Orphan in America
Avery’s sprawling novel is set in the 1800s and splits its narrative between the stories of a young orphan named Alex who is sent on the infamous “orphan train” to a become the adopted son and essentially unpaid drudge of a hard-working farm couple in the American Midwest, and young William Piccard is sent from urban Manchester, England, to work on a farm in rural England.
The bulk of the novel is taken up with lush and leisurely descriptions of farm life and the heated complications of small-town living, but gradually, in the background of more prominent events, the two narrative strands are converging and will bring revelations, especially to Alex struggling to manhood on the Missouri frontier.
Readers may find the at times sleepy pace and overload of mundane details a bit uninvolving, but Avery balances these indulgences with sub-plots of tense enough intrigue to keep people reading, and her characters, carefully matured over the course of the story, are well rounded and interesting. More of an immersive read than a page-turner, and well recommended.
