One of my new favorites! I LOVE Lisa Wingate, but this may be her best novel yet.

Another deeply moving novel by one of the best. This book brings to life a tragic time that really happened. I had never heard of kids from poorer families getting kidnapped and being adopted out to the wealthy but it was awful! With engaging characters and moving dialogue this book was an excellent, albeit very sad read.

This book is hard to put down. Read it in one day. You get totally involved in the lives of the children in this story. About what went on with buying children and stealing them from the poor so that childless rich people could have children.

I have always been a fan of Lisa Wingate’s books. This book was based on events so appalling that it feels inappropriate to say I “loved” Before We were Yours. But this was written in the same quality expected from Lisa Wingate books and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it.

The novel is centered on Georgia Tann and her Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home. It is about children wrenched from their homes and sold to the highest bidders. Before We were Yours was written in the first person. While I tend to avoid this style of writing, it was appropriate. It added so much intensity and emotion to read this story through the eyes of a twelve year old girl who lived this horrific nightmare. I found myself unable to put Before we were Yours down until the last page was turned. While the characters were made up, their stories were not. This was not an easy book to read and filled with emotion.

Before We were Yours alternates between the past and the present. It is full of secrets and lies that leave the reader uncertain how the story will end. And it demands answers that may or may not be there. Kleenex is a requirement when reading this book. I received a copy of Before We Were Yours in exchange for my honest review

Lisa Wingate has been my favorite author for some time. She writes stories with heart and creates characters with such depth that I feel their absence when I’ve turned the last page. It seems like each new book of hers becomes a favorite.

I finished Before We Were Yours yesterday, and I’m already in serious withdrawal. If there isn’t a sequel planned for this book, I’ll be willing to get on my knees and beg for one to make it happen. I’ve grown so attached to these characters. I want them back!

Ms. Wingate does a superb job of melding dual time periods, dual stories, into one cohesive book. I love both the present day story and the one that is drawn from the past. As in all her books, I’m mostly pulled into the characters of the past, as in this story, drawn into the mind of young Rill Foss.

Rill, her siblings, and parents have seared permanent memories in my heart. They have few worldly possessions, but carry immeasurable love in their souls. I laughed with them, feared for them, and cried over their hardships. I was drawn in even deeper to their stories by knowing that many elements mirrored true-life events. I became Rill, saw the world through her young eyes, cried her tears, and dreamed her dreams.

The present-day main character, Avery Stafford, has a heart of gold. She’s empathetic, curious, and willing to follow unknown paths to find the truth, even if the truth could change her life, and the life of others, forever.

Beautiful babies, ugly babies; brilliant babies, dull babies; healthy babies, sick, handicapped babies; babies with blue eyes, brown eyes, black eyes; with golden hair, black hair, curly-locked and straight; babies thin and babies fat; babies three days old, three months or years old, and all the way stations in between; babies with full family histories and babies with no family history; without age, name or birth certificate, unknown waifs tossed into alleyways or dumped into garbage cans… Baby girls are more feminine, alluring; they are grand little self-advertisers and they know instinctively how to strut their stuff…Women and strong men grow mad, become besotted with adoration and want to kidnap them on the spot. ~From the article “The Baby Market” The Saturday Evening Post, February 1930

It’s so difficult for me to pick a favorite book. I love books for many different reasons. The Little House, Trixie Belden, and Nancy Drew series gave me a fun sense of adventure. To Kill a Mockingbird made me see the world as it was, rather than the way I wished it to be. Gone With the Wind provided an escape through some tough times in my life…

Before We Were Yours caused every nerve ending in my body to prickle, and gave my soul the major f-e-e-l-s. With vivid scenes, remarkable characters, a momentous historical scandal, and lessons of faith, family, friendship, and freedom, this book tops my list of the most memorable, heart-searing books I’ve read. I can’t imagine anything topping it.

5 Huge Stars!


Cover: Love
Title: Love
Pages: 352
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0425284681
I received a complimentary copy.

This was an intriguing book based upon dark Tennessee history. The children stole my heart.

