Orphan #8 is a novel based on real events from the author's extended family. While at times this book is just flat out frightening (because who ever thought that doctors would do experiments on orphaned children) it is a uniquely moving story.
Rachel Rabinowitz is four years old when she and her brother become orphans and move to live in a Jewish orphanage in NYC. During her time in the Hebrew Infant Home, Dr. Mildred Solomon uses Rachel, and other children, for a series of medical experiments. The effects of these experiments, mostly done with x-rays, change Rachel's life forever. Through alternating chapters, past then present, we learn Rachel's story and how she has now come to be the hospice nurse for Dr. Solomon. The tables have turned and Rachel has to decide if she will forgive Dr. Solomon, or if she will do some experimenting of her own.
I could not put this book down. It was hard to read at times, due to the themes explored in the text, but, what I left this book feeling was a sense of hope regarding the ultimate nature of man/woman. If ever there was a girl who could be mad and angry and who would want to give up on life, it was Rachel. Yet she refuses to do this. She is a strong woman and her story is a worth-while read.
Happy reading, everyone!
:) Dodie
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