Set for the most part in the late 1950s and 1960s New York City and based on the author’s family history, The Bereaved by Julia Park Tracey follows Martha Seybolt Lozier, a young widow who flees her home in Newburgh after the death of father-in-law leaves her fate and those of four children in the hands of a lecherous lawyer with whose intentions are quite clear to Martha.

Martha struggles to make ends meet in New York City while keeping her children safe. The tenement where they rent a room houses several families like her own and though she does find people willing to help out, the lack of work opportunities, her exhausting supply of belongings to pawn off and almost nothing left of the money she had brought with them, Martha and her children are forced to survive on less than the bare minimum. To keep her children from starving, Martha makes the difficult choice to leave her children, initially, her two sons one of whose is a special needs child and later her daughter, Sarah, who is her oldest and her baby, Homer, in the care of The Home for the Friendless, charitable society that offers food, lodging and education to children whose family could not afford better care. Assuming this to be a temporary arrangement that would allow Martha access to her children on visitation days, Martha signs the papers not fully understanding what “surrendering” her children to the care of the organization entails. Unbeknownst to her, the organization places children with families across the country by way of “orphan trains” – a fact she comes to know after it is too late and all her children have been relocated.

The narrative follows Martha through the year of the Civil War over the next six years as she struggles to better her own situation, find her children and reunite her family.

The Bereaved by Julia Park Tracey is a moving story that revolves around family, sacrifice, motherhood and grief. The author does an excellent job of describing the setting in terms of time and place while also shedding light on the how parents were tricked into signing away their rights to their children, who were then ferried across the country for adoption or indentured to work. I have read about orphan trains in fiction before and this story presents a darker aspect of how the orphan train movement operated. The story is presented from Martha’s perspective in the first-person narrative format. Martha is an admirable protagonist and we can feel her pain and despair as struggles with poverty and faces fear and despair when her children are taken from her. In an era where women had few rights or opportunities, Martha’s determination and strength are inspiring. She faces poverty, harassment, ridicule, and much more but she does not give up in her search for her children. The characters are well-developed (even the unlikeable ones) and I was engrossed in the narrative from the very first page. I enjoyed the crisp writing and the structure of the narrative. However, I did feel the ending (and a large part of the second half of the novel) was a tad rushed.

In her Note, the author shares how she was inspired to research the history of her family (Martha’s youngest child was her second great-grandfather) and the facts that she discovered in the course of her quest and how those facts were combined with some fictional elements into the crafting of this beautiful novel.

Overall, this is an incredibly moving story that I would not hesitate to recommend. Just be prepared to shed more than a few tears.

Many thanks to Sibylline Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Learning that The Bereaved is based on the life of her second great grandfather made this read even more heart wrenching for me. Set before and during the Civil War, mainly in New York City, a recently widowed mother, decides to escape the disgusting advances of her husband’s family lawyer who is their new benefactor and flees with her four children to New York City. Times are extremely difficult without a job or a place to stay. Martha struggles to keep her children warm and fed but it is never enough. One day the two middle boys come home raving about a place that fed them well. Martha returns there with her children and her life changes forever.
The horrors Martha experienced trying to take care of her children broke my heart. I cannot imagine her frustration with trying to forge a life for them. The depiction of living there during that time, having to share a bed with virtual strangers - well not even a real bed - makes me feel so very guilty for living the plush life I lead. Having read The Orphan Train and several other books about that era I was not surprised to have that become part of this story. I appreciated the research and care that Julia Park Tracey took in sharing this disheartening part of our nation’s history.
Many many thanks to Julia Park Tracey, Sibylline Press, and NetGalley for affording me the honor of reading an arc of Martha and her family to be published August 8th. I highly recommend this read.

The Bereaved by Julia Park Tracey is one family's crushing story about poverty, heartache, loss and survival in a man's world. It is Historical Fiction set in America starting in 1859 and based on the author's harrowing family's story, a rollercoaster of emotions and gut wrenching circumstances.

Martha's life growing up is full of despair and tests her emotional endurance. She marries and has children but loses her husband. The terrible ward preying on her children necessitates a move to NYC and a life of extreme poverty. Life is a daily struggle and Martha decides the best place for two of her four children is Friends of Society. But the despair doesn't end there. Outwardly the Civil War rages but the wars within Martha are personal and deep.

Searching for a unique and achingly raw book to immerse yourself in? This is it. What makes it so good...and so frightening...is that this was reality to many. The writing is like a sorrowful yet beautiful painting by a passionate artist.

