This is one of books that get into your soul and stays with you. This is a fictional story based on historical happenings. The story goes between 2018 and 1936. It is the story of a group of children, some blood related but all heart related. They are the unwanted homeless children of London. They are eventually taken into the British Home Children program and sent to Canada to live with families and become”indentured servants” until they turn 18. . Most of the children find themselves in worse situations than they left. The story revolves around Winny, Jack, his sister Mary and a couple of their friends. They are separated when they reach Canada but promise they will find each other again. It’s promises made that can upend a life. Some promises should not be kept. There is heartbreak and triumph for these characters and each of them find a new life in their new country, although not always for the better or they expected. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this wonderful book. .

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion or this review.

I really enjoyed this book while hating the events at the same time. The home children program is one that I knew nothing about before reading this book. It is unbelievable that so many adults took advantage of, tortured and neglected innocent children with few actually facing consequences.

I felt so strongly for the children in this story. It remains a mystery to me that this program run by government had no follow up and checklists to confirm all children received what was set out in the contracts and especially basic essential rights.

This book happened in the past and I like to believe that people have changed since then and are willing to speak up and defend those less fortunate or different. I urge all Canadians to read this to learn about this unspoken part of history.

What a wonderful book! I had never heard of the British Home Children before reading it. They were a significant part of Canadian history, yet rather forgotten until recently. The story of Winny and Jack, and their little "family" was both heart breaking and inspiring. I could hardly put it down, because I really cared about the characters and where they'd end up. I would highly recommend this book.

I loved this book! The topic was one that I didn’t know a lot about, and I was engaged the whole time! The book follows a group of Home Children who came over from London to Canada to work with families and get a better life! But in reality, a lot of the children were mentally, physically, and sexually abused, and experienced a lot of trauma! As a Canadian, this is not something I knew a lot about. I didn’t know that many of these children coming over weren’t actually orphans, as the officials claimed them to be, and I didn’t know the extent of the abuse!
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The book follows mainly Winny and Jack, who come over in 1937 and have to work hard when they get over to Canada. Winny works on a farm and Jack works with a lumberjack who is cruel! Their stories tell a tale of tragedy, but also resiliency during tough times and innumerable loss! Winny and Jack were both great characters that I felt connected to the entirety of the book, which is really important to me as a reader! If you’re looking for a great historical fiction book, I highly recommend this! It comes out in March 2020!

The Forgotten Home Child is a true treasure to read. I had never heard of the British children who were sent to Canada until reading this book. Genevieve Graham is a wonderful story teller. This book is filled with vivid, detailed characters and their stories will continue to haunt your mind long after you finish reading this wonderful book. This book is heartbreaking, but what strikes me is how people could treat children with so much hatred. This author has done her homework and does a remarkable job of detailing this time in Canada's history. This book brings into focus how human's have both the capacity to love, but also the ability for unspeakable cruelty. Mary's story is haunting, but through it we are shown how the bonds of friendship and family can never be broken, and the heart's ability to endure when there is just a flicker of hope for something better. After reading this book, I feel like I know these characters and their stories will remain with me. Beautifully done, I could not put this book down!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book roped me in from the first chapter. In the 1930s the industrial revolution in England moved huge numbers of families to leave the rural areas to move to London to seek a better life. What they found was a filthy crowded city that had too many people, and not enough work. Disease, starvation and horrible living conditions awaited them. Children ran the streets wild and orphaned stealing what they could to survive.
An organization was set up by well meaning people to take these poor children, house them feed them and educate them. Unfortunately, they were quickly overcome as the need outstripped the facilities. To solve this crisis a plan was set up to send these children to Canada where they would live with families and help on farms as indentured servants until adulthood . Some found good families but many found themselves forever separated from parents and siblings and sent to families that “owned “ them.
The book takes a very dark turn as these owners could do whatever they wanted with them- brutal beatings, starvation and worse were common, as there was no oversight. Where they faced prejudice in London due to their low class, it was worse in Canada as they were not able to escape the labels as low moral disease ridden “ Home Children “ due to their clearly English accents.

The first half of the book is pretty bleak as the five main characters are separated from one another . As the children grow into young adulthood the book gets a bit brighter as some of them find escape and forge their own future. Each of them has secrets and shame about their past which comes back to haunt them and tragically impact the rest of their lives. No spoilers but the book however does end on a high note as love and forgiveness finally finds it’s way home.
Highly recommend for it’s historical education about mistakes made in the past that can never be repeated.

