This heartbreaking novel, based on a true story, follows several children from a Depression-era family who are snatched from their home and their parents under the guise of a corrupt social program that's a cover for illegal adoptions. Parallel story lines detail the children's experience in the Tennessee Children's Home and the efforts of their modern-day grandchildren to uncover the mysteries surrounding their grandparents' early lives in order to offer peace to their grandparents in their last days.

If you are looking for a quick read -- not because it's a light read, but because you are so invested in the characters and want to see what happens -- this is a great book for you. It should be a Summer '17 must read!

Loved this book! I loved the character development. and the way the story built on itself. The story of Rill/May and her family kept me reading far into the night. I love a good mystery or secret in a book. Grab your cup of coffee and sit back for an adventure! Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

A gem of a book. This story switches between Rill Foss’s past and Avery Stafford’s present day, the flow between the two was well done. I rarely find a book that I literally can’t put down, this was one of them. Thank heavens for a long weekend so I didn’t have to contend with working. The beginning of the book had me lured in by page 2. The author gives you just enough information to know that something is just not right, something ominous is going to happen and a new development will be coming along. I did not figure out the ending, I thought I had, but I was surprised. Was very interesting to read about the corrupt Tennessee Children’s Society, that I previously knew nothing of. The writing is excellent, her descriptions make you feel like you are right there, you can visualize the surroundings, can see the blond hair, the bracelet, the children, the home, the pictures, even just holding hands. It has it all, passion, love, family, secrets, mystery, sadness, do we do what’s right or do we do what is expected and the good in life. She really makes you think about your own family ties. This is a gem of book, I would highly recommend, several hours well spent. I’ll be thinking about May and Judy for a long time to come and will certainly look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Before We Were Yours is based on the true story of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. This abhorent piece of history fascinates me. While it operated, primarily as a means for wealthy childless couples to buy children, it was a well-kept secret. It went on for decades*, which is amazing considering the thousands of children stolen from their parents, as well as the estimated hundreds of children that died in the home. The depth and breadth of the cover-up is unimaginable.

As for this book, it does a fair job at telling the story. It is based on the Foss family’s children, who are stolen in the night from their shanty boat. Years later, the sisters are reunited, but decide to keep their story secret. Many years later, a granddaughter, Avery, follows up some strange coincidences, leading her to their past. I would have liked to see a bit more of a fore- or afterword on Georgia Tann and the Home.

The story is told from the past viewpoint of Rill Foss and the present viewpoint of Avery. Avery is one of those characters you just don’t connect with. She is engaged to be married, but you know she is going to break it off because of her new love interest, which just doesn’t read true. The author keeps reminding you Avery is a high-powered attorney, yet she can’t make a decision or read the clues in front of her. On the other hand, the stories centering on Rill Foss, were captivating. At 12 years old, Rill is trying to keep her family together after being kidnapped and molested. Her viewpoint is a story of family, love and sacrifice, and Avery just appeared to be self-centered. Avery was such a contrast to Rill, that reading the viewpoints alternately just didn’t work.

*It appears Georgia Tann had been a well-respected social worker beginning in the 1920’s, and my cursory research couldn’t find when she “turned.”

Lisa Wingate writes this story like she lived it. Amazing charming characters that get you caught up in their lives.
I've cried more reading this book and yet gotten the most satisfaction out of it than any other in a long time!
5 star rating!

Before this book I had never heard of the scandal of the Tennessee Children's Home Society. This book is based on this, using characters who, although not real, could really have existed during this time. The Foss family lived on a shantyboat on the Mississippi River. The young parents had 5 children and Queenie was expecting twins. While she was in labor at the hospital, the shantyboat was raided and the children were taken into custody and sent to live at the Children's Home. From there, the family was separated and adopted out. This book had me captivated from beginning to end. The story is told in such a way that you feel as if you are actually there watching it all unfold. I highly recommend this novel.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is based on true events from the 1930s and 1940s.. This was a very heartbreaking book about human trafficking. I hadn't heard of Lisa Wingate, but I will check her other books too after reading this novel. It is not an easy read but it is totally worth it, I couldn't put the book down.

I received this ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice in this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, for readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale.

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 that the truth is much darker. 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.

Aitken, 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 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—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 was one of the best books that I think I've read the entire year. It took me months to pick it up and when I did, it took me a while to finish it. It's not one of those books that you can finish in an afternoon. You really have to sit down and consume what you're reading. It's a heartbreaking book, something that touches your soul and doesn't let go. For me, I've always loved Lisa Wingate but this book blew me away. I think every woman should read it. If you have children, if you don't have children or if you're thinking of having children. Read this book.

