Download PDF Before We Were Yours A Novel Audible Audio Edition Lisa Wingate Emily Rankin Catherine Taber Random House Audio Books
The blockbuster hit - A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly best seller.
For fans 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". (Library Journal)Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
Publishers Weekly's number three longest-running best seller of 2017.
Winner of the Southern Book Prize.
If All Arkansas Read the Same Book selection.Â
"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)Â
Download PDF Before We Were Yours A Novel Audible Audio Edition Lisa Wingate Emily Rankin Catherine Taber Random House Audio Books
"This is a REAL story. It is poignant, sad, unbelievable and a must read to learn about how families were destroyed and children were mistreated in orphanages prior to 1950. The way children were stolen and placed in homes under cruel caretakers is chilling. Children were stolen, warehoused in homes until they could be adopted into "high class" families. The family story centered in Lisa Wingate's book describes five children and their parents who live on a river houseboat on inlet to Mississippi River. They are close to lowest of socio-economic status possible. But,they dearly care for one another, especially the children and their mother. At term with pregnancy for twins when the midwife is unable to deliver the mother, the midwife insists the father take her to a hospital. They are told the twins do not survive, but the mother does. When the mother and father return to their houseboat the other five children have been stolen by the authorities. How the children survive their existence under the ugly supervisor, Miss Tann, their separate adoptions and how they manage to regain contact with each other is an unbelievable story. Andy was not stopped until 1950."
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Before We Were Yours A Novel Audible Audio Edition Lisa Wingate Emily Rankin Catherine Taber Random House Audio Books Reviews :
Before We Were Yours A Novel Audible Audio Edition Lisa Wingate Emily Rankin Catherine Taber Random House Audio Books Reviews
- I wasn't familiar with Lisa Wingate's books before I read "Before We Were Yours" but I'll be looking for others now that I've read it. I was drawn fully into the story, set in both the 1930s and present day. It follows the story of the Foss children in the '30s and Avery Stafford in present day, and brings to light a horrifying and shameful real-life scandal.
From the '30s to 1950, a woman named Georgia Tann, who ran the (Memphis) Tennessee Children's Home Society, stole poor children from their families and newborn babies from single mothers and sold them to celebrities, politicians and others who could afford them. It was all done under the guise of helping orphaned and abandoned children find good homes, but it was actually human trafficking.
Avery Stafford finds a puzzling photograph that leads her into an ever more confusing story of secrets and lies inside her upright, respected family. Along the way, she starts to question the man her family has picked for her to marry and her expected role within the family. What follows is a heartwarming story of love, betrayal, memories and staying true to your heart. In addition to the well developed characters and background love story, I liked the realistic view into the 1930s.
I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about a dark time in our history, when being poor was enough to have a family ripped apart forever. - The Tennessee Children's Home run by Georgia Tann did exist for decades. The stories of children whisked away from poor parents, as they walked to school, were born in hospitals, played on their front porches, is a sad tale of the subterfuge used by this woman who made millions on "adoption fees". In many cases, the children were adopted by wealthy parents, satisfied by their obtaining the child they had so wanted. But, there were others, who disappeared forever, were abused in the children's home, while waiting for a home, or more likely, waiting to go back home to their birth families. Few adoptive parents knew about these terrible conditions, nor did the state, nor the birth families, who were left wondering what happened to their children.
This novel takes the facts and the recounted stories of the children who later were able to locate family members, when the documents were unsealed in 1995 (the home was closed in 1950). Lisa Wingate weaves a plausible story of a group of siblings caught up in this scheme. It is heart breaking to ponder, but presents a real situation that occurred in our country. Read this, along with "The Orphan Train", to get a sense of how fortunate you may be. - This was one of the hardest books I have ever read. The subject matter is disturbing and unforgettable. It is especially compelling because it is based on something that really happened. That being said, it was well-written and very hard to put down. I appreciated the uplifting ending as it somewhat mollifies the agony of the subject matter.
- This is the first book I've ever read by Lisa Wingate, but having read it I will search through her other titles. It was an excellent book! The subject matter was hard, and sad at times, as I knew it would be before starting. I could not put it down because I had to find out how the story ended. It was a glorious book, I'm happy that I read it!
- This is a REAL story. It is poignant, sad, unbelievable and a must read to learn about how families were destroyed and children were mistreated in orphanages prior to 1950. The way children were stolen and placed in homes under cruel caretakers is chilling. Children were stolen, warehoused in homes until they could be adopted into "high class" families. The family story centered in Lisa Wingate's book describes five children and their parents who live on a river houseboat on inlet to Mississippi River. They are close to lowest of socio-economic status possible. But,they dearly care for one another, especially the children and their mother. At term with pregnancy for twins when the midwife is unable to deliver the mother, the midwife insists the father take her to a hospital. They are told the twins do not survive, but the mother does. When the mother and father return to their houseboat the other five children have been stolen by the authorities. How the children survive their existence under the ugly supervisor, Miss Tann, their separate adoptions and how they manage to regain contact with each other is an unbelievable story. Andy was not stopped until 1950.