Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate was included on the June 2017 Librarians' Choice Top 10 list https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56d74c4004426214f2d28631/t/59db4f1029f187b71a8d4628/1507545096279/Top10+June17+A4+Flyer.pdf

I really enjoyed reading Before We Were Yours, and felt that this was a highly emotional novel with many heartbreaking moments that sadly are based on real life events. I was not aware of the Tennessee Children's Home Society prior to reading this novel, and I was shocked to discover the terrible acts carried out by this organisation.
This story reverts from the past to the present day, and we learn about 12 year old Rill Foss and her siblings who are taken away from the riverboat home and have to endure some very dark times.
In the present day, the main character is Avery, a 30 yr old woman, who by chance discovers that her grandmother may have a hidden past and sets about uncovering the truth.
The two timelines blend beautifully together right to the conclusion, which is bittersweet yet promising.

Set in Memphis based on the true story, the scandal surrounding Tennessee Children's Home Society and Georgia Tann. Where children were taken from families and given to families of better means. This was done to the benefit of Tann's pockets and to detriment of many lives. The fictional story shows the human cost to what was done. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I was unaware of this part of history and now would like to know more. Wingate suggests other readings which I will search for.

Utterly brilliant!! This is the first book I've read by this USA author - and it won't be the last.
Based on true events about the Tennessee Children's home from the 1920's - 50's where children were taken by the owner by deception or downright theft and on sold to families who had no children of their own often for exorbitant sums of money.

This story is told in dual narratives - Avery Stafford is visiting a hostel with her prominent family where she encounters May Crandall who steals her bracelet saying it was hers. Avery returns to retrieve it and May tells her that she owns one exactly the same - Avery knows her grandmother gave it to her. This starts a long investigation into how May may be connected in some way to her grandmother.

Rill Foss is a 12 year old girl who lives on the river with her parents and brothers and sisters. Her father takes her mother to hospital to give birth to twins as she is in difficulty - and that is the last Rill sees of her parents. She and her siblings are gathered and taken to the Tennessee Children's Home where they live in terrible conditions and are told that their parents do not want them anymore. Rill is determined to get them out of there.

These two story lines merge together and I have to say I was glued to this book. The author is a great storyteller. To then read that the book is based on true events just makes it even better. I do hope the movie rights have been sold as this would make a great movie!!

Thank you to Harlequin Australia for the ARC of this book for my honest opinion.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate was a beautifully told reality based work of fiction.   It was moving and often disturbing, yet from start to finish it captured my interest.    Stories that alternate between the past and the present don't always work well for me but this one certainly did.   Right from the outset I was invested in the fate of the characters in each of the threads and was always eager to return for their next installment.

Rill, the 12 yo narrator and her four younger siblings lived on a shanty boat on the Mississippi river with their gypsy parents Queenie and Briny.   Theirs was not a fortunate life but they were a happy family until everything changed when all five children were stolen and taken as Wards of the Tennessee Children's Home Society in 1939.     Their experiences are shocking and Rill carries the burden of responsibility for her siblings.  She cannot forgive herself for being unable to protect them, we feel her pain at the losses and separations and her desperate hope they'd be reunited  with their parents.

In the present day Avery belongs to the wealthy and esteemed Stafford family.    She's a successful lawyer and is being groomed to fill her Senator fathers shoes.     During a political visit to a nursing home Avery becomes acquainted with Mrs May Crandall an elderly resident of the facility.   Before too long the threads binding the past and present become irresistible to Avery and she chases down the story of how May and her own Grandmothers lives are connected.

In the authors note Lisa Wingate details the facts behind Before We Were Yours.   Though Rill and her siblings were fictitious they were solidly based upon the real life experiences of many thousands of children.     I found it utterly disturbing to learn that the Tennessee Children's Home Society was real and the disgraceful way children and their biological families were treated continued until the 1950's.   Miss Hannigan in Little Orphan Annie had nothing on the monsters behind these real life horrors.

This was a delightful book and I loved the family themes throughout, especially the strength of love shown between sisters.    If this book is in any way indicative of the quality of Lisa Wingate's previous works it's clear I've been missing out on something very special.

Many thanks to the author, Harlequin (Australia) and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.