4.5 Stars

History has much to teach us.

At the beginning of this book, there are notes from Lisa Wingate, about Dialect and Historical Terminology, which is where the above quote is taken from. She goes on to say: ”That was one of the reasons for the inclusion of the real-life Lost Friends ads in this book. They are the stories of actual people who lived, and struggled, and who almost inadvertently left these small pieces of themselves for posterity.”

Told in two different time frames, this begins with one of the Lost Friends letters to the editor, a plea to anyone reading or hearing their story, the family they seek to find some word from, or about, knowing that the possibilities are slim, and how often names were changed along the way as names may have changed along the way. Pastors were requested to read these pleas to their congregations.

”At the very least, we must tell our stories, mustn’t we? Speak the names? You know, there is an old proverb that says, ‘We die once when the last breath leaves our bodies. We die a second time when the last person speaks our name.’ The first death is beyond our control, but the second one we can strive to prevent.”

As this story begins, the initial timeframe is 1875, in Louisiana, with Hannie Gossett sharing her story, through the retelling of a dream - a memory of when she was six years old and watching buyers gather to buy her family a little at a time, she sees them being carted off one by one and two by two, listening as her mother recites their names, and the names of those who took them, and where they were being taken. Along with Hannie, the stories of Lavinia, the daughter of Hannie’s former owner, along with Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s half sister, the daughter of Lavinia’s father and Juneau Jane’s mother, who was also owned by Lavinia’s father.

The other timeframe in 1987, also in Louisiana, and this time is shared through a new teacher, Benedetta, Benny, Silva, teaching students from seventh to twelfth grade. Students who don’t want to be there, and frequently don’t show up. She begins searching for a way to motivate these students, to reach them on some level so that they will want to learn. It is a struggle, for both the students, and the teacher, until she discovers a book that will change everything.

There’s so much more, but this is the kind of story that deserves to be discovered by each reader.
Very moving stories are shared in both timeframes, and the Lost Friends letters are especially poignant, as these are letters that were written by real people who were searching for their lost loved ones – lost because their families were scattered, one from another, by those that purchased them as slaves, sending husbands away from their wives, mothers from their children.

Listen, the road seems to admonish. Listen. I have stories.


Pub Date: 07 APR 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine / Ballantine Books

I could not get into this book. I really enjoyed the 1980's time period with the children and the books, but it didn't tie in enough throughout the book for me to put anything together. The earlier time period was interesting and I feel that a lot could have been done with it, but it was too dry. This was a hard book for me to get through, which is disappointing because I really enjoyed Lisa Wingate's previous novel. I did like the news postings in between the chapters.

Just when I thought Lisa Wingate had outdone herself with Before We Were Yours, here comes The Book of Lost Friends. This book is a true account of how things used to be back in the 1800’s. The relationship Hannie has with others and her determination to find her beloved family is so deep. Lisa Wingate does a superb job researching and retelling stories that make us feel that we are actually there with her characters.

This book goes back and forth from the 1800’s to the 1980’s and does so with such ease and fascination. The 1980’s brings us Benedetta, a teacher who is young and impressionable and navigating her way through her first year of teaching.

Lisa Wingate’s books are historical and accurate and I have learned so much of our history through her. I recommend this book to everyone and will be using it for my bookclub as well.

Many heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for sharing an ARC with me to review, I feel thankful that I have the opportunity to do so. My reviews can be found on Goodreads and once the book is published they can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

The Book of Lost Friends is an incredible historical fiction novel set in the Post-Civil War and 1987. Lisa Wingate just keeps getting better with each novel she pens. Can't wait for the next!
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Lisa Wingate has done it again!!! Her storytelling of an unknown piece of American history for me, captured my attention and swept me back and forth through time. Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this next gem from Lisa for my honest feedback.

Colored Tennessean (Nashville), Oct. 14, 1865
information wanted of Caroline Dodson, who was sold from Nashville Nov. 1st 1862 by James Lumsden to Warwick, (a trader then in human beings), who carried her to Atlanta, Georgia, and she was last heard of in the sale pen of Robert Clarke, (human trader in that place), from which she was sold. Any information of her whereabouts will be thankfully received and rewarded by her mother,
Lucinda Lowery,
Box 1121, Nashville, Tenn.

***Real Ad posted by a family member looking to reunite with a loved one. Just one of many ads placed after emancipation.

Can you even imagine having to write such an ad? Can you image having a child, a spouse, a parent, a sibling torn from your life to never have word from them again?

Can you imagine being bought and sold?

Can you image having family members who were slaves?

Can you imagine what it must be like to have ancestors who owned slaves?