My sincere thank you to Sibylline Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this unique novel.

Julia Park Tracey is a historical journalist who, at some point in her life, decided to investigate the origins of her grandfather, who was adopted. In this research, she manages to find information about his family.
The book is set between 1840 and 1866 in America. The main character is Martha. Martha is sent as a teenager to live with her grandmother; when her grandmother dies, her uncle sends her to another aunt who lives in town. Here she meets the slimy lawyer, a character who enjoys a great deal of fame and respect in his circles and who makes some very racy advances to Martha, making it appear that she is the one trying to seduce him. Removing her from the lawyer's clutches is another family friend, who asks her to marry him. Years pass, and Martha, along with her husband and four children, live in the country near his family. Her husband dies, the person who is supposed to be their guardian, her father-in-law, dies soon after, and the new guardian is the slimy lawyer.
On the day the will is to be discussed, the slimy lawyer tries to rape Martha's daughter, so she decides to run away with the four children to New York.
In New York, due to the fact that she has no money and cannot find work, she decides to leave her two sons, following her daughter and youngest son to a religious association called the American Female Guardian Society. This association primarily says that it provides room, board, and education for the children who are brought in. In reality, regardless of whether the children are orphans or have parents, they are put on "Child Trains" and taken to the countryside where labor is needed. When Martha realizes this, she tries everything she can to get her children back: she sets aside as much as she can, even giving in to prostitution; she keeps contacting the company to find out where the children are.
When in New York, she meets the slimy lawyer, but thanks to the help of a woman in the boarding house where she lives, she manages to hide and then leave in search of her children.
The events that are told in the book really happened; the reasons why these events happened instead are novel.
I enjoyed the book very much. It is published on August 8, so I wish Julia Park Tracey the best of luck.
I did a Wikipedia search on Child Train, and it is something that really happened to make up for the miserable conditions of people in 1800s New York. Many families could not provide a meal for their children, much less the opportunity to be educated, so there were quite a few orphans and children in miserable conditions. These religious associations were at first intended to at least provide food, shelter, and education for the children. Later, there was a kind of "corruption": children, without further verification, were sent to the countryside to provide labor as if they had all been orphans. The Child Trains, or Baby Trains, lasted for quite some time, bringing so many children around America.
The other special aspect is related to the title. "Bereaved" indicates a person who is mourning. In the book, Martha, following the death of her husband, will always wear black. In the first period, she was really mourning her husband, her father-in-law, and two of her children. In addition, the black dress also helped her preserve a kind of dignity. Then, when her children are sent away from her without her knowledge, she will continue to wear black because she is a mother deprived of her children.
I recommend the book to everyone.
There are some interesting and meticulous descriptions in the book: for example, how much Martha spends in the first periods that she is in New York, the alternation of days, and the alternation of activities during the days. There are some scenes that are a bit strong.

Set in the 1850's Martha, a bereaved mother survives losing her husband and father in law and flees to New York City to save herself and her daughter from a predator. But life in New York is just as dangerous and Ira, Sarah, George and Homer are eventually surrendered to the Home for the Friendless and are sent west on the orphan train. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I really liked that Martha was such a strong character. Yes, she was bereaved but even so, she managed to get away from a predator, protect her children, deal with their loss, and fight as hard as she could to find them. AND she did this in a time where she had no rights, while surviving poverty, with little help, and the odds against her.

I enjoyed the back matter that provides the authors family connection to the story and explains the parts that were based on actual fact. I would pair this with Orphan Train. It is a little longer and a little more mature, so may be a good challenge read for any who show an interest in the topic. I think the Museum that Tracey mentions would also be an interesting link for students to look at.

Characters: Martha, Ira, Sarah, George & Homer Lozier

https://orphantraindepot.org/

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

After losing her husband and father-in-law in a short span of time, Martha Lozier's world comes crashing down around her. When she learns that the man who once tried to sexually assault her now has her teenage daughter in his sights--a man who now has guardianship over her children, by the way--Martha feels she has only one option left: to run. Martha successfully hides her young family in the anonymous warrens of New York City, but supporting four children on her own proves more challenging than Martha had anticipated. While out foraging for food or scraps they can sell, two of her children stumble upon the Home for the Friendless. Offering good food, warm clothing and beds, and education, the charity seems too good to be true. In time, Martha temporarily surrenders her children, but she is devastated when she learns that they have been sent on to placements with families in other New York and Ohio homes where they may even be legally adopted. As the nation lurches toward Civil War, Martha worries incessantly over her children. Will the family ever be reunited? Will her children ever forgive her for allowing them to be parted? Will Martha ever forgive herself for not thoroughly reading and understanding the surrender documents she signed when she enrolled her children in the Home for the Friendless? Will their lecherous, predatory guardian ever stop searching for them?

