The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Nurse Wallis sits at her table while Owen and Mason are napping. She recalls returning to the grieving couple’s home with a small baby, Joseph. Nurse Wallis explained that Joseph’s mother had abandoned him and that the orphanages did not have room for him. Knowing the couple had suffered a terrible loss and were wonderful parents, Nurse Wallis said, she brought Joseph to them. The wife was overjoyed, but her husband remained hesitant. He agreed to adopt the baby, though he was further displeased to learn that the supposed orphanage required a donation to cover the cost of Joseph’s care. The donation, Nurse Wallis explained, was usually $100; if the couple could not make the payments, then she would have to find someone else to take in Joseph. The husband told Nurse Wallis that they had just buried their son. Feigning sympathy, Nurse Wallis said the orphanage would accept $50, and the couple agreed.

Nurse Wallis realizes she can make a significant amount of money from these “donations.” She turns to the obituary to see if any other “white, middle-class couple has lost a child this week” (223).