A novel that made me pause and think about the struggles of others, the Orphan’s Tale can be a testament to the resilience of humans.
Noa is 16 years old and has become pregnant after an affair with a soldier. Her parents, horrified, and disgusted, throw Noa out of their home where she is forced to fend for herself. Her baby is soon removed from her care which destroys Noa.
She eventually finds work at a German train station. One day a car full of Jewish babies arrives at the station where Noa is working. Noa decides to rescue a baby boy. After she does so she flees the station.
Eventually, Noa, and the baby, who she has called Theo end up taking shelter with a travelling circus. It is there that they meet Astrid. Who is in hiding herself. She is a young Jewish girl who is named Ingrid. Ingrid was previously married but her husband was forced to divorce her because of her ethnicity.
Astrid is now a performer with the travelling circus and dating a young man called Peter. Astrid takes Noa under her wing and teaches her to become an aerialist with the travelling circus both now call home.
As the circus breaks up residence and travels for the winter, Noa meets a young man in a small French town and falls in love.
Though Noa is warned against having a relationship with Luc she doesn’t listen. And, as is predicted, some terrible things happen. The mayor of the small town where the circus is performing was in cahoots with a German officer.
As tragic events unfold lives are tested. One day, when Astrid is close to death, she returns to the small French town where so many of her friends were made and lost. She reconciles with the past in a heartbreaking way.
