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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I’ll begin with the cover of this riveting, beautiful book: two blonde, young girls dressed in white cotton sit on a suitcase—one with a long braid, the other holding a teddy-bear, her arm behind her back as the pair face a body of water from a dock. Already there is a sense of longing before the reader gets to page one. We know from the title that there is a backstory waiting to be revealed, something the reader of this present tense, first-person story set in two timeframes and told through two points of view doesn’t know, but should.
Before We Were Yours is based on a true atrocity: In the 1930’s, until 1950, an orphanage in Memphis was run by deplorable means for profit, its despicable matron, Georgia Tann, acquiring newborns and young children through any means necessary, posing as the soul of compassion, yet tied in with a corrupt network that condoned illegal, heartbreaking practices of snatching the young from impoverished circumstances under the guise of placing them in better homes. Many confused souls suffered: destitute mothers in post-partum twilight sleep, unaware of the paper they’d signed relinquished their offspring to the Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society. Names were changed, histories were expunged, case files were sealed, and many were fated as victims set on a life-course of Georgia Tann’s self-serving making.
This is a tale of far-reaching history told personally. Author Lisa Wingate gifts us with the voice of young Rill Foss, the eldest of five children raised on a Mississippi river-boat shanty by parents who can provide love, but little else. When her mother is rushed to a Memphis hospital in peril from the coming birth of twins, it is Rill left to hold down the docked fort for her siblings, unaware that they are all sitting ducks, unguarded in the face of Georgia Tann’s profiteering scheme.
The reader learns the Foss children’s’ story in hindsight. It is present day, and thirty-year-old lawyer, Avery Stafford, in the name of her family’s politically high-profile status, stumbles upon an old woman in a nursing home, while making a public appearance. When the old woman’s story is launched, past and present are woven seamlessly in a coincidental, unravelling of mysteries that pull at the heartstrings all the way through.
It takes a seasoned and gifted writer to emblematically take the harrowing premise of one family torn asunder by the institution of a real life, black-market network and leave us with resounding outrage by crafting the story as a tale of personal injustice. In pitch-perfect language, Before We Were Yours is a search for identity told at its most beautiful. It entices with a sense of urgency through immediate emotional investment and miraculously manages to satisfy the reader through the disturbing arc of a truth laid bare.
Sweet story.
I loved this book, though I found it deeply disturbing. I had no idea that the premise of this story was actually based on fact, proving once again that power can corrupt, spawning true evil.
This was one of my favorite reads of the year! It lived up to the very best in historical fiction because I researched the place and persons that were real life. I liked the romance that was added and the mystery and danger that was always lurking. My copy is still being passed around between family and friends.
Beautifully written, well developed characters, storytelling at its best. Loved this book.
Based on a real place and a real woman, this book is haunting. Children are kidnapped, often separated from their siblings, mistreated and sold for adoption. Reading this book from the point of view of a “normal” kid raised in a “typical” family makes one appreciate what many take for granted.
This was a very poignant book. The characters seem so real that the turmoil they experienced almost felt personal. Heartbreaking situations. Wonderful story.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is 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. That I listened to on audio narrated by Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber. Lisa did an amazing job with this story. This is the first book of hers that I have read and it definitely wont be my last. Emily and Catherine did an amazing job with their narration and bringing the story to life. I would highly recommend this book.
Grab the kleenex.
This one of the best books I have ever read. I couldn’t put it down. It gives great insight into a tragic period. Even though this is a work of fiction, it was still very informative.
Very entertaining and well written. There were some difficult subjects.
A wonderful read that shows the strength of family ties. Had it’s tragic moments and heartbreaking times but shows endurance as an ending.
One of my favorite books I’ve ever read!
This author is one of my favorites. All her books are inspirational.
Before We Were Yours was incredibly moving! I liked how the strength of the characters was portrayed. The fictional story based on something that happened in the early 30s was so heartbreaking to read at times, but at the same time captivating and powerful. The story is about the children in a family who are taken away from their parents and taken to a childrens home. It is the story of the days before this happened and what happened after. It is also about a young woman’s discovery of this secret years later and her search to find out what really happened.
Stunning. This book has completely twisted my heart with sadness and then filled it with elation of hope. Written in two POV’s this is a masterpiece of plot and characterization.
Excellent read. Unbelievable that it is based on true events!
Can’t imagine that this really happened. Tragically interesting.
Broke my heart!
Terrible audiobook