For me, this book was a bit slow to start, but turned out to be quite a good book I couldn’t put down, Two stories and two timelines converge as Sarah attempts to help her father find his birth mother. He knows he was placed in the orphan home and adopted at six months, The mansion she buys is the home of the former superintendent of that orphan home next door. After Sarah finds several well hidden items in the mansion she attempts to get answers from Connie, the superintendent’s daughter. At first Connie is reluctant to talk about her father. Now in her 90s, she decides his secrets can no longer be kept. Through her recollections, letters and a diary, they are able to solve the parentage mystery. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Description
Baby born September 5th 1934 approximately. Place of birth, unknown; father, unknown; mother unknown.
Present day.

Sarah Jennings knows there’s one place she can go to find some peace and quiet during her difficult divorce. But arriving at her beloved father’s home in the countryside, she finds him unwell and hunched over boxes of files, studying the records from Cedar Hall, the crumbling orphanage in town. He says that hidden behind the wrought iron gates and overgrown ivy are secrets about their family, and he asks for her help.


Sarah goes to speak to Connie Burroughs, the only person left alive who lived at Cedar Hall. Her questions take Connie from the comfort of her nursing home right back to a chilly night in 1934, when as a little girl she saw her own father carrying a newborn baby, bundled in rags, that he said he’d found near the broken front gate. The day Connie began to protect his secrets.


But just as Sarah begins to convince Connie that the truth can set her free, she realises that unlocking the past might have heartbreaking consequences…
.

An emotional and uplifting reminder that incredible acts of courage can change the course of history, Ann Bennett’s powerful tale is inspired by the lives of the children who lived at her great-grandfather’s orphanage. Fans of Before We Were Yours, The Orphan’s Tale and The Orphan Train will be hooked.

It was hard for me to follow, but a gripping tale for sure - for those who enjoy the dual POV

The story is told mainly in two different time periods, part historical and part up to date. It is quite a complex story with three narratives that eventually intertwine. It took me a while to get into but once I did I absolutely loved reading about the three very different but courageous women.

The Orphan House by Ann Bennett seemed to have a promising premise but failed to be anything spectacular.

The narrative focuses on two characters, Sarah and Connie. Connie, a 90 something old timer is the daughter of the superintendent of a now-closed orphanage. Her father’s secrecy and rage seems to have a powerful hold on her long after he’s dead.. so much so that she continues to guard his secrets out of fear.

Sarah, a thirty something lady, freshly divorced, looking for a new start, is connected to the orphanage, and to Connie in more ways than one.

After buying Connie’s family home, Sarah gets in touch with Connie to uncover some old truths better hidden.

As for the writing, it seems as if the book is a result of a creative writing class the author took. It’s passable but there’s nothing wow about it. The plot moves along slowly as a result of overdoing the foreshadowing and building tension. For most part of the book, I have the “get on with it” feeling, and that never does go away. The plot becomes rather predictable, and there’s too much “telling” and not enough “showing”. The author keeps stating that Sarah feels a connection to the orphan home, or that Connie is a timid creature due to her father’s rage... but we’re never told “why” and are simply expected to take the author’s word for it. The reader isn’t given enough credit for the story seems too predictable and uninteresting. I don’t find myself excited at any point as I would with an absolute page turner. The two narrators are fine, but there’s nothing lovable about them that makes you want to root for them. The portrait of India is stereotypically “Othered” - and I say this after being born and living in Bombay for 24 years. Simply put... it’s all a bit lacklustre.


As for the positives, and I’m trying really hard here.. it’s not too terrible. The premise seems interesting, and I certainly find Ezra’s character promising if only it had been more “show, don’t tell”. Sarah seems quite all right as a character, but she’s flat. Rounding her character with some growth, some key lesson learned would transform the narrative drastically. And the book could certainly do with more humour. In life, we do not meet people with *no* sense of humour at all, which is something the town seems to be plagued with.


Overall, I’d give this book a 2.5/5, simply for being a quick read without too much brain exercise.

Thank you to netgalley.com for a review copy