THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller“Poignant, engrossing.”—People • “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their … Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.
Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection
“Sure to be one of the most compelling books you pick up this year. . . . Wingate is a master-storyteller, and you’ll find yourself pulled along as she reveals the wake of terror and heartache that is Georgia Tann’s legacy.”—Parade
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Very informative as well as tragic. Hard to believe that innocent children lost their
parents to this ruthless woman.
This is based on the true story of children kidnapped from their families and put in a Tennessee orphanage, It was estimated that Georgia Tann stole over 5,000 children and many were adopted out to wealthy families in New York and California. It is a compelling read!
As an adoptive parent, this story based on true life activities and situations sparked many emotions for me. The story draws you in from the beginning. The characters are well-defined and interesting. There is enough going on to keep you guessing about something until the very end. Both heartbreaking and life-affirming.
LOVED this book! Gave it as a gift.
Great book — well written and good story-line.
Great story representing a sad part of our history
5 amazing stars!!
I’m so glad I bought this book on a whim. A lady I work with told me this story about a book and how it relates to real life back in the 1930’s, I was intrigued. I never knew the name of the book but about a year later I was searching amazon for a book to read and this came out of nowhere. I knew I had to read and I am so very glad I did.
I want to say I probably should have read the book and moved on but I didn’t. I researched. I kept researching. I realized this book was just the tip. The poor families. My heart broke. This shit was real.
This story is purely fiction but it could have happened. Things that happened in this book did happen to real people. What hurt is how these poor families and children took it in stride. They hid. They went where they had to. My soul broke a little. The family in this story was such a beautiful family. And one lady took it all away.
I kept waiting for it all to be ok. It never was. Sure the end was bitter sweet but nobody she ever endure what this entire family endured.
I definitely recommend reading this book. It was brilliantly written. I was intrigued. It’s a book you want to savor. This book weighs on your mind and your soul. The author is a whiz with words. I was living this with these children. I was walking with Avery trying to find answers. I would love to see this as a movie.
This is a definite MUST read!!
Great read!!!
Very good discussion at our book club!
This book based on the Tennessee Children’s home is a fictionalized story based on lives of children who were later able to locate their original families. Written as fiction, the reader learns how the home “found” children then later put up for adoption for fee, leaving their birth families unaware of what had happened to their child. Shocking that this was happening in the USA during the 1940’s. Fortunately the home was closed in 1950 and documents were unsealed in 1995.
I really enjoyed this book.
Loved this book!
I would gladly give this sad, poignant, but rewarding story 10 stars if possible.
This may be fiction, but you can imagine the pain, suffering, the loss, of all the victims, children and parents alike.
I will not spoil this story, but I must say I admired young Rill Foss in her efforts to hold what was her’s together and her older self May in locating and reconnecting with what was most precious to her. Can you imagine what a strong, resilient, formidable, person she could have been in real life? I am getting a head of myself, if you haven’t yet listened to this novel I urge you to read or listen the narration is excellent and the story is powerful.
It held my attention all the way through. A real page turner.
Eye opener about the adoption system and a very unscrupulous director. Based on a true story.
Incredible, beautiful and poignant are the first words that come to mind as soon as I finished this book. This story is historical fiction surrounding a dark period involving the Tennessee Children’s Home and then also flashes to the present. This is a story of unbelievable loss, terrible abuse, heartbreak, questions, friends, family and love.
Lisa Wingate is an incredibly talented writer. The moment you open one of her books you are captivated from the first page. This story will make you angry, make you cry, make you smile, and make you happy.
I can not recommend this book highly enough. This is a definite MUST read.
It was a page turner! Great author. Great characters. So sad that this really happened to families.
Heart breaking story based on real life scandal.
What a wonderful, wonderful book!!! I had never known about the Tennessee adoption scandal that occured before reading this. It’s amazing that it was able to go on for so long and that children were taken from their parents under such conditions or told their babies had passed away. It was heartbreaking to read Rill’s story unfold. I loved her character and what a strong young woman she was to go through what she did and to come out the way she did. I loved Avery’s character as well and her determination to get to the bottom of her grandmother’s story and how it gave her the courage to follow her own dreams and not just those of her family. Life can have many heartbreaks and pain but there’s much joy in it too.
It’s so hard to believe that things like this happened so frequently in our country in the 20th Century. This book is like a kick in the gut. You will gasp more than once while reading it. And don’t forget to research the monsters when you are done!
One of my absolute favorite books.