Orphan #8

I read Kim van Alkemade's novel Orphan #8 (#533) on the recommendation of friends.  Obviously, they saw something in this book that I didn't.  I found it dreary and depressing, with no moral payoff at the end.

It's the story of Rachel Rabinowitz, orphaned along with her older brother in the early years of the twentieth century.  She and her brother are placed in separate Jewish orphanages where she becomes the medical guinea pig for an ambitious and unscrupulous medical resident, resulting in permanently damaged health and disfigurement.  Rachel doesn't realize that she was never sick, but the object of experimentation until many years later when she has become a nurse herself.  One night in the  Jewish old folks' home in New York City where she works that same doctor becomes her patient.  What will she do?  Will Rachel seek revenge?  Or can she rise above it?  The answer is neither, really.  Meh.

Ms. van Alkemade has researched the background of her story to make it feel authentic, but I could never warm up to any of the characters.  I really didn't care what happened to Rachel because I found her unpleasant on so many levels.  Of course, that's just me, and the critics seem to have loved this book.  You'll just have to judge for yourself.  I'm sorry I spent the time on this book and not on something more edifying.