Can you imagine going on a journey trying to find your father to have the unimaginable happen to you so that it rends you unable to function?

Can you imagine trying to inspire and motivate your students? Find a project which will make them want to learn and be proud of themselves?

Inspired by historical events, The Book of Lost Friends is a story of three women on a journey in the post-Civil war south, it is also the story of a teacher who rediscovers those women's story and its connection to her students’ lives.

Louisiana, 1875 - Lavinia, a spoiled heir to a destitute plantation goes on a quest with her illegitimate Creole half-sister, Juneau Jane, and her former slave, Hannie. While Lavinia and Juneau Jane are searching for their father and their possible inheritance, while Hannie desperately wants to know what happened to her mother and eight siblings who were sold before the end of slavery. Will she ever see them again? Having seen ads along the way placed by freed slaves looking for family members, she wonders, could she find them this way?

Louisiana, 1987 - Benedetta (Benny) Silva is a first-year teacher who is desperately trying to get her students attention. Absences, hunger and poverty keep many from getting a good education. Looking through an old plantation for books that her classroom and local library might use, she finds a book - a history of three women. Could this change everything for her class? The three women's journey changed their lives but will have an impact on Benny and her student's lives as well.

Slow to start this book packed a powerful punch. The story is told in two timelines with the Lost Friends ads placed in between. These ads pack a powerful punch which resonates throughout the book. BTW, all the ads placed by freed slaves have been made into a book titled " Last Seen: Voices from Slavery's Lost Families"

Wingate did a great job building her plot and joining the two-story lines. They are moving and powerful. I found this book to be captivating, thought provoking, and emotionally moving. I loved book that not only teach me something but affect me emotionally as well. Fans of Wingate and Historical fiction will find this book appealing.

Highly Recommend!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I already have this book saved in my cart to purchase. The viewpoint that Lisa Wingate chooses to tell this story from is impactful. In today's world we seem to want to erase the tragic, painful & shameful parts of our history. Lisa has chosen to not only acknowledge these events but place a human heartbeat to the facts, not erasing the horrors but educating to why we should guard against these attitudes and actions so as to not repeat history. We cannot deny the heartbreak, we cannot change the past, but through her fictional characters (that she has written with such depth and dimension they touch your heart) she has shown us a reality we must own and move forward from.

The Book of Lost Friends is a story told in alternating view points of Hannie, an 18 year old emancipated slave in 1875, and Benny, a first year teacher working in a poor rural Louisiana to erase her student loans in 1987. I like alternating view points, it tends to lend depth to the story. I also really enjoy books that give a snapshot of history while telling a story. This book gives humanity and soul to historical facts, love it!

I was surprised I liked this book more that I thought I would! The story told in two perspectives/ and timelines tells the story of two women finding bravery and history. The love of history and stories are really shown in this books...

The Book of Lost Friends is an incredibly touching story told from the perspectives of two women living during different time periods. During the first time period, a former slave named Hannie, who has been separated from her family, embarks on a journey in hopes of ensuring she will receive a share of land she has been promised. When her travel mates, Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the daughters of Hannie’s former owner, encounter trouble, Hannie risks it all to save them. As she ventures from Louisiana to Texas, she discovers that there are many former slaves who are searching for their family members. Hannie, with the assistance of Juneau Jane, begins documenting names and locations of “lost friends” in an attempt to reconnect families while searching for her lost family members as well.

In the second time period, Benny, a first-year teacher of Italian descent, begins teaching secondary school in an impoverished community. She initially struggles to connect with her neighbors and the students in her class but eventually is taken under the wing of Granny T and Aunt Sarge, who help her get settled in. She learns that her rental home is owned by Nathan Gossett, who comes from a rich and well-known family with power and secrets. With the assistance of her new friends, Benny undertakes a project to motivate her students by engaging them in a project exploring their ancestral history. Her efforts cause a disruption in the community, revealing the lingering existence of racism and classism in recent history.

The story was well-written with excellent character development and pacing. I flew through the book in anticipation of learning the characters’ outcomes and uncovering the relation between the two timelines. While very dark themes are explored, particularly during the first time period, there is a more prominent and overarching theme of hope. I can think of two particular points in the book when I was so overcome with emotion that I teared up and felt goosebumps running up my arms. This is an absolutely fantastic read and I highly recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

1875, in the rural south, three unlikely women go on a journey. Missy Lavinia believes her father is dead and she’s entitled to more of her inheritance than her mulatto half sister Juneau Jane. During one of their fights they decide to go to one of the rougher parts of town to figure out the will, and Hannie, disguised as a boy, drives them. The events in town don’t go as planned and leaves Hannie to take care of two unconscious girls, all while pretending she’s still a boy. Once they find a little cottage for shelter, Hannie discovers stories written on the wall from the local newspaper. Each story is more like a classified ad, searching for the family members that were lost during the slave period. Mothers looking for her children, children looking for their lost siblings. Seeing as Hannie is one of those lost siblings, she decides to create her own book using the stories and those of people she meets along the way, hoping to be reunited with her lost family. Together the three girls, and the book trek all through the south hoping to find what each one has lost in their lives.

