Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
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.
Review: In 1939, twelve-year-old Rill lives with her four younger siblings on a shantyboat on the Mississippi River. Although her parents can't give them much, they have love in abundance. Until her mother must be rushed to the hospital and the children are left alone. Strangers appear and force the children off of their boat and the only home they know to take them to an orphanage run by the Tennessee Children's Home Society. While Rill hopes that it is a misunderstanding and their parents will come for them soon, it's clear that the orphanage is a dangerous place full of lies and abuse.
Meanwhile, in present day Aiken, South Carolina, Avery Stafford has been raised in a world of privilege as the daughter of a prominent senator. She is engaged to her childhood friend and is home to help her father through a medical crisis. But a chance encounter with an elderly woman in a nursing home prompts Avery to start asking questions and looking into secrets her grandmother Judy may have been keeping. What she uncovers is a darker side to her family's history than she could have imagined.
The sweet cover and title of this novel fails to convey the dark and complex story contained in its pages. This novel is based on the true history of the Tennessee Children's Home Society and its real-life director Georgia Tann, who competed terrible atrocities against children for decades. Georgia Tann was guilty of tricking parents into signing over their children, taking them off doorsteps or walking to school, and even worse, abusing and even murdering as many as 500. At her behest, children were treated like commodities, to be sold to wealthy and prominent families in exchange for a large fee. In her wake were hundreds of devastated parents, families ripped apart, and even children left for dead. Rill's story in this book, although imaginary, sheds life on the real horrors that children faced in the early 1900s at the hands of Georgia Tann. It was absolutely tragic to read.
Although I found the chapters that focused on Rill and her siblings more gripping, they were emotionally draining so it was nice to have a bit of a break to focus on Avery's chapters in present day. Of course, the two storylines did ultimately collide and tied together very well, but the alternating timelines worked very well together in this and balanced each other out. Although tragic, the novel also gave the siblings a largely happy, wealthy ending, which didn't feel wholly realistic, although it was a relief after such tragedy. I did like the way Avery's story was tied up, and her realization that she needed to find her own, authentic path in life and not one chosen for her by her family.
A beautiful, haunting story that brings attention to real child abuse that took place decades ago. It reminded me of Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, which was also based on a real historical practice that took place in America to deal with orphans but also often led to abuse and neglect.
Stars: 4
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