Orphan Train has most frequently been compared to
All the Light We Cannot See (2014
) by Anthony Doerr, a novel that explores the pasts of a German orphan and a blind French girl in German-occupied France. Like
Orphan Train, Doerr’s novel is a work of historical fiction, portrays the experiences of orphans, has a two-plot structure, and retraces the lives of modern-day characters by telling their stories from the beginning.
Orphan Train is also similar to Kline’s other works, a
Piece of the World (2017) and
The Way Life Should Be (2007). Like
Orphan Train, both of these novels examine the lives and troubles of modern-day women in Maine by exploring their family’s histories. Kline’s portrayal of Midwestern orphans at the beginning of the twentieth century has also been compared to Willa Cather’s
O Pioneers! (1905) and
Mail-Order Kid (2010) by Marilyn June Coffey. In terms of the subject matter of
Orphan Train, it has been likened to
The Little Immigrants (2000) by Kenneth Bagnell, a work of historical fiction that portrays the history of British orphans who were sent to work in Canada in the 1800s. Other feminist historical novels that, like
Orphan Train, focus on the themes of memory, secrets, and overcoming the past, are Jody Picoult’s
The Storyteller (2013) and Sue Monk Kidd’s
The Secret Life of Bees (2001). Kline’s portrayal of a young woman aging out of the modern foster care system has also been compared to Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s
The Language of Flowers (2011).