A great follow up story that brings some closure to the book “Before We were Yours”. It is heart warming to hear some of the true stories about the adoption scandal in the afore mentioned book.

If you enjoyed Before We Were Yours, you will want to read Before and After. It is filled with the personal stories of the real people whose lives were forever changed by the greed and heartless behavior of Georgia Tann.

This was an incredible follow up to "Before We Were Yours". In this interview style nonfiction novel we get to dive into the real life uncounted of those who were faced with Goregia Tam and the Tennessee Children's House Society. Each family describes how Wingate's fictional work perfectly describes their experiences of similarly what their family went through with the Tennessee Children's Home Society. Each story was unique and heartbreaking, describing their lives before being adopted, after adoption, before reading Wingate's work and after. Which is what leads them altogether at a reunion where they find hope in one another and peace from the past events that once truly haunted them. It is truly unbelievable that such acts took place and even more so that it has been so hidden in history. However with the help of Wingate and these brave families it seems to becoming more prevalent among US history than it once was.

This was a very emotional book written in alternating time periods. In 1875, Hannie Gosset is a former slave trying to find family members who were sold to different owners. She takes a long journey covering Louisiana and Texas with two other women who are half sisters of her former owner. They experience many hardships and danger in their travels. Each of these women have secrets and painful experiences they carry with them on their quest.
In 1987 Benny, a school teacher, is trying to start a new chapter in her life teaching students in rural Louisiana. In trying to engage her students, they begin a history project where they discover the history of their own families. All her students and the town are not welcoming and very unsure of her and question all new people and ideas
An interesting piece if history is a newspaper that printed ads to help former slaves connect with their family. This paper crosses both time periods. This was a very inspiring story about some very strong remarkable women who took risks to find and protect relatives.
Lisa Wingate did not disappoint with this new book.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

WOW. I read Before We Were Yours two years ago and it was by far my favorite book I read that year. After Lisa Wingate published that novel, children who had been adopted through the Tennessee Children's Home Society began to reach out to her to tell their stories. Lisa reached out to a historian friend, Judy Christie, who agreed to interview all of the survivors and record their stories so they wouldn't be forgotten. Judy centered the story around a reunion that was to take place among the survivors and their families and compiled the stories of many of them. The stories were just heartbreaking to read. I can't even imagine how such a tragedy was able to go on for so long.

If you liked Before We Were Yours and are at all interested in the facts surrounding the story, pick this up for a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for the copy to review.

Loved this book. After reading Before We Were Yours I was torn up by this one even more to have all the facts and details. So Good highly recommend

Before and After chronicles the stories of real children adopted through the Georgia Tann baby-selling business of Tennessee in the 1950s. After the historical fiction book "Before We Were Yours" by Wingate came in the scene, responses from people (now mostly 70 years plus), flooded her mailbox. With the help of her writer friend Christie, Wingate embarked on a journey to tell the real stories of some of the children involved in the illegal adoptions.
If you have read the Before We Were Yours book, I highly recommend this as follow-up material. As it should be, the genre assigned to this collection of stories is true crime.
Thanks to Ballantine Books for providing me an advance copy for a review in my own words.

Before and After is an excellent follow-up to Wingate's previous book, Before We Were Yours, which is about the horrific case of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society. Before and After tells the true stories of some of the families that were affected and victimized by Tann. The details of the way Tann "did business" are outrageous and it's mind-boggling that she was able to get away with these actions for so many years.

I really enjoyed Before We Were Yours and I feel that Before and After adds another important layer to the Tennessee Children's Home Society scandal by introducing us to the the people that were actually involved. I highly recommend reading these two books together.

Lisa Wingate was clearly moved by the passion her book Before We Were Yours engendered in people who had connections to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. As she traveled the country talking about her novel, she repeatedly met people who had been part of the adoption scheme or descendants of adoptees. This nonfiction book chronicles the meetings and interactions that resulted and the impact the book has had on so many.

In agreeing to promote a reunion of adoptees, Wingate felt it was imperative to chronicle the stories of these people who had such strong recollections that they were willing to share. The impressive part is that it was often the children or grandchildren of the adoptees that pushed for exploring the truth of their ancestor’s heritage. To conduct the interviews, Wingate recruited journalist Judy Christie. The book details the meetings Wingate and Christie had with people who passed through Georgia Tann’s adoption scam. Some were adopted very young and have few memories so research was required to connect with long-lost relatives. As stories unfold, family connections are made and mysteries are solved. It’s clear that it’s not just the adoptive child who was impacted by Tann’s agency, but the extended family.

To all who loved Wingate’s fictional story of Tann’s adoption practices, this factual account of some of the individuals who were her adoptees, will reinforce the validity of the horror of Tann’s actions. It will leave readers better understanding the ripple effect it has had for subsequent generations.

Before and After tells the compelling real life stories of adoptees from the Tennessee Children's Home Society. After reading Before We Were Yours and feeling so drawn into that storyline, I really appreciated learning more about the history behind Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society. Before and After brings attention to the heartbreaking stories of those children that found themselves victims of Georgia Tann's schemes. It seemed that many of those affected were able to find some sense of closure by attending the reunion and sharing their stories with the authors.