I was given a copy of this ARC from the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review. All of the above comments are my express opinions and no one else's.

Life doesn't always happen as we expect it to sometimes wonderful things happen as if in surprise and sometimes life throws you a curveball you never could have imagined-- and that is the case for Rill, Princess of the Kingdom Arcadia, and her family. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Avery Stafford has grown up in a charmed life but from the time that she moved out of Aiken, SC--and the fame of her family name, she found herself and having to return is a bit of a hard transition. Harder even more because of the circumstances that surround her return. Her father's ailing health cannot be helped and her love for her family is strong enough to hold her in each meeting and function.

After one such function, a birthday party at a nursing home, Avery is shocked by a brief encounter with another resident. She looked like she recognized her.

After realizing that the woman had also lifted her grandmother's special bracelet Avery returns and speaks with the sad Mrs. May. With another brief interaction an itch forms in the back of Avery's mind that something is amiss. And she aims to find out what it is.

Who was Rill? Well, you'll have to read the book to find that out.

This was an excellent book. I've never read another book by this author before but based solely on this one I might need to read another. I fell in love with the characters and I felt for them. I hurt with them... and I felt the same surprise.

Knowing that this is a work of fiction is one thing, but thinking that things like this really happened within the United States is heart breaking. Families being ripped apart. Identities and lives lost.

I finished this book a few days prior to the writing of this review and I still feel the sadness and joy this book elicited.

This book was very good. I loved the characters, their stories and how it tied past to present. I felt their pain, their sorrows and the joys. The scene was set in each chapter and I could not stop reading this book. I would love a prequel of the children but it was well written and didn't leave much room for more.

I am going to be completely honest and say that I was very disappointed in this book. I was only able to get through about 30% of it. There were too many characters in the book and I thought that this made the book very confusing, especially the back and forth in time periods. I have read many books by this author in the past and have really enjoyed them but there really was nothing in the book that held my interest for me to continue it.

When I saw the synopsis of this book, I knew right then that I had to read it. Based in part on the infamous Georgia Tann, who brokered children from the 1920s to 1950 under the auspices of the Tennessee Children's Home Society, it is riveting, heart-wrenching and a compelling read. Tann organized, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country.

Five children are stolen one night in 1939 from their family's shanty boat when their father rushes their pregnant mother to the hospital. Told they will be returned as soon as their mother is well, they see hope on the horizon. But they are soon disabused of that notion. The facility's cruel director is in controlling and hateful and they are at her mercy. Completely.

Avery Stafford, present day SC, comes home to help her ailing father with his political career and has a totally chance encounter at a nursing home. This encounter will lead her down a path to a discovery that can wreak devastation on her family. Or bring peace.

Lisa Wingate has taken a horrific time in our history and weaved a tale that will absolutely break your heart and keep you spellbound until the last word. Told through the first person of 12 year old Rill Foss, Wingate delves deep into Rill's mind and heart very vividly. I was completely entranced with this novel. Unforgettable, thought provoking and captivating, it will also just break your heart as you read what was done to so many innocent children and think on how this must have affected their lives. I highly recommend this novel. It is a must read.

*I was given a preview copy of this book by the publisher via Net Galley. I was not asked to leave a positive review. My opinions are honest and my own.

I received an ARC from Net Galley. This book was amazing. I could not put it down once I started it. The story of these 5 poor children and how they were taken away from their parents and basically sold to wealthy families really shocked me as I have never heard of this particular scandal in Tenesse (I'm from Chicago). Narrated by Mae (Rill) in the past where she and her siblings are kept in a holding house while waiting to be adopted. They are all maltreated and eventually split up except for Rill and her one sister, Fern. The other narrator in the present is Avery whose grandmother has dementia but she manages to connect her grandmother with another elderly lady in a different nursing home through pictures they both have. The story is sad but probably what really happened to so many of these children in the 4o's and 50's. The really terrible thing is that many powerful people knew this was going on and did nothing to stop it. Georgia Fann, the leader of the entire adoption scheme made tons of money selling kids to rich people. So so sad but clearly a piece of our history. Highly recommend this book as it is definitely worth your time. Lisa Wingate is an amazing writer!

Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate, draws you into the lives of the characters from the beginning. I couldn't put this book down. Georgia Tann, called "The Mother of Modern Adoption", had some unacceptable adoption practices, as seen in reports about the TN Children's Home Society. Imagine being deemed an unfit parent just because you were poor. Imagine being part of a rich, political family and discovering that your life may have started out differently than you thought. As Avery, a lawyer, visits a retirement home facility and meets an elderly lady, who mistakes her for someone else, she begins delving into her past. This is heart-wrenching, thought-provoking novel. This story is a book club "must read"!

