Stephanie Sullivan: Review - Before We Were Yours

TITLE: Before We Were Yours

RATING: ★★★★★

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Summary (from Goodreads): 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.

REVIEW: Such a beautiful but heartbreaking story! I was pulled into this book from the very beginning, and I felt so many emotions while reading it - sadness, anger, and shock, just to name a few. Lisa Wingate brought to life a gut-wrenching topic that is happening far too often in our society today - child trafficking. I had no idea the story was based on true events until I read Lisa’s comments in the book. I was curious about it, so I looked it up on Wikipedia, and I was stunned when I discovered the villain from the book, Georgia Tann, grew up ten miles from where I live. She was such a despicable human being. It breaks my heart how many children suffered at her hands. If you’re curious about Before We Were Yours, I highly encourage you to read it. You’ll be SO glad you did!