Really good story of Winnie, who at the age of 97, moves in with her granddaughter and great-grandson, and tells them the story of her life. How, at the age of 15, she was shipped from England to Canada, and sold to a farmer. She had to work hard and sleep in the barn. But, she showed her potential when sent to school, and her master's wife sent her to nursing school. She had it somewhat better than her friends from the streets in England, who were also shipped to Canada...

I feel bad admitting that I know very little Canadian history, even growing up less than 100 miles from the U.S./Canadian border. This wonderful novel sheds light on an interesting and heart breaking period of that history: the importing of street children from England to Canada. The author treats this frequently horrible episode with compassion and empathy. Her characters are so well developed that their suffering becomes the reader's pain. She covers a multitude of issues (loneliness, abuse, pregnancy, suicide, PTSD, etc.) but never loses sight of the humanity in each person. This is a tear-jerker but well worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon/Schuster for the ARC to read and review.

The Forgooten Home Child reveals Canadian history that many us know nothing about. This story draws you on the opening page and keeps your attention to the last sentence. The characters are well developed and demonstrate the struggles of living in the streets of London and as a home child in Canada. I would highly recommend this book. #netgalley

A book about survival and looking after close friends and family. Many British orphaned children were sent to Canada in the forties as indentured servants. A few managed to be taking in by decent folks but most lived in squalor and did hard labor for years. This is the story of how Jack and Winny, childhood friends managed to reconnect and eventually become husband and wife. Winny is for the first time telling her story to her great -grandson. It is a story full of secrets, sadness but also hope and resilience.

This was the saddest book I've read in awhile. I'm glad I read it.

Did you know an estimated 100,000 - 120,000 children were trafficked from England to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and elsewhere from around the 1860s-1948? And that 4 million Canadians today -- 12% of the population -- are estimated to descend from these kids?

A historical fiction, The Forgotten Home Child takes place during the mid-1930s (so, Depression-era) starting in London, England and then shifting to Ontario. Though the characters themselves are fictitious, they are based on real experiences of the Home Children.

The Home Children were in rare cases actual orphans, but in most cases, children to severely impoverished parents unable or unwilling to care for them. Orphanages sold off a surplus of these children to Canada, where they were indentured as servants until they turned 21. In this story, the kids were trained in various skills (boot making, cooking, sewing, etc) but in Canada, many were needed as farm laborers.

In this book, we follow five Home Children, and the story primarily focuses on Winny and Jack's experiences. These chapters are written in the third person. There are a handful of chapters in present day, told from Winny's perspective in the first person. The story takes us from 1936 to around 1952.

And oh, is this story a heart-breaker.

An excerpt (might be changed during final edits):

“Careful not to touch them,” the other woman replied, placing a gloved hand on her friend’s elbow and turning her attention ahead. “You know what they say about these little gutter rats. They’re all diseased and contagious.” “It’s a travesty,” the first went on. “Shame on England for dumping their garbage on us, and shame on our government for actually paying for it. Can you imagine? I read somewhere that there’s thousands of these creatures infesting the country now, and they’re degenerates, every one of them. Criminals. You just know the girls will all end up as prostitutes, if they’re not already.”

I cannot imagine what it must feel like to be so unwanted, so unloved, so unwelcome -- and to be further separated from your siblings and friends from the orphanage. The book made me think of my immigrant ancestors, my children, myself -- just trying to place myself in their situation, and it was rough. And then the shame that these people felt! There, but the grace of God, go I.

"Only one person in the whole world knows my story, and he has been gone for fifteen long years. Not even my beautiful daughter Susan knew the humiliating truth about her parents. Chrissie and Jamie are watching me, waiting, and my heart races as if I am standing on the edge of a cliff. I am ashamed to tell my story, but now I have no choice. My family deserves a history. As much as I don’t want to talk about my past, I do not want them to wonder, as I always have, about their roots. I am haunted by the truth that I have kept from everyone I know, everyone I love. Everyone but him, of course."

The story was beautifully written, and mercifully wasn't over-written (as so many historical fictions I've encountered). I came to know the characters and that time in history. I'd say the book leans more character-driven, with the ultimate plot of surviving/thriving in their circumstances pulling the story along. That, and the healing that can come with telling your truth to loved ones.

Some of the plot points I found a bit too convenient or otherwise unbelievable. But on the whole, I really appreciated this story and I'm glad I read it. These children should not be forgotten to history -- and I'd never known about the Home Children before reading this book.

