Review | BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate
BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Published by Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN-10: 0425284689
ISBN-13: 978-0425284681
Pages: 352
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5
Synopsis (via GR)
THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller
For readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a “thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two families, two generations apart . . . based on a notorious true-life scandal.”*
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old 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.
My Thoughts
As the synopsis states, Avery Stafford stumbles upon a mystery that involves her grandmother.
Based on a true life historical incident, this book was heartbreaking. Full of emotion, determination, loyalty, poverty, love, loss and family ties to last a lifetime.
The author writes an amazing fictional tale based on a horrific and dark side of adoption that took place in the 1930s.
A dynamic and gripping read! One that will stay with me for a long time!
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