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bookowlie wrote:I totally agree. I felt that Molly's storyline was more of a plot device to connect the Orphan Train plot to the present, and didn't shine like Vivian's story.

Spot on!

I think "the reason for it to be told" is a great point klbradley, I think there is a contrast for nearly every point in vivians story in Molly's brief entries- food, clothes, travel, work (Molly mentions looking after children and cats) boyfriends, loosing virginity (alongside attack made on Vivian) Until after she has heard vivians story, molly tries to protect herself- she isn't true to her character (says she doesn't like putting on clothes and makeup) she is deliberately none communicative and hard, yet changes through knowing Vivian

klbradley wrote:I agree with Laura19804. Molly's story seems to be there to give more of an effect to Vivian's story and have a reason for it to be told.

I agree. Molly's story served as a vehicle for Vivian's. Without Molly's tale, we wouldn't get to the meat of the book which is Vivian's story. Both were good, just in different ways. While Vivian's end in a very bittersweet manner, Molly's still ends with a bit of hope; like it's not yet completed and open to the possibility of a happy ending.

Shelle wrote:While Vivian's end in a very bittersweet manner, Molly's still ends with a bit of hope; like it's not yet completed and open to the possibility of a happy ending.

Yes, exactly! Molly's story is by no means complete, and I think it is safe to assume that her time with Vivian will have helped her rewrite the direction her story will take.

Laura19804 wrote:I think "the reason for it to be told" is a great point klbradley, I think there is a contrast for nearly every point in vivians story in Molly's brief entries- food, clothes, travel, work (Molly mentions looking after children and cats) boyfriends, loosing virginity (alongside attack made on Vivian) Until after she has heard vivians story, molly tries to protect herself- she isn't true to her character (says she doesn't like putting on clothes and makeup) she is deliberately none communicative and hard, yet changes through knowing Vivian

Good points! Actually, I didn't pick up all the nuances you did. I just noticed the general connection that they were both neglected, treated poorly (Molly by her foster mom), and felt unloved.

Definitely Vivian's. Her story hooked me from the first chapter and I kept looking forward to her chapters to see what was going to happen. Though I didn't mind Molly's story and enjoyed seeing parallels between the two and the impact Vivian and her story were having on her.

I enjoyed Vivian's storyline and felt as if Molly was a connecting piece to help bridge the past and present. I loved reading the historical references in Vivian's story. I agree with many other's opinions about Dina. She distracted from Molly's storyline and was an obnoxious character.

To me, Vivian's story really stood out, but I agree that Molly's story gave it more depth and purpose. For me, I felt more engaged by the modern aspect of their stories.

I enjoyed Molly's storyline better. I am a very big fan of Young Adult literature, so I found the straightforward and informal narrative voice quite appealing.

Eatsleaves wrote:I'm in agreement with bookowlie and KAV. Molly's story lacked the drama and engagement that Niamh's story had. Perhaps this was necessarily so? I too was annoyed by Dina's character. She seemed overly immature to have chosen to be a foster parent. Yes, there are foster parents who decide to take children into their home solely for the money involved, but Dina's obvious disgust for Molly and her overall antagonistic behavior seemed over the top.

I agree completely!

kio wrote:To me, Vivian's story really stood out, but I agree that Molly's story gave it more depth and purpose. For me, I felt more engaged by the modern aspect of their stories.

Hearing about other people's perspectives is one of the main reasons I love these BOTM discussions. For me, the present day Molly storyline interrupted the main storyline. I would have preferred the entire book to be about Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian's story.

bookowlie wrote:I totally agree. I felt that Molly's storyline was more of a plot device to connect the Orphan Train plot to the present, and didn't shine like Vivian's story.

At this point in the story, I must say I agree with this. I am enjoying Vivian's storyline much more so than Molly's.

I think this book would make a great movie or TV mini-series. However, I think it would be too busy if the movie had Molly's home life in detail. It would be better if she was just a girl that helped Vivian, so there could be a way to have flashbacks to Vivian's childhood.

I too agree that Vivian's storyline was better. The whole point of the book was to tell her story, but I still liked Molly. Her life showed the similarities and differences between the current foster system and the Orphan Train practice. She proves that though things have changed much since the trains system was stopped, there is still so much we as a society need to do. In Molly's POV, only Dina annoyed the life out of me. But sometimes people really have very low tolerance levels. So even she was realistic, if not likable.

bookowlie wrote:I think this book would make a great movie or TV mini-series. However, I think it would be too busy if the movie had Molly's home life in detail. It would be better if she was just a girl that helped Vivian, so there could be a way to have flashbacks to Vivian's childhood.

This is actually an interesting idea. I would absolutely watch this movie/TV mini-series! I also like the idea of Molly being a girl that just helps rather than giving too much detail of her background.