I am a true fan of Ms Wingate. Her stories are so genuinely written. I haven't found a book yet that I didn't love and this was no exception If you have a free afternoon do yourself a favor and read this book. You will not be disappointed

Two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice in this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, for readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale.

This story is based on two timelines, one with 12 Year old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings who live on the river with their Mom and Dad. Mom has a really bad delivery of twins gone wrong and has to be taken into the hospital. Somehow she is coerced to sign away her children who were left to their own on the river in their boat, the Arcadia.

They are whisked away to The Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are told that they will see their parents soon but that is a lie, they find out everything about the home is based on lies.

Present day a Senator's daughter comes upon a woman in a Senior Center she is visiting and the woman steals her bracelet. When she goes to collect it she looks in on the woman and the story begins in present day as she hunts for what she thinks might be her Grandmothers past, and it doesn't line up with the pretty Senator's daughter who is being groomed to run for a Senate seat herself one day.

I believe I won this kindle book from Good Reads in exchange for an honest review. The book drags just a bit, I was able to pick it up and put it down at will, it took a while before the two stories come together and things start moving then. I was hoping this book would be one that has me from the very beginning and that it would be one I would be totally engrossed in. The subject matter, although the characters for the most part were fictional, there was actually an orphanize run by the same woman and they stole parents children, kids along the streets, told Mothers their newborns were born dead, they did terrible things and then made great amounts of money by selling the children famous families that had the money to buy them. It's a good read, one worth reading, and you feel that everything that happens to the children there is just wrong!

Before We Were Yours is a good book that was inspired by a true story. The plot is unique and refreshing. I had no idea about the history of orphanages, particularly the Tennessee Children's Home Society. So heartbreaking and sad what the children went through during those times.
I would give this book 4 1/2 stars and recommend it.
Please note that within these pages of this book, there are scenes of child abuse. Some sensitive readers should use caution when deciding to read this story.
I received this book from NetGalley, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

I've never read anything written by this author before but I did have the pleasure of hearing Lisa Wingate discuss this book recently. When she spoke of the background history of this novel, I was absolutely horrified to hear that these events actually happened. Her fictionalized story chronicles the abuse that took place within the Tennessee Children's Homes. Told in in both historical and contemporary time periods, we have the story of the Foss children who were put into the foster system. An absolutely amazing story that is all the more heartbreaking because it is based on real events. In fact it makes me wonder, just how far the corruption and depravity of Georgia Tann went and whether anyone will ever know the true extent of her crimes. Incredible work of historical fiction that would be perfect for your next book club read.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.

A well-written story based on tragic real life events, this heart-wrenching novel left me in a book hangover for days. The author takes you to the edge, then puts just enough hope in to keep the reader from despair. A story that needed to be told, with implications for generations. I really liked the present day end of the tale, with the added romance and intertwining of the two main stories.
Recommend to readers who like southern fiction with difficult subjects, like poverty, child abuse, human trafficking, political corruption, and alcoholism.
4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction novel. It is a dual story (past and present) about a group of children torn from their parents and placed in the care of the Tennessee Children's Home Society. It is both a heartwarming and heartbreaking story that I wholeheartedly recommend.
*Favorite quotes from the book:
“It’s hard to believe that, not so many years ago, orphaned children were little more than chattel.”

“I learned that you need not be born into a family to be loved by a family”

“Well, that’s one of the paradoxes of life. You can’t have it all. You can have some of this and some of that or all of this and none of that. We make the trade-offs we think are best at the time.”

Note from the author:
“Though Rill and her siblings exist only in these pages, their experiences mirror those reported by children who were taken from their familites by the Tennessee Children’s Home Society from the twenties through 1950”

This was an excellent story inspired by real life events of which I was previously unaware. For once, I have to admit that the comparison in the blurb is good. This is similar to The Orphan Train in pacing and concept. Both books surround events in history that I didn’t know of until reading the books and both tell the story of children that survived ordeals in their childhood that no one should have to go through.

