Author: Lisa Wingate
Genre: Women's Fiction, Historical, Family Saga
Release Date: June 6, 2017
About the Book:
The NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY 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.
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.
Before We Were Yours is a heart wrenching story based on a real life scandal. The author, Lisa Wingate takes us back and forth from the tragic abduction of the Foss children in 1939 and their horrific treatment at the hands of Georgia Tann, director of the Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis, Tennessee, to the present day life of Avery Stafford, a successful federal prosecutor being groomed to take over her father's political position.
From a chance meeting with May Crandall at a nursing home, hints of a connection to Avery's grandmother begin to surface. As the story unfolds, and Avery discover's her grandmother's secrets, Avery also discovers a few things about herself in the process.
Although there were times when I cringed and my eyes filled with tears, there were also times when I felt the warm fuzzy's. Lisa Wingate created vivid characters who told the story of a real life tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it. Be sure to read all the way to the end, including the author's notes.
My Rating: From a chance meeting with May Crandall at a nursing home, hints of a connection to Avery's grandmother begin to surface. As the story unfolds, and Avery discover's her grandmother's secrets, Avery also discovers a few things about herself in the process.
Although there were times when I cringed and my eyes filled with tears, there were also times when I felt the warm fuzzy's. Lisa Wingate created vivid characters who told the story of a real life tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it. Be sure to read all the way to the end, including the author's notes.
IN THE WRITER'S OWN WORDS: A special first grade teacher, Mrs. Krackhardt, made a writer out of me. That may sound unlikely, but it's true. It's possible to find a calling when you're still in pigtails and Mary Jane shoes, and to know it's your calling. I was halfway through the first grade when I landed in Mrs. Krackhardt's classroom. I was fairly convinced there wasn't anything all that special about me... and then, Mrs. Krackhardt stood over my desk and read a story I was writing. She said things like, "This is a great story! I wonder what happens next?"
It isn't every day a shy new kid gets that kind of attention. I rushed to finish the story, and when I wrote the last word, the teacher took the pages, straightened them on the desk, looked at me over the top, and said, "You are a wonderful writer!"
A dream was born. Over the years, other dreams bloomed and died tragic, untimely deaths. I planned to become an Olympic gymnast or win the National Finals Rodeo, but there was this matter of back flips on the balance beam and these parents who stubbornly refused to buy me a pony. Yet the writer dream remained. I always believed I could do it because... well... my first grade teacher told me so, and first grade teachers don't lie.
So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.
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