Christina Baker Kline Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Christina Baker Kline is a renowned writer from the United States, who is popular for writing fiction, art, and historical fiction books. She has written seven books so far in her career and has been listed in the New York Times bestselling list. Author Kline is particularly famous for writing the books, A Piece of World and Orphan Train. The former is based on the relationship between an artist named Andrew Wyeth and his most popular painting’s subject.

In addition to writing her popular novels, she has also penned as well as edited five nonfiction works. Her book, Orphan Train, was listed in the bestseller list of the NY Times for over two years, and in that time it had acquired the top spot for five weeks straight. This book has been published in more than 40 countries and is regarded as one of the best works of author Christina Kline. Also, the book was chosen by over a 100 colleges and communities as a ‘One Book One Read’ selection. Following the successful run of this book, author Kline adapted the story for young readers and gave it the title as Orphan Train Girl. All of her books have been greatly successful and have entertained the readers worldwide.

Author Kline was born in Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1964 and spent her earlier years growing up in the American South of Cambridge and Maine. She completed her graduation from the Yale University with a Bachelor Of Arts degree in English and then enrolled for a Master of Arts degree in Literature in the Cambridge University. Later, author Kline joined the Virginia Univesity for an MFA. There, she was included as a Fellow of Henry Hoyns for Fiction Writing. Author Kline has received the Fellowship of Geraldine Dodge Foundation. Kline has been a Write in Residence at the Fordham Univeristy for a period of 4 years between 2007 and 2011. During this time, she was involved in teaching literature and creative writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Author Kline maintains that she has always gained inspiration from the prominent authors like Emily Dickinson, Tracy Chevalier, Willa Cather, May Sarton, etc. Orphan Train, Kline has described the real story of orphan trains that were run between East Coast and Midwest from 1854 to 1929 for carrying thousands of abandoned, destitute, and orphaned children. In October 2017, author Kline was involved in a campaign called Me Too. As part of her contribution to the campaign, the author has written an essay for the State Magazine. With the help of the essay, Kline accused for American President George Bish of touching her inappropriately and telling her an absurd joke when the two were posing for a photo during a 2014 event. When the chauffeur heard Kline telling this incident to her husband at back seat, she told Kline to remain silent. This reaction of the driver made Kline suspicious that such incidents might have happened with other women also. She also described that president Bush had hired several people for doing the damage control for him and the lady chauffeur was one of them. The campaign went on to become viral and suspicions about the president’s inappropriate behavior with women were confirmed as other women also came forward to share the disgusting experiences of their own.

The debut book written by author Christina Baker Kline in her writing career is entitled ‘Sweet Water’. This captivating read was released in the year 1994 by the HarperCollins publication. The book features the lead characters in the roles of Cassie Simon, Ellen, and Constance Clyde. The setting of the story is done in Sweetwater in Tennessee, Boston, and New York. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that a young artist finds out that she has received a vast land of 60 acres from her grandfather, whom she never knew existed. Immediately, she leaves New York is search of the truth about her past life and to rethink about her future. Cassie Simon, the young artist, was just a child when she lost her mother, Ellen.

After that, she was brought up by her father in Boston. Cassie grew up without knowing any of her maternal relatives. She is not prepared for what lies ahead for her, especially the mysteries surrounding the maternal relatives. When Cassie Simon meets her grandmother, she seems rather bewildered. She comes to know that her grandmother knows a terrible secret related to the death of her mother. As the story moves on, Cassie’s grandmother fights a separate battle from Cassie in coping with the tragedy’s truth. Author Kline seems to have done a fantastic job of rendering the voice of each woman in the story. She has described Cassie’s voice as often uncertain and probing that creates psychological suspense and steers the narrative ahead. Overall, the story looks immensely readable, powerful, and fresh. It tells a unique about betrayal and loyalty that the readers liked very much.

Another exciting book penned by Christina Kline is called ‘Orphan Train’. It was published by the William Morrow publication in 2013. The story features the chief characters in the roles of Molly Ayer and Vivian Daly. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that 18 year old Molly Ayer thinks that her only chance of keeping herself away from juvie and even worse is to accept the community service offer given to her. After having crossed the age limit of being in the system of child welfare, Molly Ayer about to get kicked out of the foster home too. As per her community service job, Molly is required to help an old woman, Vivian Daly, in cleaning her house. Ninety-One year old Vivian has lived her life quietly in her beach house in Maine. However, she has some secrets about her turbulent past hidden in her house.

While helping Vivian in sorting through her memories and possessions, Molly Ayer finds that she is no different from the old woman. When Vivian Daly was a young immigrant from Ireland living an orphan’s life in New York City, she sent to Midwest on a train along with numerous other orphans. As an orphan child, Vivian had made up her mind that her destiny is going to be determined by chance and luck, just like those of all the other children on the train. Molly and Vivian keep getting closer with the progress of the plot, helping Molly discover parallels from Vivian’s life for her own. Molly realizes that she is capable of helping the elderly woman find the answers to the mysteries that she has been haunted by her whole life. This book also describes a captivating tale that is rich and epic in every sense. The powerful novel is about resilience, upheaval, second chances, unexpected friendship, and secrets.

One Response to “Christina Baker Kline”

1. Cecily: 2 years ago

   I’m in Florida on holiday from the UK & I’ve just read ‘Orphan Train’. It’s a gripping story & very informative, I thoroughly enjoyed it although it was heartbreaking at times.it was of particular interest to me as I am from Galway. Thank you for a great book.

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