The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham

 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada

Publication date:March 3rd 2020

Pages: 384

The book starts and the reader gets to meet main character Winnie in the present time, who is now and elderly lady. It is when her great grandson Jamie sees on of her old suitcases that he asks about her past and their family tree. And then she starts talking about her tragic past.

Winnie grew up in Liverpool. In 1936, when she was 14 years old, she ran away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary, Jack, and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. When the children are caught stealing food, Winny and Mary are left in Dr. Barnardo’s Barkingside Home for Girls, a local home for orphans and forgotten children found in the city’s slums. At Barkingside, Winny learns she will soon join other boys and girls in a faraway place called Canada, where families and better lives await them.

But when they embark in Canada, they find out every child is going to a different place, and everyone is separated from friends and brothers and sisters. Winnie finds herself waiting for hours on a train station alone for her new family. She is picked up by a grumpy woman who just bought her to work at their chicken farm. Winnie is treated badly and has to sleep in the barn, and is badly taken care of, is disappointed in her new life, but what can she do? She is not treated as another daughter in the family, she is just a servant on their farm, as many other children are used as slaves and indentured servants, starved, beaten, abused in every way, forgotten by the country they left and despised by the country that was supposed to give them a better life.

She hopes to see her friends from the children's home back someday, even does Jack, the other main character of the book. He also landed in a bad home, but luckily he lands in a better place later on, and when he is older he becomes an allied soldier in world war two, and that is where the worlds of Winnie, who has become a nurse, come together again, and they also find out what happened to Winnie s friend Mary, and Winnie has to fullfill a promise she made to her.

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading, but oh, this book totally wiped me away!! The story is based on true events, as in that time frame many British children made the move to Canada. I never heard of this before, so I actually also learned about this history. The book reminded me alot of the book The Orphan Train because the situations where pretty similar. And just as that book, this book was written beautifully. This is one of those books that you sit down after you have read it and take a deep breath.The main characters were unique and memorable and you truly want to know what will happen to them next, and hope that their lives will make a turn for the better. There are some cruel scenes involving the abuse of children which were very hard to read, but they were necessary to bring forth the full cycle of betrayal and abuse these children felt throughout this devastating experience. I am happy to report that not all the faced abuse and neglect, but many did and this book gives those innocent children a voice.

I was truly moved by this impressive story and highly recommend it!!