Margins
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Hearts on the Rails
Series · 6 books · 2018-2020

Books in series

Orphan Train Escape book cover
#1

Orphan Train Escape

2018

Bridget Collins is in dire straits - she needs to get out of New York, fast. With two young siblings under her wing, her options are limited. Her priest sends her as an outplacement agent on the orphan trains that run from New York to out west. With almost forty orphans under her care, she's relieved, fellow and more experienced outplacement agent, Carl Watson, is there to guide her. But Carl is dealing with his own trauma and finds it difficult to handle the pain the orphans are dealing with. Through tears and laughter, everyone on the orphan train has a lesson to teach about love, life and loyalty. And Bridget finds a new, unexpected calling. Every child deserves a happy home and Bridget is determined to do whatever it takes to ensure that happens. No matter what the cost…
Orphan Train Trials book cover
#2

Orphan Train Trials

2018

Bella Jones and Kathleen Collins are as close as sisters and that’s how they want things to stay. But fate intervenes. Kathleen’s brothers have disappeared, they traveled from New York on the Orphan Train and nobody has heard from them since. She can’t shed her gut feeling something awful has happened to them. She goes looking for them but is she prepared for what she will find? Twins, Megan and Eileen Doyle have lost so much already. Bella can’t let them travel on the Orphan Train alone. She must confront her fears and deal with her past. Can she keep the girls safe or will they too fall victim to abuse? Both Bella and Kathleen are tested in ways they never dreamed possible. Will Justice prevail and allow both girls to get their happy ever after? Or is the cost simply too high?
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#3

Orphan Train Christmas

2018

Kenny Clark knows Santa is magical and only he can find his family. Kathleen Collins fights poverty and desperation every day in her bid to find new homes for the orphans of New York. But what about her happy ever after? Can the magic of Christmas bring happiness at last?
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#4

Orphan Train Tragedy

2019

Kathleen Green longs for a child of her own. Her work with the orphan trains only serve to heighten her need. When tragedy strikes, will she get the child she always wanted? Will the cost be worth it?
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#5

Orphan Train Strike

2019

Two New York girls, Maria Mezza and Alice Doe wake up one November morning in 1906. Their lives are about to change forever. Maria is heading to her first job in a shirtwaist factory wishing she was heading to the country side. Alice is leaving New York to find a new family in Illinois country side. Three years later, the paths of the two girls will converge once more. Gone is the innocence of youth yet both girls are desperately hoping their lives will improve. Maria is caught up in the Shirtwaist Strike while Alice is on the run for her life. Set against a turbulent period in society which saw twenty thousand women take to the streets of New York in a bid for freedom of choice. Can Alice and Maria overcome the events of their past and secure happiness with the aid of Lily, Kathleen and the rest of the gang at the Sanctuary? Or has Lily’s belief the Orphan Trains are not the answer to New York’s problems come true.
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#6

Orphan Train Disaster

2020

It’s 1911 and Lily’s plans for her factory are not progressing as fast as she would like. Maria, her sister Rosa, and friend Leonie are still working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Maria and Conrad have agreed it’s pointless finding new jobs when they will soon be joining Lily’s factory. Rosa can think of nothing but her upcoming marriage and Leonie worries how she is going to look after her four siblings when their mother falls very ill. Frieda is fighting barriers at the hospital. It seems some doctors believe being female and becoming a doctor are not compatible despite her achieving high marks in the recent exams. Will she be allowed to qualify or have her dreams come to a standstill. After Alice’s experience, Lily is having major doubts about sending children on the orphan trains. But when a major disaster happens, does she have any choice?

Author

Rachel Wesson
Rachel Wesson
Author · 33 books

Rachel Wesson was born in Kilkenny, Ireland but considers herself to be from the capital, Dublin as that's where she spent most of her life. Her dad brought Rachel and her two sisters out every Saturday to give their mother a break. He took them to the library and for ice-cream after. It took a long time for her sisters to forgive her for the hours she spent choosing her books! She grew up driving everyone nuts asking them questions about what they did during the War or what side they were on in the 1916 rising etc. Finally her Granny told her to write her stories down so people would get the pleasure of reading them. In fact what Granny meant was everyone would get some peace while Rachel was busy writing! When not writing, or annoying relatives, Rachel was reading. Her report cards from school commented on her love of reading especially when she should have been learning. Seems you can't read Great Expectations in Maths. After a doomed love affair and an unpleasant bank raid during which she defended herself with a tea tray, she headed to London for a couple of years. (There is a reason she doesn't write romance!). She never intended staying but a chance meeting with the man of her dreams put paid to any return to Ireland. Having spent most of her career in the City, she decided something was missing. Working in the City is great but it's a young person's dream. Having three children you never see isn't good for anyone. So she packed in the job and started writing. Thanks to her amazing readers, that writing turned into a career far more exciting and rewarding than any other. Rachel lives in Surrey with her husband and three children, two boys and a girl. When not reading, writing or watching films for "research" purposes, Rachel likes to hang out with her family. She also travels regularly back home - in fact she should have shares in BA and Aerlingus.

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