1987, still in the south, Benny Silvia starts her teaching in Augustine. The kids are unruly, poor, hungry and deprived of a good education. Benny tries to engage them but nothing seems to work until she starts to link the items in her library next door to that of the families of her students. Teaching them to dig down and discover who they are, ignites a fire in her students she thought was lost. Together with the help of a few friends, Benny uncovers the truth of the town and why the Book of Lost Friends was so important.

A refreshing tale told of the years after the emancipation and what became of the people. The stories of Hannah and Juneau June are so entertaining and suspenseful. I would skip the parts of Benny just to make sure Hannie and the girls ended up alright. Benny is actually the character I felt the most sorry for as it turns out. She tries and tries to make things better but she keeps getting shit on. There is also a little romance in the novel that keeps the novel moving at a faster pace.

As for the novel itself as a whole, I will say that I probably had too high of expectations for the book. Before We Were Yours is one of my favorite books of all time, and I was expecting this to be a new favorite as well and it just didn’t capture my attention as I wanted it to. The story is good, the characters are remarkable, but whether it’s the language or the imagery, I just couldn’t connect with the novel. I felt like the words didn’t flow as they should have and I struggled paying attention while reading it. However, this is one of those rare books that a negative review like this is going to be in the minority, but I couldn’t help saying what I thought! I think most people are going to enjoy this, and they should.

Rate: 3/5
Fiction
Author: Lisa Wingate

This is a very special book, told in an engaging manner. The story switches between two women (Hannie, a former slave and Benny, a first-time teacher in the deep South) and two different time periods (1870s and 1980). I often dislike the convention of interweaving stories told in alternating chapters but Lisa Wingate tells these stories superbly in “The Book of Lost Friends.” Each story holds suspense so that I was anxious to read more about both Hannie and Benny. I was very touched by the entire concept which reminded me of the lists of names published after WWII as family members tried to locate Holocaust survivors. Benny helps to make history and learning relevant to her students and Hannie’s legacy is a tribute to what is possible. This book should appeal to a wide range of readers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

4.5 stars

To tell a tale of loss is never an easy task. The heartbreaking moments are many, and the realization hits the reader that these things so well related in a fictional setting did indeed take place in our country. These are things never to be forgotten, never to be relegated to the back pages of history. These are things in which a living nightmare was experienced.

I have been having a bit of a time lately with the historical fiction genre. I have found it to be more on the fiction end of things than on the historical and for me that has been disappointing. However, with Lisa Wingate's, The Book of Lost Friends, I am very pleased to have found a generous believable mixture of both history and fiction. Told in two time periods, 1875 and 1987, we are transported to Louisiana. It is ten years after the Civil War and the slaves have been emancipated but in essence while they are free their struggles have not abated. It is the South with the attitude of the Klan running rampant. It is also the South where slave families have been brutally separated never to see their loved ones. Sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents have been torn from each other and not a day goes by where one of our main protagonists does not feel that all encompassing loss.

Hannie, the former slave, now sharecropper, and two women, Lavinia, the heiress to a run down plantation and her half sister, Juneau Jane, a mixed race child, set out upon a journey to find their father, to settle an inheritance, meeting dangers along the way and hardship. Hannie, rekindles, as they travel, that question that plagues her constantly, could my family, that was torn from me and sold off, be out there? Hannie so desires connections just as the two half sisters do. Hope dwells in the heart of Hannie and of course the sisters as well. As they travel the book of lost friends takes on a great importance for it is in that book that people pour out their loss of family pining for the time when they can reunite with loved ones. The people in the book pledge their anguish which is then printed in a paper distributed to churches far and wide and read aloud in churches. Names are read, lineages are given, and perhaps some day families and loved ones will be reunited.

The other part of the book which alternates with the 1875 component, deals with a teacher, Benedetta Silva, hoping to cancel her student debt by teaching in a run down poorly serviced school. She is the teacher to a group of high school age disadvantaged children who see no value in learning. She becomes discouraged, disappointed, and bereft as she combats apathy, hopelessness and despair. Bennie trips onto an idea, a glimmer of something that might spur her recalcitrant students. Can a project reconnecting the kids with the past of their town, ignite something in them? It's a risk but one Bennie feels in her heart is well worth taking.