This book is based upon the events of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society which ran from some time in the 1920s to 1950. The end of the book contains an author’s note, which explains the true story of Georgia Tann, who ran the society, and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. I enjoyed learning about the true parts of the story. The truth was interesting, even though it was also sad and frustrating. I can’t imagine being one of the families effected by this, either as a child or a parent.

The characters in this story are fictional, but well written and developed. You feel for them as they go through the story. You worry for them and can imagine that real people would feel similarly to the way these characters felt. It is understandable how the children would be made to “behave” and do what they are told. The descriptions of the settings were also well written and I could imagine how life was for the people in this story.

This was the first book by Lisa Wingate that I have read. I thought the writing was just great. The story kept me engaged the entire time and maintained a nice pace throughout, doling out information as you go. As stated above, I also thought the author’s note was well done. I would be interested in reading more of her work.

I would recommend this for anyone interested in historical fiction, but be aware of child abuse triggers. 4.5 stars

A riveting novel based on the true story of the Tennessee Children's Home Society and Georgia Tann, an agent working in the Memphis branch of the TCHS. Ms. Tann would take desirable children from poor families by tricking the parents into signing them over to the TCHS. She would then adopt the children out to families that would pay the most to have a cute, young child as their own. Many of the children were taken without their parent's consent and kept in deplorable conditions until they were adopted. This fictional account of a family torn apart by Ms. Tann has the reader on the edge of their seat trying to find out if the Foss children ever get back together and find their biological parents.

an amazing read! I cared about each well developed character and was disappointed to have the story end.

This was such a heart wrenching and touching book! Wingate tells a story in this one that is, at turns, both joyful and heartbreaking. She wrote some great characters and a wonderful story. This one will stay with me for a very long time.

Before We Were Yours features the Tennessee Children's Home Society, which was a true entity that trafficked in children from the 1920's through the 1950's. Georgia Tann, who ran the organization, was given high accolades for decades until all of her evil deeds finally came into light. This book highlights a fictional family who were torn apart by Georgia and her cohorts in 1939. Rill is the oldest of the five Foss siblings, and is left in charge when her mother is having a difficult labor with twins and is taken to the hospital. While their parents are away, the children are taken by the Tennessee Children's Home Society and placed in an awful orphanage where they are very ill treated. As the children are torn away from the others, one by one, Rill feels to blame. This is her story of losing the life she new and gradually coming to accept a new one. Another storyline in the current day, has Avery Stafford meeting May Weathers in a nursing home and realizing she has a connection to Avery's grandmother, Judy. As Avery puzzles out their ties, she has to decide what direction she will take at a crossroads in her own life.

This is an intensely emotional book, and it really pulled me in and had me caring about the characters. I'm sure it will be one of the top ones of the year for me. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

What an amazing story! I had no idea about Georgia Tank or the orphanage. All those lies and secrets! It was heartbreaking to learn about what the children endured while living in her care. It amazes me that it could go on for so long and be so profitable. What a terrible way to make something that should be so good, so bad. Two of my favorite quotes from the book. "Your past does not predict your future." and " The truth is still the truth. It has value."

very Stafford, a young lawyer from an esteemed South Carolina political family, stumbles upon information that causes her to question her heritage and that may threaten her father's political status. The author transposes her story of investigation with the story of May Weathers, a young girl who, together with her siblings, was stolen from her parents and placed in the care of the Tennesee Children's Home. The children's home adoption agency, masterminded by Georgia Tann, was a real association existing from the 1930s-1950. Historical records and memories of the children placed in the agency describe an organization where abuse was rampant and illegal behavior was commonplace. While this story is fictional, the home was real and the experiences of the Foss children are similar to factual accounts.
Wingate has written an engaging and absorbing story. The characters are well-formed. May (Rill) is inspirational and her commitment to protect her brothers and sisters in impossible situations makes her a true hero. Avery has inherited her determination and persistemce and does not rest until the truth is known. During the process she grows and becomes confident in her own abilities.
This is a good read for anyone interested in Southern writers or anyone interested in historical fiction, especially with women as strong characters.