I would recommend this book as a companion read to Before We Were Yours. I received this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

Before and After is a "companion" novel to Lisa Wingate's book "Before We Were Yours." It tells the real life stories of orphans who suffered the horror of the Tennessee Children's Society Orphanage. Their stories are absolutely heartbreaking. If you don't know much about that unfortunate bit of history, you should absolutely read this.

The book was well-written, but hard to read at times due to the subject matter. My heart breaks for the children that had to suffer through that hell.

"Before and After" is a companion book to Lisa Wingate's best-selling "Before We Were Yours." This book follows the lives of many people who were affected by the horrors inflicted on them during their time at Georgia Tann's orphanage. It was interesting to read the personal biographies of so many who are now searching for their families of origin.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

A great follow up to Before We were Yours.Storie of Georgia Trans victims.Absorbing true stories.Highly recommend both books.#netgalley#randomhouse

If you read Before We were Yours by Lisa Wingate you will want to read this book. This is real-life experiences from interviews compiled by Authors Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate of the children taken years ago from their birth families.
These talented, caring authors met and bonded with those families who told first-hand the tale of the Tennessee Children's Society. It is a story of triumph over tragedy. It is a retelling of human trafficking of children, sometimes snatched from their parents and sold to unsuspecting families who often provided loving homes. Not all were reports of shattered lives broken apart. Some had wonderful childhoods, despite being separated from birth families. Some were left for years wondering who they were related to. The amazing triumph of the mending of lives, discovering and reuniting years later with their siblings was encouraging. It is fascinating to think a novel, based on actual events, reunited real families.
Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate blended their talents to tell this story and to reunite people, and give them an opportunity to tell their life story. Well worth reading, beauty from ashes. I thank the publisher for providing an ARC copy that did not require a review. It is a satisfying 5 star read.

Such a fascinating follow up to Before We Were Yours. I loved BWWY, it wasn't anything like I expected. Now can't stop promoting it.
This one goes more into the real life people Wingates book was based on.
Her go author is one of the children involved in the child abductions. Very fascinating to read. Tugs at your heart strings

I loved Before We Were Yours and was extremely excited for Before and After. Such a sad and happy novel. I loved the format. This hits home as my great grandmother was adopted in Kentucky in the early 1900s. We didn’t find out until she was on her deathbed.
5 Stars!

Before We Were Yours absolutely blew me away, so I was looking forward to reading Before and After. And it certainly did not disappoint! The book is a collection of stories of many (true!) accounts of children and families who fell victim to the evils of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. Tann’s baby business ran for 30 years (1920 to 1950) and it’s just unfathomable how many people were harmed by her greed. There are happy stories where we meet some of the babies themselves, now often elderly adults, who are reconnecting with long lost siblings. But our heart aches for the many, many children who will never meet their real parents, and the many parents who will never find their stolen children. Just like the novel, it’s a heart-wrenching, emotional book, but one that’s ultimately uplifting—and downright fascinating.

If you read the book Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate you should read Before and After which is a nonfiction book based on the real stories of children that were adopted via Georgia Tann, It is hard to believe and heartbreaking that children were sold like animals to wealthy couples who couldn't have children Georgia Tann became a very wealthy woman by selling children and destroying lives. She died never being charged for the crimes she committed. The state of Tennessee failed these kids too, turning a blind eye to what was going on in the sale of these children.

While this book is a bit of a slow read and chopped up due to the different stories, it was interesting to learn more about the true stories after reading Lisa's fiction book Before We Were Yours.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC of this book.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3
‘Before and After: The Incredible Real-life stories of Orphans who survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society’ is quite a book title. Ms. Christie ends Part 1 of the story, “For now, my gathering of stories begins. I order a half dozen of my favorite notebooks and two dozen Pilot Varsity blue-ink fountain pens.” So far, I’ve learned nothing significant or interesting.

The book felt like a magazine article with too much mundane detail. I expected to read about the orphans affected by TCHS and being stolen, put ‘up for sale’ and adopted out into families who paid Georgia Tann. Though the book was co-written, it felt like Ms. Christie, with a reporting background did the most work because of its journalistic tone. I learned details like Christie and Wingate were both married to ‘amazing science teachers’, love to laugh and have fun, are type-A busy people who meet deadlines. They have both hosted many events; a surprise bowling party for her sister-in-law’s sixtieth and an annual gathering of buddies who met in our college dorm in the mid-1970s. (Do you want more? I didn’t.) So far, too much extraneous filler to the ‘Incredible Real-Life Stories I hoped to read.

The dry writing lacks personal detail. The writer gets more involved than I do. “It is not my eyes that bother me, as I read these papers. It is my heart.” Show us then, don’t just keep telling.
The black and white photos do add interest to the book, but I could have done without the folksy tone of what groceries to buy for the Orphan Reunion.
As a reporter, Christie learned the basics of who, where, what, why and how. She writes that those questions serve her well as she gets to know “adoptees and family members with strong, unique voices.” “A few decades ago, I started my career as a hard-news reporter. I know how to get places in a hurry. II don’t want to miss this story. I cash in all my frequent-flier miles and get on a plane.” It is just too bad, in this reviewer’s opinion, that the stories of “agonizing separation and joyous comings-together” never take off.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.