Connections are drawn, family is discovered, and there is renewed interest, understanding, and love shared as the happenings of 1875 unite with those of 1987.

I recommend this book for the gentle telling, the awakening to the horrible instances that happened to so many in our country's history, and the part that history can and does play in the realization that remembrance brings so much into our learning of life.

Thank you to Lisa Wingate, Random House-Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this wonderful book due out April 7, 2020.

This book started painfully slow for me and I almost abandoned it. I’m glad I didn’t. It was a powerful story about a time in history I know little about. It defiantly piqued my interest to learn more about post civil war years in the south. A good read

A few years ago, Lisa Wingate's "Before We Were Yours" haunted me for weeks after I turned the final page. And while "The Book of Lost Friends" took me a little longer to get into, Wingate masterfully weaves a tale of a freed African American on a grand adventure in 1875 with the story of a teacher in poor, rural Louisiana in 1987. I wasn't ready for the book to end and would have happily read another 100 pages of the story.

When Benedetta Silva moves to Augustine, she knows next to nothing of its history... and the influential families wish it would stay that way. However, Benedetta discovers a treasure trove of a library with glimpses into the town's past that could affect the troubled teens she teaches and everyone in town.

Hannie is a young African American, choosing to work the land of her former owners, with land ownership just within her reach. But she unwittingly gets swept up in a quest of epic proportions when her former owner's daughter Lavinia tricks her illegitimate, Creole-born half-sister Juneau Jane to go visit a man about her inheritance. When the man turns on both of the girls, Hannie's life takes a drastic turn.

Lost Friends refers to the compilation of newspaper ads placed by freed slaves in hopes of finding their family. Although the girls collect the stories as they travel, helping others reconnect with lost loved ones, one big question remains: Will Hannie ever see her family again?

Another interesting book by Lisa Wingate. It tells the story of three sisters walking across the south from Louisiana to Texas in 1875. She bases the story on true events posted in a newspaper of families trying to find their family members who were snatched from them by force and sold. Then the story moves to 1987 and a school teacher in a small impoverished town. While attempting to get books for her students, she discovers a journal. The story jumps between these two time periods and ties it together in the end. I received an advance copy of this book from net galley.

I received a free e-copy of The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate from NetGalley for my honest review.

This book takes place in Louisiana during 1988 and also in Louisiana and Texas in 1985. It is a story of the freed slaves that are trying to find their family members who were sold in slavery. A story to remind us that our past is as important as our future. A beautiful and emotional read!

Lisa Wingate hits the ball out of the park with her latest historical fiction set in the post-civil war south. 3 young girls are on a quest to claim what is rightfully theirs and they encounter both acts of benevolence and violent evil along the way. Wingate expertly weaves actual excerpts from the Book of Lost Friends, which were ads in which former slaves seek to be reunited with lost family members.

I can’t say enough good things about this. Both the writing and the topic are spectacular. Wingate has the uncanny ability to make her characters live and breathe as if they will jump right out of the book. I fell in love with several of the characters and was, at the same time, incensed by their biased treatment. This was an honest and raw look at post-Civil War society, but it also examined similar untoward treatment of black people in the south a 100 years later. This is a story that desperately needed to be told and leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Ballantine Books and Lisa Wingate for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher Random House - Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Book of Lost Friends is two stories in one that do not fully intersect until the final pages. I appreciated the first -hand account from Hanny who is a courageous force to be reckoned with and whose story brings emotional depth to the list of names recovered in the Gossett home. The stories of former slaves who were torn from their families is one that shouldn't be forgotten and through the storytelling and a cast of memorable characters the book leaves a lasting impression.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher Random House - Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a long awaited book for me as I am a huge fan of all the books that Lisa Wingate writes. She does extensive research on her historical novels and brings history to life in the pages of her stories. This one is outstanding and I just cannot say enough good things about it. I could not put it down once I began reading.

After the Civil War a young woman, Hattie, begins searching for her former owner. The journey takes her all over Louisiana and Texas. The owner has promised her land and he must sign off on that promise. She and two other young women travel looking for him. During the trip they find out about a publication of the List of Lost Friends where former slaves are trying to locate their family and loved ones. This publication is read from church pulpits to help families reunite. So many of the slaves cannot read or write and they try to help as they head toward Texas. The second part of the book is about a young school teacher in the South in the 1980s. She is trying to help her English students relate to the past and bind them to their present day life. She is inspirational in a wonderful way as students and readers learn.

Thank you Lisa for another great book and for all you teach us. This is a must read for everyone and will be a huge favorite with book clubs everywhere.