In addition to Iron Flame and Frankenstein, I’m reading Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society (because I guess the other two books weren’t traumatizing me enough 🤷🏼‍♀️) by Lisa Wingate. I beta read Lisa’s novel, Before We Were Yours and it introduced me to the tragic, horrifying story of Georgia Tann and Tennessee children’s home society. Somehow, reading the victims’ stories (and they WERE victims, even if some of them experienced happy childhoods with their adoptive families, just makes it all the more heartbreaking. Georgia Tann was literally stealing children from families, who’s only “crime” was that of poverty. I’m thrilled for the ones who had happy upbringings. But, 5000 or more kids passed through TCHS. What about the ones who suffered horrendous abuse and neglect? What about the 19 kids (that we know of) who died? Documents were forged and altered, making it even more difficult for people to find answers. And, as evil as Tann was, she had help. Politicians looked the other way, lawyers helped push paperwork through. She had people who delivered the children to their new families. How could this be tolerated as long as it was ?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me read a copy of Before and After.

This was a great following up to Before we were yours by Lisa Wingate. I really enjoyed hearing the stories of people from multiple generations that have suffered at the hands of Georgia Tann. I was left with wanting more answers. This leaves me with sadness of how the families affected must feel.

If you have not read When We Were Yours, you are missing out! This is a book about many of the victims of Georgia Tann’s misdeeds. How many lives this woman changed. It is amazing how this was allowed to go on for years and how this is still affecting many people and many families.

There are some historical fiction books that I wish had a companion piece to rundown all of the real details. Lisa Wingate's "Before We Were Yours" is the fictional story of siblings who are stolen from their family by the notorious real-life figure, Georgia Tann. Her illegal and extremely shady adoption dealings during the 1930's to 1950 have since become public record. I really liked Wingate's book, so I was intrigued to discover that she wrote a nonfiction book exploring more of the factual stories of the adoptees.

Unfortunately, this book fell short in a lot of ways for me. The good parts: the stories included from the people affected by the adoption proceedings were extremely honest and heartfelt. It made me think a lot differently about the type of trauma that's inflicted on an adopted child, sometimes from infancy. I appreciated the line: "Adopted children are born with loss." The bad parts: there was way too much focus on Wingate's book and its success and on the two women's process of putting together a reunion for the adoptees. It almost seemed like they were trying to get pats on the back for facilitating.

I have a pet peeve of writers who put too much of themselves in the book. The writing ends up feeling less authentic and sort of preachy. It also seemed like maybe they included too many stories of the adoptees, because by the end of the book, I couldn't remember which story was which.

I'm glad I read this book but it's not something I would recommend to other readers (even if they loved "Before We Were Yours.")

In this very moving and impressive book, the reader gets to know more about the orphans who survived the corrupt Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis, which was run from the 1920's to the 1950's by a woman named Georgia Tann. During this period, more than 5000 babies where stolen from poor families in the shantytowns of Memphis, or kidnapped from the street in Georgia Tann' s Black limousine .Sometimes the families where told in the hospital (once a whole group of mothers during the same night in a the maternity ward in a hospital in Memphis) that the baby had died, while their where brough the children's center of Georgia Tann, and where the baby's where sold for huge sums of money to wealthy parents, who got false and incorrect papers from the center, in which stories of the birth parents where told that where not true. In every case , Georgia Tann made huge financial profits from her criminal actions.

Many of the adoptees got in touch with Lisa Wingate after her first book, Before We Where Yours, and told her their story, which led to a conference organised by Judy Christie, a weekend conference for the people who were still looking for their natural birth parents and siblings. The conference was being hold in Memphis, the city where the former Tennessee Children's Home Society, was located. At the time of the conference, the adoptees were in their 70's and 80's, but for many it was the family, some two and three generations later, that were looking for answers.
In this book the authors portray individual stories of the adoptees, and how they landed in the Tennessee Children's society, and what happened to them after the where adopted. It is very moving, sometimes heartbreaking to read how Georgia Tann made profit of the life of poor parents and their babies, how could this go on for so long?? It gives you the cold chills as a reader. The authors write it in a way though that it isn't a heavy tearjerker, they did a great job at keeping you interested as a reader and I just couldn't put this impressive book away. If you want to read a beautifully written and real story, this is the book for you.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

This book was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The stigma of being adopted in that era and the cold manipulative woman who engineered these adoptions boggle my mind. And the mothers - so many who had a piece of their hearts ripped away from them. It is interesting that the great majority of Tann adoptees had the same feeling and emotions. A truly enlightening account of a terrible woman, terrible times and the gathering of the ‘victims’.

