No Ocean Too Wide ~ Book review
No Ocean Too Wide, by Carrie Turansky, is a riveting story of a family in England caught up in the wretched child immigration scheme of the British Home Children, in the early 1900s. She includes an impressive amount of facts to make this Christian historical fiction one of the most compelling reads I've encountered in a while on the subject of orphans, and cold-hearted money-making schemes involving basically, the trafficking of children.
They either took them from homes under questionable pretenses, or brought them in from the streets, and then put them on a ship bound for Canada, to live as a domestic servant in someone's home. Ages as young as 5, and as old as 17, I believe, were forced to work as drudges, in many cases.
The characters in her book are Laura McAlister, and her siblings Garth, Katie, and Grace. Their mother, and their father, the neighbor Mrs. Graham, and Mrs. Palmer, the employee of Laura's mother.
Andrew Bolton is also a key character. He is a wealthy lawyer, and he and his friend are sent, by the British government,to investigate the goings-on of the children's orphanages. Suspicion had arisen because of one Dr. Barnardo, who supposedly took in hundreds of abandoned children from the streets of England, and gave them food, shelter, and useful skills. Dr. Barnardo was constantly in and out of court.
This is a great historical lesson which helps bring awareness on one of Britain's unsavory and repugnant chapters. I do recommend this for reading. Geared for adult comprehension, not really on a level that a teen or child would be able to grasp the significance of.
No Ocean Too Wide, by Carrie Turansky, is a riveting story of a family in England caught up in the wretched child immigration scheme of the British Home Children, in the early 1900s. She includes an impressive amount of facts to make this Christian historical fiction one of the most compelling reads I've encountered in a while on the subject of orphans, and cold-hearted money-making schemes involving basically, the trafficking of children.
They either took them from homes under questionable pretenses, or brought them in from the streets, and then put them on a ship bound for Canada, to live as a domestic servant in someone's home. Ages as young as 5, and as old as 17, I believe, were forced to work as drudges, in many cases.
The characters in her book are Laura McAlister, and her siblings Garth, Katie, and Grace. Their mother, and their father, the neighbor Mrs. Graham, and Mrs. Palmer, the employee of Laura's mother.
Andrew Bolton is also a key character. He is a wealthy lawyer, and he and his friend are sent, by the British government,to investigate the goings-on of the children's orphanages. Suspicion had arisen because of one Dr. Barnardo, who supposedly took in hundreds of abandoned children from the streets of England, and gave them food, shelter, and useful skills. Dr. Barnardo was constantly in and out of court.
This is a great historical lesson which helps bring awareness on one of Britain's unsavory and repugnant chapters. I do recommend this for reading. Geared for adult comprehension, not really on a level that a teen or child would be able to grasp the significance of.
No Ocean Too Wide is the first book in The McAlister Family series. I found this historical novel to be compelling. I was drawn into the book and I just wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next to the McAlister family. I thought No Ocean Too Wide was well-written with interesting characters. The author's research is evident in this story which is based on true events. Laura McAlister has strength, determination, faith and loyalty to her family. I liked that she learned a few life lessons along the way. Katie had a strong faith for a fourteen year old girl. She never failed to pray no matter the circumstances. Katie never lost faith that God would help her. I found No Ocean Too Wide to be an emotional story that will stay with the you long after you finish it. I liked that the romance is not the feature of this book. It plays out gently which suits the characters and their situation. Christianity is a part of the characters lives. They seek Him out and are not afraid to share their belief with others or speak of it aloud. We see in No Ocean Too Wide that God is always with us. We need to have faith and trust in Him. We see that there are two sides to every story as with life. While some people only heard about the good of child emigration, there was a bad side to it as well. I liked the addition of Rose Carson and Henry Dowd. They were great additions to this book. No Ocean Too Wide is a poignant novel that will touch your heart.
