Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All

Frankie and her older brother, Vito, and younger sister, Toni, live at the Guardians, an orphanage in Chicago run by German nuns, through most of the years of WWII. The siblings' father is alive, but he marries a woman called Ada, who doesn't want another woman's children; the new family takes Vito - but not Frankie or Toni - and moves to Denver, Colorado.

Frankie is the main character, but the narrator who tells her story - as well as her own - is the ghost of a girl named Pearl. Open the cover (door?) of this book, and there are many stories inside, of the dead and the living. (Frankie's story is based on the author's mother-in-law's own life.)

As Frankie experiences first love and first heartbreak, kindness and abuse, fleeting show more moments of joy, pain, and friendship, the ghost - Pearl - observes and knows all. But Pearl has her own story, which she slowly reveals to another ghost, Marguerite, and to herself; there are truths she has forgotten.

*Spoilers*

African-American Marguerite was murdered by her white lover's suitable (white) wife-to-be. Pearl survived the Spanish flu and childbirth, only to be drowned by her own brothers, after she fended off an attack from the man her family tried to marry her off to - a man who sent her to the same asylum where Frankie's father sent her mother, and told her children she had died.

That's plenty of fucked-up-ness for one book, but it's not wholly grim: Pearl watches her grown daughter, Mercy, who seems happy in a small house with a kind man. Marguerite visits her ex-lover and her mother. Frankie and Toni leave the orphanage, and after a stint with their father and Ada, get a room of their own. Vito survives the war (though Frankie's first love, Sam, does not).

See also: The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes (YA set in Chicago, ghosts, murder); Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (adult, set in NY, young women living on their own)

Quotes

"Time always passes faster than we'd like it to." (Father Paul to Frankie)

His voice, lower than she'd expected, slipped under her skin, vibrating there, as if someone had just moved a bow across the strings of a cello and left her yearning for a whole symphony.

How can you miss someone you never really met?

"Nothing is funny about war. But one must find reasons to laugh anyway, especially when nothing is funny. Sometimes joy is the only defense you have, and your only weapon. Remember that." (Sister Bert)

"Sooner or later, someone always tries to take what's yours. She just got mad enough to do something about it." (Marguerite to Pearl)

But there was sadness twisting through her laughter, woven into it, a grief she couldn't name, a fear that the future would never come and fear that it would, a strange sense that she wouldn't be strong enough to meet it. (Frankie)

...I'm scared all the time, and being scared makes me so mad, when I think about the future there's only smoke and fog and I can't see my way through it. (Frankie)

Doors can be dangerous. You never know what's on the other side, what you're letting in. (Pearl)

It doesn't matter which door you open, she said. Three or ten or thirteen doorways, there are wolves behind them all. (Marguerite to Pearl)

Bit I don't think God hears the prayers of the dead. And I don't think he forgives me. (Marguerite)

Why does the world demand girls be beautiful, but when they are, punish them for it? Why does it punish girls either way? Why does the world want girls to be sorry, some even more than others?

"You're allowed to be glad for a moment."
"You don't understand."
"I don't need to. We only get scraps in this lousy life. Take what you can get, do you hear me?" (Frankie and a strange woman on the street)

No matter what you hoped for, hope could break your heart....
Girls were punished so hard for their love, so hard, hard enough to break them. (Frankie)

Every little decision you made, every person you met could change your life, set it on a different course, or end it. (Frankie) show less

Frankie and her brother and sister have been at the Catholic orphanage in Chicago since her mother died and her father couldn't keep them. This is Frankie's story of growing up a half-orphan in the 1930s and 40s, narrated by a ghost to watches her and has her own family secrets from earlier in the century.

