Customer Reviews

Life In The Orphanage

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This book is the inspiring story of a young man who lived in an orphanage (despite the fact that his mother was still living)between the ages of 4 and 18,during the Depression and World War II. Foster chronicles the details of institutional life and the minuses and pluses of being raised in the "Odd Fellows Home"-- the hardships that made his life difficult there (i.e., physical abuse by the superintendent, separation from his mother, hard physical labor*)and the positive lessons he learned that helped him succeed in the "outside world" after he left the Home (i.e., a commitment to earning a living through his brains rather than his muscle, a solid work ethic and sense of self-discipline, many useful skills).

Because the author's focus is on his own past,I believe this book is of primary interest as a family memoir (There was occasionally excessive detail for the average reader-- i.e., in "Chapter 4, Work Detail). and historical document. (The book's dedication-- to those "who have lived in an orphanage" suggests this perspective, as well.) The book does NOT concern itself with the issue of child welfare TODAY;I wondered what conclusions the author might have drawn from his own experience that might be useful for those who establish policies for foster care and group home living for children and youth today.

* The heavy schedule of chores for children as young as 6 comes across as exploitative, and perhaps it truly was. At the same time, child labor standards and expectations have changed enormously since Foster's childhood, and I wondered how Foster's work life as a youngster compared with that of kids raised in "ordinary" farm families during the Depression.

"Orphanage" is a moving account of an intelligent, moral boy who loses his parents at the age of four and grows up in an orphanage. The reviewer wonders how Mr. Foster came through so well. Recently, a few politicians have advocated we tear children from their single mothers on welfare and slip them into "institutions." When we read this account of cruel superintendents, of child labor in the fields, and of brutal loneliness, we shudder at the proposal. The reviewer congratulates Mr. Foster on a well written and emotionally true book.