Triggers abound in this story: child abuse of various kinds, rape (happens off-page), child taken away at birth, child death, World War II death and trauma, alcoholism, human trafficking, suicidal ideation, suicide.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the free digital copy in exchange for my review. Pub date: March 2020.

I found this novel very interesting - based on the true story of the British Home children who were sent to Canada and other countries from the 1860's to the 1940's.

The story of Winny, Jack, Mary and friends is told as two parallel timelines. Winny in 2018 starts to tell her grandchildren the story of her childhood, how she ended up living in Canada, and the journey that took her there. This is a secret she has held close her whole adult life, and expected to take to the grave with her. As she slowly opens up, and explains this journey, the bulk of the story is told as flashbacks to 1936 as she was a British Home child, sent to Canada to start a new life.

The story is heartbreaking at times, detailing the treatment of children who have left everything that they knew behind them and how they are expected to adapt to their new lives. Many of the children are treated in a very brutal and inhumane fashion. Some are incorrectly told that their parents are dead, brothers and sisters are separated, and many of these children have been bought as indentured servants. In the towns that receive these children, the locals have been told that they are all diseased degenerates. They seem universally despised.

While these characters are fictitious, the author explains that every cruel occurrence detailed in the book actually happened to a real Home child. I had no idea that this mass deportation of children had happened - more than 100,000 children sent away from their home country over many years.

The very nature of the way these children are treated leads these children to be ashamed of themselves, and to keep the true facts of their lives hidden. This is one of the reasons that the story of the British Home children is not well known.

One of those stories, like those in "The Orphan Train" that makes you wonder how people can treat other human beings, and most especially children, the way that they do.

However, this book is not a depressing one. There are examples of great courage and resilience and a lot of hope to be found within its pages.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3067640227

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, this book is full of sadness but very much worth reading. I had never heard of the British Home Children before reading this book but the summary intrigued me. This is an excellent historical fiction novel told from a couple perspectives. It is very well written. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction books.

I was not familiar with Home Children bought from England to Canada so reading this book was super eye opening. The book starts with the protagonist in current day before going back in time to the 1930s. Winny’s story was both fascinating and tragic. I found the story very interesting but as it spans decades it’s hard to get a true feel for the lead characters. It seems rushed and slammed with small details but the author does a good job without making the story feel too disjointed.

I would highly recommend this book. It’s got very tough subject matter but it is a very easy read.

This book is about a group of young friends who lived on the streets and stole to get by. Then they are picked up and sent to orphanages and eventually to Canada because they were so looked down upon in England. However, Canada was not better for most of them.
I didn't know about the real event that happened to so many children. It breaks me heart that they were so mistreated and neglected. These children often grew up to be adults who still felt shame at even their own families knowing their history. I shed quite a few tears while reading this moving book. If you enjoy historical fiction, you should read this book.

A very important part of Canadian history that I never knew about. THe author did a great job researching and learning about these children and their lives. Very similar to the Orphan Train. Sad but encouraging in regards to how strong peopl can be in spite of adversity!! Very good read. Put on you rTBR list for the Spring.

The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham based upon the author’s research of British Home children, who were sent to Canada with the promise of a better life. They are trusting, innocent and vulnerable. Upon arrival in Canada, they were treated as indentured servants on farms. These young children were despised by both the English and Canadians for no apparent reason. The cruelty that was inflicted on them was appalling. It is hard to imagine that only 100 years ago, children were still considered chattel. The author relates that between 1869 to 1948 that approximately 100,000 to 130,000 destitute children were taken from England’s streets, orphanages and homes, and then shipped across the ocean to work in other countries.

The Forgotten Home Child is a poignant story narrated by Winnie, who is now an old woman. She has lived with the shame of being of a home child all her life and never told her daughter. Now that her daughter is dead, Winnie decides it is time to share her early life story with her granddaughter and great-grandson.

She relates to them that she left home for the London streets with her mother’s blessing at age 10 to escape an abusive step-father. She falls in with a group of other homeless children: Jack and Mary Miller, a brother and sister, and two brothers, Cecil and Edward. The five are very close but the boys are separated from the girls when they are arrested. The girls end up in a home that was started by Dr. Barnado, whose agency was responsible for a large percentage of the children who were sent to Canada. In 1936 the five children, now teenagers, end up on the same boat headed to Canada. The boys manage to stay together, but the girls are placed in different homes. That is the beginning of the neglect and abuse of these children and several others they meet. They were treated as less than human, but four of them were able to survive their indenture. One of Winnie’s friends from the home was lucky to be placed with a loving family. Jack ends up bitter and unable to fully enjoy life for quite a while. Although the boys were treated so poorly, they still proudly served in the Canadian forces during World War II.

