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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Heartbreaking but such an important historical reference!
It portrait what actually happened in the south during that era. Sadly the Tennessee children’s orphanage did a lot of unjust to a lot of families.
I found the book hard to read at times, knowing this was based on reality. I can’t imagine how people could treat kids so miserably. Adoptions can be good and adoptions can be done for just for $$….This book reveals a lot about adoptions and the cover up for years about “selling of children”… it took years to shut down the program.
Informative novel based on Georgia Tan’s orphanage in Tennessee which stole children and sold them to wealthy parents.
The story begins in Memphis 1939, narrated by 12-year old Rill Foss who along with her three younger siblings are riding out a storm on their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat in the midst of their mother being in full labor. Not long after their parents leave for the hospital, they are besieged upon by strangers who essentially abduct them, delivering them to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, an orphanage run by the Georgia Tann.
Next, we transition to present day and our narrator is Avery Stafford, a young federal prosecutor who returns home to Aiken, South Carolina when her father’s health takes a turn. Hers is a wealthy and influential family so when she has an unusual encounter with a mysterious woman at a nursing home facility, all that is threatened when Avery begins to pursue her history.
I knew before I started this book my heart was going to take a hit. Just take one look at the cover (one of the best, in my opinion) for a sense of what’s to come. This is a fictionalized account of one of the families destroyed by the real-life Georgia Tann who dispassionately ran the aforementioned adoption agency from 1920 – 1950, kidnapping and selling children to unsuspecting wealthy families, mostly out of state. I hadn’t heard of this scandal before this book.
While Rill’s story will almost destroy you emotionally, you’ll also fall in love with this young girl who fights desperately to keep her siblings together and takes care of their needs. Avery’s story isn’t as compelling but serves to provide a balance and bridge between the two eras. Hers offers hope and brightness to salve my hurt from Rill’s account. It was a lifeline.
Despite the heartbreak, I loved this story and am also grateful when I can learn something in the process. The two narrators were wonderful, especially Rill’s who really captured the grit of that character. She made her come alive, allowing me to create a vivid image of this brave girl. The author did an outstanding job of shining light on this abysmal and shameful period of our history while delivering a story that, at its core, is one of resilience, determination and strength of character.
I could not put this book down. A wonderful story based on, unfortunately, a tragic but true event.
Wonderful plot and character development. Holds your interest even as it moves from past to present.
It was such an amazing story that was told in an absolutely incredible book. Once I began reading I was unable to put the book down!
I liked this book immensely, but it was emotionally draining on me. I’m glad to have read it, though, and I recommend it to you.
Before We Were Yours~ by Lisa Wingate
This is a riveting historical fiction book based on true events. The Tennessee Children’s Home Society, run by Georgia Tann, a wicked, greedy, heartless lesbian, who came from an upper class family. Her father was a judge. The book tells the stories of Rill and her siblings, who were basically kidnapped by the local crooked police, and taken to the orphanage to live until Miss Tann could sell them, and the story of Avery Stafford, a woman whose grandmother had some mysterious ties to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. The book goes back and forth between Rill’s life and Avery’s quest for answers.
Chapter 1 takes place in the present day in Aiken, South Carolina. This chapter is told from Avery Stafford’s perspective. Then, in other chapters, you read about Rill, and how she and her siblings were wrenched from their home on a shantyboat in the river, and placed at the mercy of the orphanage’s cruel director and employees. Both viewpoints were well written, and intensely interesting, although I wish Lisa Wingate had focused more on the orphan’s lives than on Avery the single unmarried female lawyer who had doubts about her fiancee.
The heart wrenching sexual abuse and physical neglect that occurred all the time in the children’s home society was sordid and reprehensible. How the children survived,the ones who did, was difficult for me to understand, but I’m glad many children did. I found out, from OTHER sources, not this book, that infants were left to die, starved to death, or worse. My heart was so sad and also I was infuriated that this happened, and STILL happens, as you can tell if you watch the news on tv. Not in orphanages in the USA, but in other situations.
The other thing that bothered me was the amount of corruption and lack of conscience in judges, police, and the employees of Ms. Tann. Georgia had many accomplices: Politicians, legislators, judges, attorneys, doctors, nurses, and social workers who scouted child victims. She operated for 26 years.
I admit I stayed up past midnight one night, to get as far along in the book as I could, it evoked so much interest and concern in me. (Obviously, by the fact that over 5 thousand others have written reviews about “Before We Were Yours”, I wasn’t the only one who got a lot out of this historical fiction book) The book has raised a lot of questions in me, and I’ve been finding out as much as I can concerning child trafficker Georgia Tann, and the plight of the babies and children who were taken from their families under false pretenses, threats, and downright breaking of the law.
This story makes me wonder about orphanages in general, but more about the outrageous disgraceful sin of child trafficking.
A woman, Denny Glad, used to help people in Tennessee and who had been at the facility run by Georgia Tann, find their birth parents. Sadly, she has died:
http://www.dailybastardette.com/denny-glad-another-light-goes-out/
There’s quite a bit more information about this travesty, and if you’re interested, here are a few links to get you going on your own search.
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-20/news/vw-882_1_unsolved-mysteries
http://www.175moments.com/moments/georgia-tann-investigated-black-market-baby-selling-network.php?r=2
http://www.nchgs.org/html/a_story_of_stolen_babies.html
https://www.joancrawfordbest.com/articlememphis95.htm
The subject of Georgia Tann also appears in an episode of Investigation Discovery’s series Deadly Women titled “Above the Law” that aired September 13, 2013 and also appeared on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
Amazing story with wonderful characters. The story is based on a horrible truth about the Memphis Tennessee children home and a horrible woman who took children from their families. I could not put it down wanting to find out what happens to each child in the story.
I listened to this book on Audible. I loved this story. I will resisted again and will recommend it to everyone. It’s a mystery, a drama, history in regards to what some orphanages did long ago ( I pray it’s not happening now, but with child trafficking, it probably is), a love story, and a so much more. I would put this in a must read category. The audible version with the reader’s character voices is perfect for the story. You won’t be disappointed. I will buy the book so I have it in my library forever. That good.
So sad!! But a GREAT book!!!
Tragic tale of greed and cruelty but also about the power of family loyalty and love.
I loved the juxtaposition of the early lives of the sisters and the current life of the curious young women. She noticed a similarity to her grandmother when she visited an elderly lady at a nearby nursing home and began to investigate. The story unfolded to reveal some amazing connections.
Wow! This was more or less historical fiction of the horrors of orphanages in our country!
Although this is a work of fiction, it is a historical novel and the woman who ran this orphanage was a real person who actually stole children to sell them to unsuspecting people desperate to have a family, including some hollywood stars.
Historical fictional account of a little known kidnapping, child abuse, child murder and child selling business that went on in the 30’s through the 50’s in Tennessee. Particularly relevant to today’s situation with children separated from their families at the border. Beautifully written and gripping. It was one of those books I couldn’t put down and read from start to finish. A tale of how one family was affected over three generations.
A marvelously told story inspired by real life events. I had known about the shameful stealing of Native American children under the guise of “saving” them. I was unaware about the same activity in Tennessee and other areas of poverty. This was an enlightening and great story-telling.
Great book with a twist at the end. The book is both tragic and uplifting … some good coming out of a horrible situation.
Heartwrenching story that plunges you into the heart and mind of a 12 year old girl that was held in an orphanage with her siblings.