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A Novel
by Lisa Wingate
For readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a "thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two families, two generations apart ... based on a notorious true-life scandal."
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
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—Lisa 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.
What is your book club reading in 2025?
Looks like a good list. Thanks for sharing. We have ours chosen until June of 2025 - we choose the list in May of each year. The books are from June this year until May next year - we all submit titles, assign the titles numbers, and pull numbers from a hat. We still have quite a few titles left....
-Elizabeth
"A [story] of a family lost and found ... a poignant, engrossing tale about sibling love and the toll of secrets." - People
"Sure to be one of the most compelling books you pick up this year... . Wingate is a master-storyteller, and you'll find yourself pulled along as she reveals the wake of terror and heartache that is Georgia Tann's legacy." - Parade
"One of the year's best books ... It is impossible not to get swept up in this near-perfect novel." - The Huffington Post
"Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation's history and weaves a tale of enduring power...Rill's utterly singular voice will stay with you long after the last page is turned, as will Wingate's courage to follow her anywhere...Vivid and affecting." - Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of Circling the Sun
"A powerful tale of family, of sisters, of secrets kept and secrets shared. I absolutely loved this book. I'm still basking in the afterglow, in shock at the true-crime elements, in awe at the journey of these characters who seem to have immortal souls." - Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
This information about Before We Were Yours was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lisa Wingate is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Before We Were Yours, which remained on the bestseller list for fifty-four weeks in hardcover and has sold over 2 million copies. She has penned over thirty novels and coauthored a nonfiction book, Before and After with Judy Christie. Her award-winning works have been selected for state and community One Book reads throughout the country, have been published in over forty languages, and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide.
The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa and six others as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, "Lisa Wingate...
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