This historical fiction story was very educational and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it. 5-stars. It will be released on March 3, 2020, so be sure to put it on your TBR list. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Simon & Schuster, Inc. for my advanced reader copy of this wonderful novel.

This heartwarming yet heart wrenching novel deals with a little-known chapter in Canadian history—the shocking treatment received by a large number of British Home Children at the hands of those Canadians who paid UK authorities to employ these unwanted children, using them as indentured servants, slaves and in many cases, treating them worse than the animals they tended.
Genevieve Graham interviewed survivors of these Home Children and unearthed a painful chapter of suffering that lasted from the late 19th century until 1948. Sent from large orphanages like Dr. Barnardo's and other smaller institutions, these children were promised a fresh start in an exciting new country. What they encountered was much worse than they could ever imagine. Graham tells the story of Winnie, friend to siblings, Mary, Jack, Edward and Cecil. Abandoned by their parents, they scraped a living on the streets of London until they were caught and put into an orphanage. Reunited on the ship headed to Canada, they vow never to be separated, only to be torn apart on arrival. The brothers stay together, but Mary and Winnie go to separate farm families.
Winnie is treated cruelly by her employers, sleeping in the barn with the sheep and slaving night and day to keep the farm going, though her mistress softens her approach much later and takes an interest in her future. Mary, however, doesn't fare as well and it is her tragic story that shapes the remainder of the novel and impacts Winnie's and her brother Jack's lives in an irreversible way.
The story is written with warmth and empathy but doesn't hold back on the shocking and terrible details of the brutal treatment received by some of these children. Graham does, however, provide a balance by recognizing that many children were adopted by loving families and others found opportunities in Canada that they wouldn't have received in the UK and therefore their lives did improve, though they carried a deep burden of shame that they hid from their families. Only recently online support groups have sprung up so that descendants of the Home Children can share their troubling legacy and find some closure to this terrible chapter of Canadian history.

The Canadian version of Orphan Train, with all the drama, cruelty, and love. You will remember Winnie for a long time.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free, electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: March 3, 2020
I have read a lot of books similar to this one as of late, and although I expected much of the same predictable yet powerful tear jerking drama, I got so much more.
Winnie is one of many children sent from London, England to Canada during the Second World War, seeking a better life. These “forgotten home children” were often placed on farms where they could be used as indentured servants, often neglected and abused, with no one to look in on them. Winnie has kept her past hidden from her family, but when her granddaughter finds a trunk amongst her things and confronts her, Winnie realizes that there are some secrets she shouldn’t keep hidden. Winnie tells the tear-jerking story of her life on the streets of London and the close friendships she developed there, her apprehension and subsequent placement into a London orphanage, and then her travels across the ocean for a “better life” in Canada that turned out to be not better at all.
“The Forgotten Home Children” is the newest historical fiction/romance novel from Canadian author Genevieve Graham. A Toronto-based writer, Genevieve has divulged information in this novel that I, shamefully, was completely unaware of. She makes note that this part of history is accurate, and yet not mentioned in any Canadian history books. It is terribly sad, but I am glad to see novels like this rising to the surface and bringing history to life once again.
Winnie and her friends were all immediately likable, children left abandoned and neglected, forced to grow up on their own and make lives for themselves. Graham details the amount of research she undertook to bring this bit of history to life, and it shows in the pages of this powerful novel.
Although there are sappy parts, and there are predictable parts, I couldn’t stop reading. Jack and Winnie’s tumultuous relationship over decades, Mary’s torturous life and untimely demise- all of these plot points suckered me in from the beginning.
Obviously, I related to this book more than some of my American friends may, as I recognized the names of towns, ports and cities, and I also felt horrible guilt that I had never heard of these children before. I wanted immediately to learn more, to research them, and to reach out and let them know that (I hope) the country I live in is a far better place than it was when they landed here.
For those who are on the fence about taking a chance with this novel worrying about its similarities to other novels of its type, I highly recommend taking the leap. It is a novel that is addictive and powerful, that will teach you something, and will stick with you long after its conclusion.