This novel is well-written and well-researched. Martha faces brutal choices that no woman should ever have to face, but the author handles them deftly and sensitively. For me, the main problem with this novel is pacing. The middle of the book is a bit of a slog, yet oddly the events of the Civil War are barely touched upon even though one of the children runs away from his foster family and lies about his age to join the Union army. Without getting into any spoilers, the resolution of the novel feels rushed. For me, some of the most interesting material is in the author's end notes about the inspiration for the story, so be sure to read all the way through to the end. If you don't mind spoilers, consider starting there, as the end notes describe the real life inspiration for the novel and are absolutely fascinating. This is a compelling read, if a little uneven, and I will likely look for more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel for my honest review.

The Bereaved traces the life of Martha through her childhood loss of her father, being passed between family, through a marriage to a man who was not only supportive financially but mentally and physically. As a young man, he protects her from a leading member of their community who is trying to sexually abuse her. Their life together is not perfect. She is faced with the death of two of their 6 children yet together they are surviving until illness takes him away and she and the children are now wards of her father-in-law. Devastation soon hits again when he passes a few short weeks later. Martha soon learns that he has placed her childhood abuser as their ward, and he is already trying to get to Martha’s young daughter. Martha does the only thing she can think to do and flees her home and disappears in New York City. She tries to keep her children fed and sheltered but it is almost impossible. Her boys come home one day talking of this wonderful place called the Home for the Friendless that has fed them and will provide them with food, clothing and schooling. Martha reluctantly places her two of her boys there. She continues to struggle and eventually takes Sarah and the baby there for help. She thinks it is only a short-term placement but soon learns they have placed her children on a train and sent to different states. Martha is determined to get her family back together.
Julia Park Tracey has created one of those special novels that you cannot put down. There were many times that it would leave me wondering how much more can one person take. Her descriptions of the places Martha lived in New York allow the reader to vividly picture and understand how hopeless she felt. The research and documentation that she provides gives a true picture of how devastating the “Orphan Train” was on families and the children that it spread out across the country. The author’s notes at the end brings even more meaning and shows that all was not lost.
Thank you NetGalley, Julia Park Tracey and Sibylline Press for ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Bereaved is a beautiful novel that tells the story of a widow struggling to keep her family intact around the time of the Civil War in the United States. And although it is an historical novel it has so much to say about how society still treats women, especially single mothers, and especially those with very limited financial resources.

The novel tells the story of how so many deeply-loved sons and daughters ended up on the infamous Orphan Train. These children were either adopted and separated forever from their biological families or forced into a seven-year period of indentured servitude, . In fact, the entire book is a fictionalized account of the life and history of the author’s own great-great grandfather, which makes it all the more tragic. 

This novel contains both hope and heartbreak. There is resolution, but of the bittersweet variety.

The obstacles the mother in The Bereaved faces are achingly familiar. She has been at the mercy of the decision-making by her male relatives all her life. This subordination of women is cruelly evident after her young husband’s unexpected death. She is their mother but is not considered capable of being their guardian.

Reading this book it’s frightening to realize how little has changed. Sexual harassment and abuse continue to destroy lives now, just as it did during the time period of the novel. Then, as now, men use sex to control and dominate women, especially when the women are vulnerable and poor.

The book also brings home the difference between actually helping people versus social programs which just drive people further into poverty and despair. There were so many opportunities when people could have truly assisted the mother in this story. In fact, many of them preached about what a good deed they were doing for her. But all they did was make it more difficult for her to keep her family intact.

There is a moment in the book where she realizes she could mother her children but that would mean she couldn't work and therefore couldn't feed them. Or she could work but her children would be taken away and so she would not be able to mother them.

Its a gutwrenching choice that is still happening in many homes.

This is an engrossing book about an historical program. It's an even more thought-provoking book when you see the parallels to today.

This would be a very good discussion novel for book clubs. Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read The Bereaved.

