Before We Were Yours: The heartbreaking novel that has sold over one million copies

Product Information

My story begins on a sweltering August night, in a place I will never set eyes upon. The room takes life only in my imaginings. It is large most days when I conjure it. The walls are white and clean, the bed linens crisp as a fallen leaf. The private suite has the very finest of everything. Outside, the breeze is weary, and the cicadas throb in the tall trees, their verdant hiding places just below the window frames. The screens sway inward as the attic fan rattles overhead, pulling at wet air that has no desire to be moved. I love historical fiction and always love to read where a small piece of history is used and a bigger story is weaved around this topic Many families have been touched in some way by adoption and foster care. Is adoption or foster care in your family history? If so, how did that affect your thoughts about the journey of the Foss children and about Avery’s excavation of her family history? This was a tragic, and often depressing, story. However, I am so glad that I read it. It is an important story and one that needed to be told. It definitely isn't a rainbows and unicorns type of story, but it will move you and leave a lasting impression.

I’ll start by explaining that ever since I laid eyes on this cover a few months ago, I haven’t stopped thinking of this book. There is just something about this cover that calls to me and makes me want to reach into the picture to hug and comfort these two little girls. I have never had a book cover ‘speak’ to me as powerfully as this one does. This story is heartfelt and genuine, especially as Wingate explores the idea of home and family from a youngster’s point of view.” — Historical Novels Review This is 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—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. This novel has garnered worldwide interest in the publishing industry and is being translated for publication in at least fourteen countries. Why do you think the story drew international attention? What themes in it are universal?

Our Critical Review

This will be the end of her. And her mother as well, when she learns of it. Christine is our only child, you know. The pitter-patter of little feet . . . the beginning of a new generation . . .” Later, Avery gets a phone call from the nursing home who reveal that May took Avery’s bracelet when she met her and they have it. when Very meets May in the nursing home, she sees a photograph of a woman that resembles her grandmother Judy Stafford, whom May refers to as “Queenie”.

Avery Stafford is considered the protagonist of Lisa Wingate’s ‘ Before We Were Yours.’ Her disposition and perseverance make her the life of the novel – as well as the reason the Foss family secret is solved. Avery is one of the narrators with which Lisa Wingate opts to see and tell the captivating stories in ‘ Before We Were Yours.’ this is an easy book to recommend if you enjoy historical fiction (beyond WWII), stories about the power of family, and the importance of personal history. and present. The past was the siblings earlier years and the horror they went through. The present was the siblings trying to find each other when they got older. I loved the earlier years the best. It was so emotional and heart breaking. I can't imagine how anyone could do these things to kids, but it happened. It was so awful. The Tennessee Children's home was a horror home. No child should have to go through what these children went through. The author did very well with the characters. She made them come to life. The siblings had a deep love for each other. My heart went out for them. I just adored the siblings, Lark, Fern, Gabian, Camellia, and Rill. I felt that Rill was the strongest one. Miss Tann was an evil lady, a monster. The true story of Georgia Tann and the Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society is a bizarre and sad paradox. There is little doubt that the organization rescued many children from deplorable, dangerous circumstances, or simply accepted children who were unwanted and place them in loving home. There is also little doubt that countless children were taken from loving parents without cause or due process and never seen again by their desperately grieving biological families.”Sometimes when the average rating for a book by 65, 652 people is 4.39...we are foolish to not read it.

Do you think there will be a happily-ever-after ending for Avery and Trent? In your view, what might that look like? this was a Traveling Sister read with Jan, Marybeth, Brenda, Norma, and Marie Alyce... it is definitely more fun reading with sisters/friends like these!💕 Starvation, mistreatment, abuse – that’s how the days go by for the siblings. Camelia is even raped by one of the members of TCHS staff, Mr. Riggs. After some time, she disappears – never to be seen again. Too long - so much un-needed commentary could have been removed. Most of this came in Avery's story line. For example, way too much detail on the cab, riding in the cab, etc. After sometime, I just wanted it over. Maybe we would have done more justice to the real facts of the story if we just called her Beelzebub!A rerun of the Investigation Discovery: Dangerous Women cycled through at about two in the morning. I looked up and saw images of an old mansion. The front room was filled with bassinettes and babies. I tuned in and immediately became fascinated by the bizarre, tragic, and startling history of Georgia Tann and her Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. I couldn’t help but dig into the story. That was the spark that ignited Before We Were Yours." 5/29/17 in an interview on The Untold Story Guru. Avery Stafford is a former Federal Prosecutor, who left her own life behind (which includes her fiancé) to return home to care for her ailing father, the Senator. She has been summoned to attend political functions and events with him and be the “dutiful daughter.” In the midst of attending these events, she decides to visit with her Grandmother Judy, who is suffering from Dementia. During this visit, her Grandmother divulges something to Avery that she has kept hidden all of her life. This secret leads Avery to uncover facts about her Grandmother and helps Avery down her own path to self-discovery. Plot aside, let's forget about the plot for a moment. The writing is atrocious, the characterization is non-existent. Nothing happens the way it would in real life, everyone speaks in ways that sound like they are reading from a novel. Here's an example of a character talking: She’s being groomed to take her father’s seat in the Senate, especially now when her father’s health is getting worse.

This novel pulls on the heartstrings, stirs outrage and horror, but at the end of the day the story was about familial bonds, and a spiritual connection that can not be broken, no matter what.

Lisa Wingate Biography

If you have ever watched “ Les Mis,” you’ve already guessed what Tann wants: more money. And if you’ve read carefully up till now, you’ll understand us for having second thoughts on using Georgia Tann birthname. The story is a dual story line: one features a family of children who were taken from their parents, and spent time in the home before being separated and adopted, while the second story line is set in the present day, featuring a young woman, Avery, who is searching for the truth about her grandmother. Before We Were Yours” is a touching story about families broken apart and families reunited. It should move deeply almost anyone with a human heart – even though As far as ‘storytelling’ goes ( two storylines) - past & present....I enjoyed both stories - so completely different - She is the sister of Trent Turner Sr. Both kids are abducted and taken to Memphis orphanage home while they are walking by the roadside – and probably heading home.