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Possible spoilers related to character.


She had said there was no comparison between her work at the Infant Home and those terrible experiments in the camps,and she was right, of course she was. But did the children on Dr. Menegle's table feel any differently than I did on hers? No matter her motives, the way she used us was the same. No wonder she couldn't apologize. It would destroy a person, wouldn't it, to admit to doing that kind of harm?

Author Kim van Alkemade's historical fiction debut, drawn from events surrounding members of her family, is dramatically heartbreaking. The feeling I had when reading Orphan #8 was the same in which I used to feel as a teen when watching a movie based on an actual event. I used to think " It couldn't have been like that, could it? People couldn't have really thought.(fill in blank)." Of course, I'm sure many of us have experienced that feeling of disbelief or horror.

That's what makes reading Orphan #8 so difficult as a reading experience. Because Alkemade is presenting the story of medical experiments on children, a topic that is sure to stir each reader's moral compass. As eager as I was to turn the pages and find out how adult Rachel copes with the realization of what happened to her as a child, while also confronting the doctor that did this to her was emotional. I'm a schoolteacher at an elementary/high school and an aunt of two little boys, ages 3 and 1. So, 4 year old Rachel's innocence and my adult comprehension of what was happening to her and the other children hit close to home. A similar stance I had while reading Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain.

I felt that adult Rachel's storyline was just as vital. We see snippets from her nursing career, to her very few interactions with a neighbor, to her personal relationships with her brother and her female partner, I was able to see what Dr. Solomon couldn't admit, that the children she experimented on were greatly affected by what she and the other doctors had done. That in their pursuit of medical breakthroughs and personal accolades, they had forgotten the golden rule of their profession, "do no harm."

Orphan #8 was an eyes wide open type of book, one that will stick in my mind for a long time. A book that I 'd already started recommending to my reading friends even before I had finished reading. This was one of those books that I was greatly satisfied to see a plentiful amount of background, photos and input from the author at the back of the text. There's also additional information on the author's website.