I brought this book for my holiday traveling this week, and it was all I could do not to devour it so I'd still have enough to read on the plane ride today. I feel like I'm not doing it any justice by attempting to summarize the story, which is based in part on the author's mother-in-law. This book is nothing like what I was expecting. It is so good. So. Good. I loved Frankie's story, and the ghost's perspective, and the way in which show more their stories were slowly revealed until I just could not wait to find out what would happen. This will be one that stays with me a long time. show less

Two fascinating story-lines weaving in and out. One living, the other watching; fading in and out of the background. Ghosts don't have much power or control, but they do have excellent powers of observation and Pearl is endlessly fascinated watching young Frankie grow up in a Chicago orphanage. Frankie isn't alone in there; she can't sense the ghost watching her, but she has her younger sister and older brother to keep her company. Her father visits twice a month but those visits are getting harder and harder as he starts seeing a new woman. Times are tough in the orphanage so Frankie has to learn how to weather through it. The nuns are strict, the food is scarce, and the rules are multiplying; but as the years progress Frankie realizes show more that an orphanage isn't just a place to escape from; there is a safety net in its walls and the friends she's made. Beautifully set at the advent of World War II, Frankie and Pearl's tale are heartfelt and inspiring. Unique and captivating; they don't make young adult fiction like this anymore! show less

teen audio fiction (9 hrs) - a teen ghost watches a teen in an orphanage (has a dad/stepmom so not really parentless) in 1940s Chicago.

I enjoyed Ruby's Bone Gap several years ago and was hesitant about a WWII-era historical fiction, but this book shares the same beautifully dreamy storytelling with a good dose of suspense and intrigue.

A bit longer and more involved than I would like from an audiobook (my attention span fares better with print books sometimes), but I did enjoy the storytelling--lots of mini-fairytales/ghost stories spun within the narratives of the tragic lives of these discarded young women--Pearl the ghost cannot change her unfortunate past, but the reader can hope that Frankie may at least escape from some of the show more harm that Pearl and other women frequently suffered in those days (rape, murder, or being confined to a mental asylum). show less

I don't know what to say about this book without giving too much away. For me, part of why I loved it so much was unraveling the narrator's story and how it wove in with the story of Frankie and her sister Toni. Vivid storytelling.

I've liked the other books Laura Ruby has written (Bone Gap, York series), but this one not so much. This is a coming of age story about an adolescent girl growing up in an orphanage in Chicago during World War II. Frankie, her brother and sister are abandoned by their father after the death of her mother, as he marries another woman with her own family. There is an interwoven ghost story, some themes of adolescent love, war, abuse by the nuns, and discrimination against women. Basically, too many themes and too many ideas, which ultimately did not work for me.

I love reading books set in the time period of WWII. Then you add in a young girl named Frankie and a ghost named Pearl, whose stories alternate and you have the setup for a great book. The thing that really sets this book apart from so many other of this time period is the difference between the treatment of males and females. There are so many things a female is expected to do just because of her gender. Yet we have a story here to show how strong the female can be and how they rise above the expectations for the time period. We also look at the difference in treatment between those who have money and those who do not.
Frankie is living in an orphanage. The story takes place in America. This surprised me because I figured as a World show more War 2 book it would have taken place in Europe. However, this was a refreshing detail. Frankie, her sister and brother all live in an orphanage because their mother is dead and their father can’t afford to take care of them. I got angry at the fact that their father meets another woman, whose children are also in the orphanage, and they get married. The marriage wasn’t the issue. It was the fact their father was moving out west and taking his new wife and her children and their brother with them. The only reason the brother went was because he had aged out of the orphanage. Another unique aspect of this orphanage was the way they separated the boys and girls. Girls were required to take care of the dinner dishes from the boy’s side, but not allowed to talk or acknowledge them without repercussions. Some of the nuns came across as just looney or sadistic. The storyline is engaging and kept me reading. A bonus for me was learning that this is based on the true life story of the author’s Mother-in law. A strange book, yet engaging. I will say it was difficult in the very beginning to keep the two perspectives straight. If you stick with it, which I say you should, you will soon find yourself so invested you can’t stop reading it. So glad to have read and recommend this book. show less