Martha's husband and protector dies and leaves her a widow with four children. Ultimately leaving her and her daughter in the hands of Martha's childhood abuser. She escapes with her children from the country to the big city.
Martha really struggles to support herself and her children . She can't find work and can't feed the children enough. The children find a school for kids that feeds them. This "school" is a place for parents to sign over their children and they have the kids adopted out. Martha can see no way out and she signs over the kids not fully realizing what she did. Martha spends the rest of the novel trying to reunite with her children.
This book is heartbreaking but such a relevant story even now. I really enjoyed it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you are a fan of The Orphan Train, you should read this book as it tells the opposite side of the story. This is a well researched tale based upon the author's own family that was separated by the Home for the Friendless in NYC prior to the Civil War in 1859.

Martha is a survivor. Her husband and her father in law both pass, leaving her and her children in jeopardy. Its 1859, women have not right and are merely chattel in a male society. Soon, Marth and children are being shuttled off to another residence where the family attorney, a letch of a pedofile, is the children's guardian.

Martha and children escape to NYC where they barely survive. One day 2 of her boys come home regaling her of their full tummies and a wonderful place with a school and hot meals. The fine print is not read, and so begins Martha's quest to regain her family.

Told from Martha's point of view, this is a must read for fans of historical fiction! Highly recommend!!!

It is the mid 1850s and as you can imagine women have little id any rights- when a woman is widowed she must escape the family that wants to turn her into a servant or worse marry her off to an abusive next husband. The woman and her children escape to NY and seek work shelter and a better life - but it’s hard as a single woman - instead of prostituting herself she “lends” her children to a home that adopts them away without telling her - such a sad tale

I got very excited about the reading! It wasn't easy to stop. I loved Martha! Strong woman! The writing flows well, indeed very well. Women must have had such hard times back in the 1800 and before!

I loved this book! Martha, the main character was a fabulous narrator of her own life. She suffered so many losses and hardships but still managed to be all right in the end. Martha was an amazingly strong woman who just never gave regardless of the obstacles she face. She was disowned by her own mother and sent to live with relatives so she really didn't know her own family. Molested as a young girl by a good friend of her soon to be father-in-law, but rescued by her future husband whom she has four children with. Starting with the death of her young husband, Martha and her four children move to New York to avoid them being in the custody of the same man who had molested her years ago. Once in New York, things changed and Martha worked so hard to keep her family healthy and well-fed which was quite challenge under the circumstances of the times. The author does an amazing job of describing the reality of Martha's situation and how she tried desperately to keep her family together. I highly recommend this 5-star read!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this story that actually end up being based on real people who are related to the author. I had no idea!! Thank you so much for the ARC!!!

It's about time I read some historical fiction again and what a way to get back into it. The Bereaved tells the story of Martha and her struggles to keep her young family together, and alive, after her husband dies in 1859. 

Based on the author's own family history, this is a novel that is meticulously researched, beautifully written, heartbreaking and heartfelt. It's about women and their strength, mothers and their fierce love, and all the things that women have had to go through just to survive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

A really good read! The author has re-traced the steps done by her family and gone back to 1860. She portrayed what it felt like to be poor; how particularly harsh it was for women, mothers in those days when women could be used but not listened to. I particularly found distressing the fact that some mothers were reduced to giving her children away to some sorts of charitable institutions while believing she could get them back as soon as she found a job....
The author has done a brilliant job in recreating the atmosphere of New York among the poorest inhabitants and women's situations. She portrayed a beautiful, relatable and convincing relationship between a mother and her love, duties towards her children. I could have cried with her. Highly recommended!
I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.

The Bereaved a book that tells the tale of Martha's struggle to survive with her four children and what she had to do for the best for all of them, including her...Based upon a true story but with the how and why being fiction this is a reminder to all women of how we have evolved and become who we are today.
Martha unfortunately was in the era of women who had no rights and no say about their lives.. when her husband dies she is then relegated to the next in line to look after and her children but when he also dies, the choice to stay or run becomes necessary due to the nature of the guardian that was to become in control of the children.

Choices she only two run or stay the consequences were the reason she had to make the decision and we follow her struggle to live, provide food, accommodation and to generally survive.. The struggle and the determination to claw back what she lost shows amazing determination.

A reflection of what it is like now compared to the 1850's is a stark reminder of how we are now heard as women

Thank you for a brilliant read Julia Park Tracey, it is five stars and a heartfelt hug from me

I was pleasantly surprised with The Bereaved. My absolute favorite part is that this book was based on the author's family history. At the end of the book, the author explains what started her on her journey and the resources she used to uncover her family history. Historical fiction books are my favorite because they take people, places, and events from history and build a full story that transports you to that time. It makes learning about history so much fun.

