Last Train Home, a historical faction follows the journey of two children aboard the orphan trains from New York.
LAST TRAIN HOME is an American story about cultural identity and family history set during the nineteenth century at a time when America received an enormous influx of immigrants, and a quarter of a million children whose fates would be determined by pure luck were sent west from East Coast cities by orphan train. Would they be adopted by kind and loving families, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?
LAST TRAIN HOME highlights the methods practiced by two agencies sending children West by tracing the individual journeys of two children, Johnny and Sophia. From a very young age, both children learn to adapt and inhabit new identities. Change has been the defining principle in the lives of these two children. As their personal stories unfold, the children learn triumph over tribulation building strength of mind and character into an incredible reserve.
Professional Reviews
Anne of Green Gables Foundation
Renée Wendinger has written a thoughtful and moving fictional story based on the real life stories of Johnny and Sophia, both orphaned in the early 1900s under heart-wrenchingly difficult circumstances. I was struck by the similarities between the characters in Last Train Home and my grandmother’s creation, Anne of Green Gables, and the will to live a positive and productive life. The author is clearly a gifted writer.
Kate Macdonald Butler
Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Inc.
American Girl Author
History at its most capacious, authoritative research, beautifully written, and panoramic and in viewpoint about the people who “made history” aboard the orphan trains of New York. Renée Wendinger tells a tale of how one event in a life can change everything. This is a story about a moving time in our nation’s history when hope and faith held us all strongly together. A great novella for lovers of historical fiction.
Ann Creel
novelist of Nicki and Thanks to Nicki (American Girl Books)
The Magic of Ordinary Days, a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie
