A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to post, but that is because my son got married, and I’ve been busy celebrating.  I will try to make more frequent posts to catch up!  Before the wedding, I recently had the opportunity to hear this author speak at the Christamore House Guild Book and Author Benefit.  An interesting part of her talk was to share the similarities she has had with the painting including a mother and grandmother named Christina and living in Maine and having a father who took the family to the house for a picnic in the field.  I have always enjoyed the painting of Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth, and the Orphan’s Train was a book I enjoyed by this author, so I was eager to read this book.  The book is historical fiction, and although it features Wyeth’s painting, the artist has a minimal presence in the book other than becoming a friend and frequent guest at Christina’s house.  The book gives the back-story of Christina’s family and how they arrived at the farmhouse.  The farmhouse was very primitive and dilapidated and Christina had physical issues which got progressively worse.  She had a tough life, unable to complete school because she had to care for her family and the farmhouse, and the additional physical issues caused an added difficulty.  It was interesting to learn the story of the person in the painting.