In 1939, twelve-year-old Rill Foss lives with her parents, three younger sisters, and a toddler brother in a ramshackle shantyboat on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee. All is well in their world until the stormy night when their father has to rush their mother to the hospital across the river in a frantic attempt to save both her and the twin babies she's struggling to bring into the world. The next morning, while Rill and the fifteen-year-old ward of their family friend are in charge, the police come and force the five siblings into a car, saying they are taking the children to visit their folks in the hospital. Rill knows this is a lie but is powerless to prevent her siblings from being kidnapped and taken to the Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage where Rill, her sisters, and her brother are plunged into a nightmare of abuse and separation.

In present-day South Carolina, Avery Stafford is a privileged daughter of a prominent family, a successful attorney, and engaged to marry a lifelong friend. While home helping her father the senator get through a health crisis, an elderly woman in a nursing home mistakes her for someone else...and changes Avery's life forever. Buried family secrets lead Avery to question who she is and what she wants in her life.

Rill and Avery's stories are told in alternating chapters, urgent and riveting, their paths slowly converging in ways both inevitable and unexpected. Bittersweet, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful.

4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because the .5 off is solely due to my incomprehension over why the present-day characters feel the past should remain a secret. Who cares if it becomes public knowledge that nearly 80 years ago children were kidnapped and sold to adoptive families? The perpetrators are long since dead, and the victims deserve to have their stories told. How would it harm the senator if people knew his mother had been one of those children? This makes no sense to me.

For readers' advisors: all four doorways are strong, especially character & story. In some ways it qualifies as a "clean read," but the subject matter might not be what readers are looking for if they ask for that. The novel is based on real-life events wherein Georgia Tann ran a Memphis-based adoption organization that elevated the perception of adoption and orphans while simultaneously ripping families apart as she coordinated the kidnapping and sale of impoverished children to wealthy families across the country from the 1920s to 1950. Thousands of children endured horrific abuse, and hundreds died (or were killed).

I do not recommend reading this novel at bedtime because you won't be able to put it down, and if you did manage to put it down, you'd lay awake thinking about it instead of sleeping. Or at least, that's what happened to me!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

Twelve-year-old Rill Foss, the “princess of Kingdom Arcadia”, lives on the Mississippi River with her parents and four siblings in a homemade shanty boat built by her dad. The river proves to be more forgiving than land during the Great Depression, and Rill’s family flourishes on hard work, a little food, and lots of love. They don’t have much but they’re happy. Queenie, Rill’s mother, must be rushed to the hospital late one night while giving birth to twins. Policemen come to the boat the next day and kidnap the five siblings, starting a nightmare of abuse, scandal, loss and perseverance for Rill.
Told from two angles, one from Rill during the 30’s; the other from Avery, a distant relative during present day life in Aiken, South Carolina, the plot weaves closer and closer together, keeping your interest with each turn of the page (or touch of the screen, whichever applies!).
The story and people are fiction but based on true events that happened in Memphis Tennessee when Georgia Tann was investigated for child trafficking, running a black market baby adoption scheme that involved powerful political and Hollywood figures. Lisa Wingate gives life to each character and their surroundings; you’ll hurt for the victims as if they truly existed.
I can easily recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about human emotion, especially when the plot is based on historical events. It will captivate you with the first page, and you’ll keep reading until you can make sense of the mess created by stolen children, whose identities were wiped clean, names and histories changed. Excellent read, but will leave you with a sadness that this situation happened and flourished during harsh times.

This was a very well written, eye-opening book! I had no idea that this tragedy existed in our country's history. Something that should be taught in schools, and never be forgotten. The writing was exquisite, especially the chapters that were told by May/Rill.. I will definitely be recommending this book for purchase, and in Reader's Advisory!

love it so sad but i had to finish it. a must read

Fascinating story that was based on the true story of a black market child adoption scheme that ran out of the unlicensed Tennessee Child Home Society. It is amazing that this home ran from the 1920's to 1950's before it was shut down.
The author brings this story to us by introducing us to a family of five children who were taken by authorities after their parents were tricked into signing papers at the hospital they were told would help them with medical fees. Twelve year old Rill does everything in her power to keep her brothers and sisters together, but one by one, they disappear to other families. The book is also told from the point of view of wealthy Avery Stafford in the present day. After a chance encounter with an elderly woman at a retirement community, she begins to discover that her grandmother has a secret life and she sets out to discover more. Wonderful book that was so well written! I received a complimentary ebook from the publisher in exchange for a review.