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

The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (2020) is a bestselling historical fiction novel by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Published months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, this novel explores the devastation of the 1918 flu pandemic through themes of family, shame, and survival against a political backdrop of anti-German sentiments, World War I, immigration, and class. Wiseman has written several other historical novels, often featuring strong women and girls who face adversity in the midst of major historical events such as the Holocaust (The Plum Tree) and the Roaring Twenties (What She Left Behind).

Content Warning: The text contains descriptions of death, child abuse, racism, anti-immigrant bias, kidnapping, and suicidal ideation. Certain quotes in this guide replicate language that highlights specific characters’ racism and anti-immigrant biases.

Plot Summary

The novel follows 13-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange, who lives in Philadelphia with her mother (Mutti), four-month-old twin brothers Max and Ollie, and her father (Vater), who is fighting for the American army in World War I. With the war ending, people crowd the streets of Philadelphia in celebrations. Soon after the parade, the flu epidemic breaks out, killing many, especially those from lower-class families, who are unable to get care at overwhelmed hospitals.