I had three "orphan" books  ... this one, The Orphan Keeper & The Orphan's Tale. I figured I'd get through them all here in February. This, as with the others, was fine, but not something that will stick in my memory, or would be something I'd rush to recommend. 

Here, like with The Orphan Keeper, I had to make sure I got the original, NOT the "adapted for young readers" version ... which I did, for the borrowed Kindle copy from the library. The audio is an Audible Exclusive that I'd picked up during a sale, and I had the physical copy (intended for my LFL#182597). It's a nice paperback with deckled edges. I was SO CONFUSED at the differences in the Kindle copy, until I realized it was the adaptation. Luckily the original was also available for me to borrow. 

Two timelines ... one in the present/2011 and one in the past (starting in 1929 going through 1943). Both in PRESENT tense. The 2011 timeline/Molly's was 3rd person, and the present tense felt stilted in it. In the older timeline, it was first person (Viv/Niamh/Dorothy). The shift felt a little random ... yes, in the 2011 they are starting to look through things from the past, but in other "two timeline" books, they are often reading from a journal/letter, or having a story told. That wasn't specifically happening here.

There were no numerical chapters ... the Table of Contents (in Kindle/Audio ... no TOC in the physical copy) showed the headers, which consisted of the location/date. I would have preferred to numbered chapters too. It's too difficult to try to move between formats ... I know in audio I'm in one of the Spruce Harbor/2011 (Molly) chapters, but which one, to find the same spot in the Kindle or physical copy??

I went primarily with audio. Two narrators listed ... the prologue had one woman, older (Vivian, although at that time no name is given, the reader isn't sure who is speaking), then moved to a younger sounding narrator for the Molly sections ... AND the "past" sections. Ummmmm, WHY. Didn't the producer have two narrators? Two different/distinct voices for the two women? Yes, in the "past" sections, the MC is much younger than she is in the "present" sections, but she's telling her story, it should be her voice! The voice we just heard in the prologue. Instead, it's the same voice, Molly's voice, just with a slight Irish accent. Now, Molly's section is 3rd person, so technically it's some omniscient narrator's voice, but to me, the narration almost ruined it for me. I needed more distinction between the past and the present, a different feel. Having "Molly's" voice (as she was Molly when we first hear her, for two chapters before the time shifts) be "young Vivan's voice" too (slightly accented) ... did NOT work for me. I think it would have been a completely different listen/experience if they had the second narrator voice all of the "past" parts in addition to the prologue. 

It was a sad story. I've read Before We Were Yours and just finished The Orphan Keeper ... both addressing children being taken to be "sold" to new families. Here, while there was some desire for monetary or personal gain, there seemed to be some desire to get kids into new families ... although not much checking to make sure they would be GOOD families. 

There was some proFanity (x8). Other words I noticed ... preternatural, swathe, riffling, cache (narrator pronounced it "cash-ay"), "apropos of nothing" ...

Appreciated the extras - a Q&A with the author and some discussion questions (in the Kindle/Print copies).