The Orphanmaster Pdf Summary
From a debut novelist, a gripping historical thriller and rousing love story set in seventeenth-century Manhattan
It’s 1663 in the tiny, hardscrabble Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now present-day southern Manhattan. Orphan children are going missing, and among those looking into the mysterious state of affairs are a quick-witted twenty-two-year-old trader, Blandine von Couvering, herself an orphan, and a dashing British spy named Edward Drummond.
Suspects abound, including the governor’s wealthy nephew, a green-eyed aristocrat with decadent tastes; an Algonquin trapper who may be possessed by a demon that turns people into cannibals; and the colony’s own corrupt and conflicted orphanmaster. Both the search for the killer and Edward and Blandine’s newfound romance are endangered, however, when Blandine is accused of being a witch and Edward is sentenced to hang for espionage. Meanwhile, war looms as the English king plans to wrest control of the colony.
Jean Zimmerman brings New Amsterdam and its surrounding wilderness alive for modern-day readers with exacting period detail. Lively, fast paced, and full of colorful characters, The Orphanmaster is a dramatic page-turner that will appeal to fans of Hilary Mantel and Geraldine Brooks.
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The Orphanmaster Review
TOP 500 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 stars Historical fiction densely packed with characters and period details, yet immensely readable.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2017
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The back blurb of this book calls it “a love story wrapped around a murder mystery, set in 17th-century New York.” Well, sort of, but that makes this book sound as if it is primarily a love story. For me, the love story is just a small part of this tale. Or if one wants to call it a “love story”, make that a love story to New York as it was in 1663.
This is, of course, the time of Colonial America. France, Spain, England and the Netherlands have staked out their claims to territories in the New World. New Netherland, what is now New York, New Jersey and Delaware, was founded in the early 17th century by the Dutch West India Company for trading purposes. Neighboring territories such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, most of Connecticut, and Long Island had been colonized by England at more or less the same time.
One interesting thing I noticed about this is that since the Dutch areas were not created for religious reasons but rather for trading, there appeared to be a good amount of personal freedoms for the colonists of New Netherland and New Amsterdam (now New York City), especially for women. The main female character in this novel, Blandine van Couvering, was orphaned as a young teen and is now an independent woman, making a successful career as a “she-merchant”. She’s so good at trading that, to give you an example, she began one market day in this story with a container of molasses and, through various trades throughout the day, ended up with a large parcel of valuable land AND a container of molasses. Unmarried Blandine has all the rights and freedoms of her unmarried male counterparts and, were she to marry, has the right to choose to maintain her independence and control of all her property and goods brought into the marriage.
Blandine is also open-minded and fair. She is a friend to the “indians” or “wilden” (Native Americans) and to the Africans living in the area and, as an orphan herself, feels a kinship with the numerous orphans around. And that brings me to the title of this book. Orphanmaster was an actual profession in colonial New Amsterdam. The person in charge of caring for and fostering out all orphaned children in the colony. Here the orphanmaster is Aet Visser, a good but flawed man who does seems to genuinely care about his charges and with whom Blandine has a close, almost daughterly, relationship.
Add to the mix many colorful Dutch, English, native, and African characters and a newly-arrived handsome English stranger who, while claiming to be a trader in grains, is actually a British spy and regicide hunter. (He hunts down internationally those who had arranged for the beheading of Charles I, the action triggering Cromwell’s Puritanical Parliamentary reign and years of English Civil war until the Restoration of the monarchy and crowning of Charles II, now king of England as this story takes place.)
Into this tale of the many peoples and their ways of life in 1660s New Amsterdam, the author adds in a rather gruesome mystery. Orphan children are going missing and there seems to be a possible serial killer. Many believe it is the Algonquin demon known as “witika”, an extremely scary-looking cannibalistic monster. (To research this Algonquin lore further, I found the word “wendigo” to be more productive than the word “witika” in online searches. And there are even more variations on the spelling of this ghastly monster of native folklore.)
I will say nothing more about the plot. I do need to mention, however, that ratings for this book are all over the place. Almost as many readers dislike this book as like it, as many hate it as love it. As a teacher, I recognize an almost classic Bell curve in the grades reviewers are giving this. I suspect that part of the reason is the very denseness of the story There’s so much to this. So many characters. So much historical information on life in this 1660s colony. So much happening to so many people. Perhaps it’s too much for some readers.
But I also suspect that much dislike for the book comes from the mystery itself. It is quite gruesome and gory. That may not sit well with all readers. I found this to be a fascinating tale, but I’m not going to recommend it across the board to all who read my review. However, if you’re a reader like me who has a high tolerance for disturbing, creepy details in a mystery and who really, really likes a lot of history interwoven skillfully (not as boring information dumps) within the pages, this could be for you.
5.0 out of 5 stars Puritan Evi
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 20, 2013
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For those who like American history and crime, Jean Zimmerman’s debut historical novel, “Orphan Master,” is about as good as it gets. On one hand, Zimmerman has crafted a winning plot of evil spirits, witches, cannibalism, and missing orphan children on the North American Continent in 1662 in what’s now Manhattan New York, then New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony.
Despite the large number of characters in this mystery of shifting property lines, ghastly torture, and murder, author Zimmerman’s superior skill at character development helps us to understand and empathize with Bandine Van Couvering, a successful female fur trader, and her love, Edward Hammond, a British spy. In this tale of high intrigue, the two are tracked, and frequently targeted by evil doers disguised as paranormal spirits who terrorize the entire colonial population.
