The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham

Did you know who the British Home Children were before reading this book? How does this chapter in history shape your understanding of Canada as a British colony and as its own nation?Ģ. Inspired by true events, The Forgotten Home Child is a moving and heartbreaking novel about place, belonging, and family-the one we make for ourselves and its enduring power to draw us home. Faced with this harsh new reality, Winny clings to the belief that she will someday find her friends again. Instead, they have paid for an indentured servant to work on their farm. At Barkingside, Winny learns she will soon join other boys and girls in a faraway place called Canada, where families and better lives await them.īut Winny’s hopes are dashed when she is separated from her friends and sent to live with a family that has no use for another daughter. Barnardo’s Barkingside Home for Girls, a local home for orphans and forgotten children found in the city’s slums.

When the children are caught stealing food, Winny and Mary are left in Dr. After running away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary, Jack, and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. But when her great-grandson Jamie, the spitting image of her dear late husband, asks about his family tree, Winnifred can’t lie any longer, even if it means breaking a promise she made so long ago.įifteen-year-old Winny has never known a real home. The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home-based on the true story of the British Home Children.Īt ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn’t have much time left, and it is almost a relief to realize that once she is gone, the truth about her shameful past will die with her.

The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham