Together Forever by Jody Hedlund is the second novel in Orphan Train series. Our journey begins in 1858 in New York City where Marianne Neumann has taken a job with the Children's Aid Society. While Marianne could life a life of luxury since her sister married Thornton Quincy, she is determined to find her sister, Sophie. Marianne will be embarking on her first tour the next day, and the other agent who will be accompanying her is Andrew âDrewâ Brady. Drew is a former schoolteacher who is good with children. He has a way of making things fun and entertaining for them. Drew, though, has secrets from his own past that continue to haunt him. The pair journey across Illinois finding homes for their children in their charge. They get to know each other and grow closer on the tour. Then an unfortunate tragedy occurs that will change the future they had planned. Will they be able to overcome this tremendous obstacle? Hop on for trip into the past in Together Forever.
Together Forever is well-written and an engaging novel. The book has a gentle pacing, good flow and smooth transitions between sections. While it is the second book in the series, Together Forever can be read alone. With You Always is summarized in this installment in the Orphan Train series. However, I recommend reading the series in order. You get to see the characters mature. Marianne has changed and regrets her actions in With You Always. It was interesting to find out more about the orphan trains and how they operated. What these children suffered is just heartbreaking (living on the streets, being abandoned, having no food, abusive homes). As Marianne soon discovers, you can only pray that God will deliver them into good Christian homes and that the children will not be harmed or used for free labor. I appreciated that we get to see a variety of people in the story. Farmers, shopkeepers, housewives, business people, and children. Many of them are wholesome Christians, but there are a couple of bad seeds. They are realistic characters with flaws, issues, and concerns. It was pleasurable to catch up with Elise and Reinhold. There are good and valuable life lessons in the story (keeping Faith, importance of prayers, violence is wrong, forgiving yourself as well as others). Together Forever is a heartwarming, Christian novel. It is an emotional book that will tug at your heartstrings. I am curious to read Sophie's story and look forward to the release of Searching for You.
Together Forever is well-written and an engaging novel. The book has a gentle pacing, good flow and smooth transitions between sections. While it is the second book in the series, Together Forever can be read alone. With You Always is summarized in this installment in the Orphan Train series. However, I recommend reading the series in order. You get to see the characters mature. Marianne has changed and regrets her actions in With You Always. It was interesting to find out more about the orphan trains and how they operated. What these children suffered is just heartbreaking (living on the streets, being abandoned, having no food, abusive homes). As Marianne soon discovers, you can only pray that God will deliver them into good Christian homes and that the children will not be harmed or used for free labor. I appreciated that we get to see a variety of people in the story. Farmers, shopkeepers, housewives, business people, and children. Many of them are wholesome Christians, but there are a couple of bad seeds. They are realistic characters with flaws, issues, and concerns. It was pleasurable to catch up with Elise and Reinhold. There are good and valuable life lessons in the story (keeping Faith, importance of prayers, violence is wrong, forgiving yourself as well as others). Together Forever is a heartwarming, Christian novel. It is an emotional book that will tug at your heartstrings. I am curious to read Sophie's story and look forward to the release of Searching for You.