Below are a few brief quotes from literally hundreds of examples of this debut novelist handling of character development. Her technique, brief passages and phrases, and using an omniscient point of view allows her to reveal characters by what others think of them.
Characterization Examples:
Blandine Van Couvering: At times she looked up at Blandine as the earthworm must look at the acrobat, in wonder that such things were done. … “Eight hundred guilders.” Miep said, adopting a pious tone whenever money was mentioned. “Take away the cost of he pelt guns,” Blandine said, “and the expenses of this trip totaling perhaps two hundred seventy being generous. Yielding what?” … She had watched the cogs of the young girl’s mind turn, “Five hundred thirty, isn’t it?”
Edward Drummond: Drummond must appear the simple grain merchant, newly arrived in search of his lodgings. He possessed letters of trade that would present him as such.
One thing he enjoyed most about the Dutch, perhaps their best characteristic, was that they were always too busy with their single-minded scurrying about after profit to pay anyone else much mind.
These brief thumbnails of Protagonists Blandine and Edward Hammond grab you from the first page and, delightfully sadistic, don’t let you go till the final page.
In addition, we learn through showing not telling an enormous amount about the colonies and local 17th century Dutch Customs. For this alone, author Zimmerman’s research and its incorporation into “Orphan Master” is awesome. In addition to English and Dutch mores, both in the colonies and in Europe, as well as the local Indian bands, of New England at that time.
Although hanging was a popular sport, aided by trumped up charges, there is plenty of evil to spread around and justice to be done in “Orphan Master.” In the final chapter of the story we are taken on an exciting chase from the point of view of the bad guys as well as the good guys – a sort of 17th century car chase afoot and on horseback holding us enthralled to the end.
Jean Zimmerman’s book, Orphan Master is a truly well done and thrilling book. Don’t miss it
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Murder Mystery in a Historical Setting.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 5, 2014
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Yes, The Oprphanmaster does take you to Dutch settled Manhattan – you really feel like you are there. As a native New Yorker I enjoyed learning the source of the names of streets and areas in Lower Manhattan as well as the original Indigenous people of Manhattan and the early African American community. I even looked up information about the Magic Lantern device – a precursor to the history of moving pictures. I liked the Heroine of the story – she had a believable determination to pursue a non traditional career in trade. Time after time, women who are outcasts are traditionally labled as witches or mad. The story moved quickly as each building block was added – it was exciting. A good array of characters. It reminded me of Dickens characters. Clever orphans looking to survive, poverty pimps, social climbers, arrogant aristocrats, and so on. They blended well with the time and place. The novel doesn’t follow the traditional “who done it” formula and that is okay. The mystery thread – more like a fishing line remained a constant in the plot. I liked that. Thank you Ms. Zimmerman for writing this novel.
About Jean Zimmerman Author Of The Orphanmaster pdf Book
Throughout her writing career Jean Zimmerman Author Of The Orphanmaster pdf Book, has published both nonfiction and fictional works that center around the changing role of women in America.
In Tailspin (Doubleday, 1995) she wrote about intrepid Navy fighter pilot Kara Hultgreen. Ballsy soccer players were the subject of Raising Our Athletic Daughters (Doubleday, 1998, with Gil Reavill). She covered heroic female homemakers in Made From Scratch (Free Press, 2003). The Women of the House (Harcourt, 2006) allowed Zimmerman to portray New Amsterdam fur trader extraordinaire Margaret Hardenbroeck. She brought larger-than-life beauty Edith Minturn out of obscurity in Love, Fiercely (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012). She also created intrepid fictional heroines from earlier eras in The Orphanmaster (Viking, 2012) and Savage Girl (Viking, 2014).
To promote her books Zimmerman has appeared on “The Today Show,” NBC; “Good Morning America,” ABC; “CBS Evening News With Dan Rather”; “Talk of the Nation,” National Public Radio; “The Diane Rehm Show,” National Public Radio; “New York & Company With Leonard Lopate,” WNYC; “To the Best of our Knowledge,” Wisconsin Public Radio and others. She also spoken before audiences at historic sites, libraries, museums, book clubs and other venues.
An honors graduate of Barnard College, Zimmerman earned an MFA in writing from the Columbia University School of the Arts and published her poetry widely in literary magazines. Her awards and prizes include an Academy of American Poets Prize in poetry, 1985; a New York Foundation for the Arts grant in poetry, 1986; Books for a Better Life Award, finalist, 1998, for Raising Our Athletic Daughters; Washington Irving Book Selection of The Women of the House; Washington Irving Book Selection of The Orphanmaster; Westchester Library Association prize, 2007, for The Women of the House; Original Voices Selection, Borders, 2006 for The Women of the House.
She lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. Zimmerman’s blog, Blog Cabin, can be found at jeanzimmerman.com.
The Orphanmaster pdf, Paperback, Hardcover Book Information
- Publisher : Viking; First Edition (June 19, 2012)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0670023647
- ISBN-13 : 978-0670023646
- Item Weight : 1.38 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #5,202,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28,664 in Historical Mystery
- #126,733 in Suspense Thrillers
- 187,850 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews: 3.7 out of 5 stars 120 ratings
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