88 pages 2 hours read

Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Part 2 (Pages 47-68)Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2

Spruce Harbor, Maine, 2011 (Pages 47-50) Summary

Jack picks Molly up from her first day of work with Vivian. She is wary of Vivian and all her questions.

Molly eats dinner with her foster parents, biding her time and playing the game of going along to get along. For example, her foster parents know she is a vegetarian, yet they deliberately make meals containing meat every night for dinner. Molly eats dinner with a smile, picking around the meat, rather than making a scene that will only get her in trouble or kicked out.

Spruce Harbor, Maine, 2011 (Pages 51-56) Summary

Molly begins work for Vivian, organizing and cleaning out her attic. It is hard going, because Vivian wants to touch, talk about, and keep every item. Molly fights her own instinct to throw everything away, and even shares outspoken comments to that effect. They begin with items in a box marked 1929-1930; soon Vivian is caught up in her memories.

The Milwaukee Train, 1929 (Pages 57-60) Summary

Dutchy and Niamh discuss fate and their futures. Dutchy wants them to make a promise to find each other, and it’s clear that he likes Niamh. For example, he compliments her hair. The children’s minders, Mrs. Scatcherd and Mr. Curran, get them cleaned up and remind them of how they should behave so that they are chosen.