Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

The Orphan Collector: A Gripping Tale of Resilience and Hope

From the internationally bestselling author of What She Left Behind comes a powerful and gripping tale of upheaval, set in Philadelphia during the devastating 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak. This heartbreaking saga of resilience and hope is perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams and Kristin Hannah.

In the fall of 1918, as the city of Philadelphia celebrates the end of the war, a more urgent threat arrives – the deadly Spanish flu pandemic. Funeral crepes and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets, and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off the illness.

Pia Lange, a 13-year-old German immigrant, longs to escape the overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. With food running out in her cramped tenement, Pia ventures alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind.

Bernice Groves, consumed by grief and bitterness since the death of her own baby from the Spanish flu, makes a shocking decision. Determined to transform the city's orphans and immigrant children into "true Americans," Bernice sets out on a sinister mission to tear families apart when they are most vulnerable.

Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum – the first step in a long and arduous journey. As Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost, Pia must confront her own shame and fear, risking everything to see justice – and love – triumph at last.

Powerful, harrowing, and ultimately exultant, The Orphan Collector is a story of love, resilience, and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most. Through the lens of the 1918 pandemic, the novel explores themes of immigration, belonging, and the strength of the human spirit in the face of devastating loss.

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