This is a good story. It is about a young lady named Lucy who lives with her parents in New York City. Her Mother’s sister is Jane and she lives in Michigan- rural Michigan- on a farm! Because of a family tragedy, little Lucy goes to live with Aunt Jane. Their relationship is tenuous at best. The story takes you through how both Jane and Lucy go through not liking each other at all to barely tolerating to Jane, the adult, loving her niece and finally Lucy, loving and trusting her Aunt. They are believable characters that I would like to know. Isn’t that what a good book should be like? Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review. I will recommend to family and friends.

Jane is a cautious, empty-nester divorce' who is just getting a business off the ground. She's finally comfortable with her life until it turns upside down. Jane finds herself responsible for a pre-teen, Lucy. And Lucy doesn't wants to be anywhere but with Jane. A story told from both sides, The Orphan Daughter depicts real life grief and healing, and the inner thoughts and fears associated with it.
A fantastic read!

Jane McArdle has had a tough life and the last thing she needs at 45 years old is to find out that her estranged half-sister has died and now she is the guardian of her niece. Cari Noga writing is very good though out this book.
The Orphan Daughter is a sad sad tale of family, heartache and loss. Get your tissues ready for this one!

4 stars for The Orphan Daughter by Cari Noga. This is a heartbreaking story of loss, change and acceptance.

For Lucy, how does she carry her loss and her feelings of guilt? For Jane, how to care for a child she never expected to have that has many issues arising from the loss of her mother? It was very difficult for both of them, but while I sympathized with the positions they found themselves in, at certain times I wanted to yell at Jane to act like the adult in the room.

Overall, this was a good book and I'll definitely read something else by Ms. Noga, a new author to me. If you like women's fiction at all, this is a book I'd recommend

A well written book about family relationships,and development of them. A well written story line and good development of characters however I found that some of the description was unecessary and it apoeared thst it was used to extend the stoty less dedcription should have been used so that readers could concentrate on the story line indtead of being side tracked othereise a nice weekend read.

Jane is 45 years old. Her son Matt is in the service. Now she's an empty-nester involved in running her farm business. Then she learns she will be the guardian of 11 year old niece, Lucy. Lucy has list both of her parents in a horrible car wreck. Lucy grew up in New York city, an only child, over-privledged and induged. Jae has always worked hard. To support herself and her farm. She's used to open sky's and are fields of vegetables and fruits.
Bringing these two together can either make them, or break them.
5 Stars

I liked this book and thought the author did a good job with the heartbreaking subject of loss. I especially liked that the chapters alternated between the point of view of Aunt Jane and Lucy, her 11 year old niece. Lucy is struggling with the loss of her parents (what 11 year old wouldn't be?) and feels that she is to blame for the accident. She's moved from NYC to her aunt's farm in Michigan where she is surrounded by one of the things she fears the most - grass. Aunt Jane is also struggling - she's extremely hard on herself for how she raised her now grown son after a devastating loss of her own and feels like she failed him (she seems to be the only one who has this feeling). I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley - my opinions are my own.

"Beginnings come from endings. All you can do is try to hang on to everything so it doesn't get lost along the way."
Lucy is 11 years old and living a happy life with her parents in NYC. A fatal accident results in her being an orphan. Is Lucy to blame?
She now must goes to live with her estranged Aunt Jane in Michigan on her farm. A place that has grass, fruit and vegetables and things she has never nor would she ever care to see. How is she going to survive? How will she ever work through her grief and guilt of her parent's death?
Jane cannot believe that she has become a guardian to this child and feels she is not worthy of caring for Lucy. How will she learn that she needs to "let go" of her own grief and move forward?
This is a story of grief, love and heart. As the therapist tells Jane, "The only way out is through."

This book brought two people, Aunt Jane and Lucy, together through tragedy. They both had traumatic events that happened to them which causes different issues they have to work through in their own time and ways. I felt that they both had to find a way to forgive....and mostly give themselves forgiveness, which isn't always that easy. The story drew me in enough that I wanted to see how, after they're put into each other's lives, they work through the emotional issues that seem to keep them at odds to each other. I felt Lucy is kind of demanding and expecting everything to be dropped at a moment's notice to appease her. Aunt Jane is reluctant to stand up to her because of her losses from her past. For both it's a time of learning what's important and it's not always fair what happens in life. It's a nice story and I feel that love conquers and wins in the end.

I'd like to rate this book at 3.5 stars. The story was rather sad all the way through with Jane's tragedy in Alaska and the demise of her marriage to Lucy's parent's death. The book kept me engaged to find out what happened to Jim. I enjoyed the Spanish speaking context through out the book as that was a big part of Lucy's upbringing.