The Bereaved span the years of 1859 - 1866, mostly set in New York City. The author did an amazing job with building the setting and characters. There was alot of detail in the book, but the pacing of the story still moved along at a steady pace. I learned interesting things about the Orphan Train and the conditions of living in New York during that time period. It was eye opening to read about what life was like for widowed women and children to survive. There were a few moments that I teared up, which is not something I do often.

The Bereaved, by Julia Park Tracey, storyline is set in the state of New York in 1859.
Julia Park Tracey has written The Bereaved story with the utmost respect for life of families in 1859.
Describing the desperation of impoverished families in New York City, where the women were desperately trying to feed their children and keep a roof overhead. Where different organizations offered to care for the children, but sent them on trains to be indentured for 7 years and then possibly adopted.
The Bereaved ripped my heart out and then slowly pieces it back together again.
This is a marvelous book.
#TheBereaved
#JuliaParkTracey
#NetGalley

"Count me now as a blackmailer as a jezebel, but I may as well be hanged for mutton as for lamb. I am perhaps a nobody, but I was his victim no longer."

tw: light spoilers, child abuse, sexual assault

Well, that was a rollercoaster.

The first two-thirds of this book were phenomenal. It was anything I could have ever wanted out of a historical fiction novel. But then the last third caught me off guard, and it just... ruined what could have been a five star read for me.

Pacing is extremely important. That's pretty common knowledge, but it's something that I struggle with myself in my writing. Because of my own susceptibility, I can get pretty nit-picky about it when I'm reading others' writing. The pacing in the first two-thirds was what made it so good; nothing felt rushed and everything felt very thorough and fleshed out. I started getting worried when I was around page 150 of 296 and the second half of the given summary had not yet begun to take place. Luckily, it was right there that it began to transition into the second part, so I relaxed. Unfortunately, I don't think this was timed correctly. The last third felt rushed and the ending, though quite happy for the most part, almost felt forced because of how quickly everything happened. Martha got her children back in less than a hundred pages... she had spent more time wondering whether she should put them in a home in the first place.

It's really unfortunate, because it's not that I even dislike the ending--I think it's a fine ending and I'm glad that (almost) everything worked out for Martha and her children. I liked how we learned about what happened to them and their descendants. It was a very neat ending, tied up with a little ribbon. But it feels off because of the fast-approaching ending in the last chunk of the book.

Other than that, the rest of the novel was wonderful. As previously stated, the first two thirds of the book were wonderfully written. I adored the imagery and how it painted such a clear picture in my mind. There was so much description that I could really see everything that was happening; it brought the story to life. It was delightful to read as well; I found that I really like Tracey's writing style.

The characters were a delight as well. Martha was an amazing, inspiring woman, and each of her children had such a distinct personality and I liked all of them, even the baby Homer. The villains in the story were realistic and well-done too, especially Montgomery. The sad reality of sexual harassment and how rich people (especially rich men) can worm their way out of sticky situations is presented really clearly in this book. As much as I wanted to see Montgomery get what he deserved, him disappearing from Martha's life was as much of a victory as we were gonna get.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the author's note / explanation at the very end of the book. It was a surprise to see that this was based off of her relatives, and it was really interesting to hear about their real versions compared to their characters. It's really cool that the author turned her family history into a compelling historical novel.

1859 was a bleak time if you were a woman with no money and responsibilities. Widowed
very young, with four children Martha's life was tough but when her father in law who
was their guardian died and left Martha and her young family to the guardianship of the
lecherous lawyer Montgomery, Martha knew she had to run away.

New York City was another world - poverty, the incessant noise, the animosity of
neighbours, the environment were foreign but they all gritted their teeth and tried
to survive. When things began to threaten their lives Martha took the bold step of handing first
her eldest two to the Friends of Society and then the youngest two. She did not realise
that she was legally giving them up.

The story of heartbreak with plenty of determination to get her children back against
immense odds is beautifully told. Martha never gave up hope for a reconciliation and
she was successful with the exception of Homer who did not know his biological mother
at all.

At the end of the story there was a chapter giving details of how the children's lives
evolved after they reconciled including Homer who had links with the author of this
story. This added a great human touch to the story and it was good to see how far
they all came to lead happy settled lives.