The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright– 432 pages
ARC from NetGalley and Shadow Mountain
Book Blurb:
Seven-year-old Chellamuthu’s life is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in India, sold to a Christian orphanage, and then adopted by an unsuspecting couple in the United States. It takes months before the boy can speak enough English to tell his parents that he already has a family back in India. Horrified, they try their best to track down his Indian family, but all avenues lead to dead ends. Meanwhile, they simply love him, change his name to Taj, enroll him in school, make him part of their family—and his story might have ended there had it not been for the pestering questions in his head: Who am I? Why was I taken? How do I get home?
More than a decade later, Taj meets Priya, a girl from southern India with surprising ties to his past. Is she the key to unveil the secrets of his childhood or is it too late? And if he does make it back to India, how will he find his family with so few clues?
My Review: 4.5 stars
The Orphan Keeper is a beautiful story about finding your home and where you belong even if it’s not what you ever expected. This novel is written in Camron Wright’s signature way with words that will move you and inspire you. As in Wright’s earlier book, The Rent Collector, The Orphan Keeper is based on a true story. Knowing this is based on a real family brings the characters and storylines even closer to my heart.
This story is about a kidnapping and subsequent adoption of a young boy who had a very alive family. Of course, over time, the boy forgets his time and family in India. Through friends and a nagging in his soul, he begins a journey to search for his family. With wonderful parents in the US that adopted him, this is a sensitive time for all involved.
The scenery both in England and India are perfectly portrayed and the descriptions of the Indian food had my mouth watering for tastes of it. Writing too much about this book will certainly contain spoilers so my advice is to read this book! It is a beautiful story that will make you glad to have read it.
Quotes I liked:
Here’s my advice. First, be patient. Life doesn’t happen overnight. Give it time to simmer, to come together. That’s what makes life flavorful.”
– “Seek dharma, child. Find out how you fit in, who you are. Remember that everything around you has a purpose. Even you, child.”
-“You and your hope. I guess that’s why we work well as partners. You dream. I make sure we stay afloat.”
-“Life is resilient… It trudges on in the world around us, no matter how deeply our hearts ache.”
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