food. When she returns they are gone. I had to stop and start this book because I was torn about one of the characters. Was she evil or suffering from postpartum depression or driven mad by circumstances and hunger? I finally decided but I don't want to say a lot about the book to give everything away.