Forgetting Tabitha

By: Julie Dewey

Narrated by: Hollis McCarthy

Raised on a farm, Tabitha Salt, the daughter of Irish immigrants, leads a bucolic and sheltered existence. When tragedy strikes the family, Tabitha and her mother are forced to move to the notorious Five Points District in New York City, known for its brothels, gangs, gambling halls, corrupt politicians, and thieves. As they struggle to survive in their new living conditions, tragedy strikes again. Young Tabitha resorts to life alone on the streets of New York, dreaming of a happier future.

The Sisters of Charity are taking orphans off the streets with promises of a new life. Children are to forget their pasts, their religious beliefs, families, and names. They offer Tabitha a choice: stay in Five Points or board the orphan train and go west in search of a new life.

The harrowing journey and the decision to leave everything behind launches Tabitha on a path from which she can never return.

©2016 Julie Dewey (P)2016 Julie Dewey

Forgetting Tabitha

Tabitha becomes an orphan and is forced to live on the streets. She is "rescued" and begins her journey on the orphan train. She is adopted by a loving couple and is raised as Mary. This book tells the story of her growing up and falling in love. Learning to become Mary and Forgetting the days of Tabitha.

I received an audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the book. I know the book is fiction but it is so close to the true history of the Orphan Train. I totally recommend this book to any and all.

Errors in production editing

I would have given the overall rating 5 stars as well; however, there were major errors in the audio production. Several times throughout the book music started playing over the narrator. The first time it happened, I thought my phone was ringing some weird new tone. It got frustrating because I had to either ignore the blank in the story (driving!) or stop the story and go to the kindle copy to read it. Then, during the part about going to San Francisco to find gold, an entire paragraph was left out of the narrative. (It didn't make sense, I had to look at the written version.) The missing paragraph was inserted several seconds after it should have been. It was annoying to be engrossed in a story and then to be abruptly ripped out of it because of product errors.