Searching for You (Orphan Train, #3)

by Jody Hedlund

Despite years on the run, Sophie Neumann is determined to care for two young children. She won't abandon them the way she thinks her older sisters abandoned her. But times are growing desperate, and when she falls in with the wrong crowd and witnesses a crime, she realizes fleeing 1850s New York is her only option.

Disappearing with her two young charges into a group of orphans heading west by train, Sophie hopes to find safety and a happy life. When the train stops in Illinois for the first placement of orphans, Sophie faces the most difficult choice of her life.

Reinhold Weiss has finally purchased his own small farm. With mounting debts, a harvest to bring in, and past scars that haunt him, he's in no position to give his heart away . . . but can he say no when his long-lost friend shows up on a nearby train pleading for his help?

• ISBN13: 9781432859848
• Publish Date: 9 January 2019 (first published 4 December 2018)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 11 September 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Cengage Learning, Inc
• Imprint: Cengage Gale
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Language: English

Reviews

[phyllish]

A tear jerker - in a good way!

Searching for You is the best book of the series! Perhaps this is because it is the one I just read, but I don’t think so. This story gripped my heart and wouldn’t let go. Though I do get emotionally connected to stories, I don’t often actually get teary eyed. I did with this one!

Sophie has lived such a hard life as an orphan on the streets of New York. She carries such a burden of guilt and pain for the way she has had to survive. Yet her heart is so big and she loves so well. I was so touched by her dedication and determination and strength. The author showed her struggle to not live as she had in the past in such an amazing and realistic way.

Reinhold had a burden of guilt as well. His was because of the anger he struggles to hold at bay. Fear of becoming like his father causes him to withdraw and not allow his feeling to grow, yet he never expected Sophie.

As much as I loved those two characters, Euphemia was my very favorite. Her name in the Greek means “well-spoken of” and this name is actually derived from the word that Paul uses in his letter to the Philippians when he tells us to think on things that are “of good report” or “commendable” in Philippians 4:8. She is the woman who takes Sophie into her house and her heart. And she exemplifies that name despite her difficult past.

I am so impressed with the way the author managed to clearly depict the seediness and depravity of the streets of New York and the hopelessness that Sophie was living in, making it very real and yet not dragging things down to a level that makes it depressing. And the way that she showed Sophie’s unsavory past while still showing a very lovable side that made me care about her from the beginning.

As a side note, you may want to look up the Bowery Boys in Wikipedia before you start reading to learn about them and get a picture of how they dressed. I was fascinated and appalled to learn about this gang and the Roach Guards, one of their rivals as they gave new meaning to the term “fire fighters” (as my husband cleverly pointed out when I told him what I had learned).

This is such an amazing story of trust, of grace, and forgiveness that I wholeheartedly recommend! For the best experience, though, make sure to read the other two books in the series first.


This review was originally posted on Among the Reads


I was given a copy of this book for free. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.