Sandra McKay 2022 Booklaunch: Storyweaving Press Novel Shines a Spotlight on Orphan Train, Canton, IL Scandal
On January 7, Sandra McKay launched her historical novel, A Place for Me: An Orphan’s Journey Home, at the Graham Hospital and the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library, both in Canton, IL, where her grandmother Dora, a survivor of the notorious Orphan Train, was adopted by a scion of the community, Joseph Murphy. Researched at the library’s geneological archives, the novel details the resilience of McKay’s grandmother, who by circumstance found herself at the center of two great scandals: first, the Orphan Train’s abduction and displacement of poor children at the turn of the 19th century, and second, a scandal that rocked Canton when Murphy’s will was contested in a grab for money and power.
The Fulton Democrat featured the book launch in a front page spread celebrating the book, noting "the author “spent two years consulting and working with Cathy Parsons, President of the Fulton County Historical Society” before transforming her extensive research into dynamic fiction.