WoW!
To think this has actually happened and over a 30 year span.
I read the book Before we were yours and knew I had to read this one as well.
These are those children's stories. All of them true. And only a handful. Countless others that haven't been told and may never be told.
I'm so grateful for the people who stood up and told their story or their parent's story.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It will keep you reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate was a hard book to read, because you knew it was based on real children, being taken from their families and sold to other, wealthier families.

Before and After is the book about the real children. At times, it is heartwarming, when the now grown people find siblings, half-siblings, and information on their parents. At times, it is heartbreaking, when the children are taken from loving families, even if they are poor families, and given or sold to the Tennessee Children's Home Society.

This book is something everyone should read. It is a history lesson about what people will do to get a child, and what others will do to get their stolen child back.

This story was touching and memorable. The authors did a wonderful job at bringing their stories to life.

I loved Before We Were Yours, so I was excited to read Before and After. I really enjoyed reading about the real-life adoptees'/family members of adoptees' stories. It was amazing how Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie put together the reunion for them, helped them find more about their stories, and told their stories. I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend that people read it if they enjoyed Before We Were Yours and wanted to learn more.

This book was a life changer for some people. After reading Before We Were Yours, some readers were able to connect with their birth families . This is their story. Great Historical reading that you may think is "fiction". But
is thoroughly researched and documented. Recommended that you read both books for optimum enjoyment.

Before and After by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate is an incredible supplement to the author Lisa Wingate's previous book Before We Were Yours. This book was intended for that purpose, so it should not be read as a standalone book. In that light, this book is a wonderful, important read about a sad time in America's history. It is full of stories that should not be forgotten, lest history repeat itself. Readers of Before We Were Yours will love this book to get a fuller picture of the historical facts behind that book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

The first book was heart breaking to read. I knew thrle story was fiction but couldn't grasp how something like that could actually happen.

When I heard there would be a follow-up I knew it was going to break my heart again. I read this book in stages. One chapter at a time. I cried so many tears over the stories. The ripple effect Georgia Tann had on generations of families. It is just so unreal. I am glad so many people were able to come together and share their experiences; to know they weren't alone!

Genealogical research is often filled with surprises. For the children (and their descendants) who were victims of Georgia Tann's notorious adoption ring, their search for answers has been painful. Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie bring their stories to life in this book which, unlike its predecessor, Before We Were Yours, tells the true-life stories of those affected by a long-ago event. Excellent read about a painful piece of history.

Enjoyable read. I liked hearing the real life stories of these adults who lived thru the time of Georgia Tann.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The stories are heartbreaking. although some realize they were probably better off with their adopted families, most felt a sense of not belonging, something missing. Some have sought out their birth information and in many cases, this was not to be had easily. Some sought out new family members, finding brothers and sisters they never knew.

I did find issue with the way it is written. In between stories there is an italicized section which I felt was unnecessary, lending drama to a situation that was dramatic enough on its own.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoyed Wingate's Before We Were Yours. This tells the true story of the victims of the Tennessee Children's Society, a scandal from the 1950s, when the children of poor families were stolen and put up for adoption. This offers historical context for the novel Wingate crafted.

Before and After was an overwhelmingly moving book. It is the true story of some of the victims of the children’s home in Tennessee that was introduced in the fictional novel Before We Were Yours. These victims came together and were connected to Lisa Wingate after they read Before We Were Yours or were told about it. This book is their stories about what they experienced and their journeys to find their biological family members years later. It is heartbreaking to think about what the woman who ran the children’s home did to the mothers and their children. Some of the mothers who lost their children had no other choice, some were tricked into giving up their children, and some had their children stolen. The people in this book are grateful to meet someone else who experienced what they did. They form friendships with the others.

So fascinating!! While I liked the book Before We Were Yours fine, it was the actual historical part that really interested me, so I was thrilled to read this book!