This book is a follow-up to Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, a factionalized recounting of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society (TCHS) owned and operated in Memphis by Georgia Tann from the 1930s up to 1950, the last year. She was made wealthy by stealing babies and adopting them to couples who were ineligible through normal channels, often because they were just too old. Couples were often told they adopting orphans. It’s estimated that she stole and sold over 5,000 babies, 1,000 out of the state mostly to California and New York, and an estimated 500 died in the squalid holding facilities.

One of the TCHS babies contacted Lisa who was doing book tours and asked her if she had ever considered facilitating a reunion. It didn’t happen overnight but support for such an event gained momentum, and aided by Ancestry’s DNA tests, biological family connections were being made. These are stories of the people fictionalized in Before We Were Yours. Thankfully illegitimate birth and adoption no longer have the stigma that they during that era, and more states are opening their adoption records.

Diane is a family member in her 70s who didn’t learn she was adopted until two years ago, and expressed much of the same anguish as the TCHS babies. Thanks to the DNA test which she took just this year, she has met a cousin who lives nearby, though it is too late for her sister who has dementia and lives in a home. She said she always wondered because she doesn’t look like anyone else and it’s true. Many of the TCHS babies made that comment after meeting with their birth family - I’m finally with people who look like me!! And Diane’s adoption was through an agency, so amplify those feelings with the knowledge that you were stolen from a bereft birth mother. Adoption is a unique and emotional journey for each family anyway, but what Georgia Tann did is unimaginable.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate opened a Pandora’s box of emotions for many families that had an adoption touch their lives in some way. After publishing Before We were Yours, Wingate began to hear from adoptees or their family members who believed they were adopted out of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. Some of the adoptees, young as they were, even remember Georgia Tann. Feeling that the stories were important, Wingate enlisted the help of an author and friend, Judy Christie, and together they put together a collection of stories from several adoptees.

Reading each individual’s account of their lives and the families involved was often bittersweet. While many of the adoptees felt that they did have a better or easier life because of the adoption, they also mourned for the parents they never got to know and the siblings they didn’t have growing up. Some of the sweetest stories were those of siblings who were reunited in their later life and kept their connection until they died.

Most heartbreaking was reading about the babies and children that died under Tann’s care that are not named or recognized in any way. It was also sad to read about the few adoptees that have not been able to find anything about their family history.

One thing I found fascinating was the role book clubs played in helping these stories come about and how a simple mention of Before We Were Yours moved an adoptee or a family member to read it and become encouraged to find out more.

Before & After is a wonderful follow-up to Before We Were Yours and I’m happy to recommend it to readers who love genealogy, history and family relationships.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy and offer an honest review.

This is the non-fiction follow-up to Lisa Wingate's "Before We Were Yours". I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but since I read that book, I was interested in reading the real life version of events. The book details the lives of several of Georgia Tann's victims if you will, from her Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. The circumstances of how they got there all varied as did their adoptions and their lives growing up. Many of them did not know they were adopted, and those that did knew nothing about their birth parent until Lisa's book came out. It was really interesting reading all of the different stories. Some were heart-breaking, some were heart-warming. If you read "Before We Were Yours" you will want to read this, and even if you didn't, if you enjoy non-fiction you will want to grab a copy.

Before and After is the true stories of several children who were adopted through the Tennessee Children's Home Society (TCHS). The families who shared their stories opened up to Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate; Lisa authored the fictional Before We Were Yours about a family who was taken by notorious Georgia Tann, the director of the TCHS. Before and After is the compilation of the stories shared by surviving adoptees and their families after reading Lisa's book and wanting to share their side.

I was so taken with Lisa Wingate’s moving novel [book:Before We Were Yours|32148570], so I was definitely drawn to reading this nonfiction account . It focuses on real life stories of some adults who were victims of Georgia Tann’s corrupt money making operation, the Tennessee Children’s Home Society that sold babies and young children from the 1920’s to 1950. Stolen children, falsified records, illegal adoptions that cost $500 vs $7 for the state cost at that time. “An investigation concludes that Tann profited from the operation of TCHS in Memphis in excess of five hundred thousand dollars in the last ten years of her life - taking in today’s equivalent of between five and ten million dollars.” This book came to be when a woman contacted Wingate after reading the novel to say she was one of those babies. Journalist Judy Christy was brought on board by Wingate to interview the people who had come forward as having been part of a Tann’s scheme. They plan a reunion of some of the orphans. Christy skillfully and tenderly interviews those who can come together for the reunion to share their stories.

A desire to find siblings, know their family history, medical and otherwise, find out the truth of what Georgia Tann did to them, their mothers were motivating factors to search out their pasts.. The years they lost are poignantly reflected when a dying man meets his brother - “We didn’t get to play as children, but we can play in heaven.” Some of the stories were joyful when they meet siblings they never knew they had or a mother who never wanted to give up them up. There were some who didn’t want to be united with their relatives. Some who didn’t want to share their stories. Some were grateful for the people who adopted them knowing that they had a better life than they would have . Some did not have that better life. Their stories are moving. You will meet all of these people here.

While this focuses on children that were adopted through Georgia Tann’s corrupt money making operation, it speaks of the journey of many other adopted people to find their families. I was particularly touched by these stories because last year through Ancesrty.com we discovered a niece who had been searching for her birth parents for years. I won’t go into details here, other than to say that her father was one of my brothers in law who had passed away. The meetings with our family were emotional and the connection has continued. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same when she found her birth mother. They met, shared information but her mother does not want to have a relationship going forward. Sometimes making the connection after years doesn’t always work. I highly recommended to those who were touched by Lisa Wingate’s novel and anyone who might be interested in the journeys of some adopted children to their adulthood and back to their roots.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

Amazing! I read the novel that kick started the stories shared in this book and this is the perfect companion to Before We Were Yours. I love that Judy and Lisa took the time to listen and hear the stories of these families. It was heart breaking and heart warming all at once. These are stories that need to be shared so that we can learn from the past and do better in the present.

Every now and then I like to take a break from emotional fiction books, so I’ll switch to something non-fiction to put my heart on reset. Well, that wasn’t the case with Before and After. The real-life stories in this book are incredibly moving, memorable, and emotional.

I can’t fathom how Georgia Tann’s soul and heart was hardened so bristly that she dispassionately and mechanically stole and traded babies. I truly can’t fathom it. And I can only imagine the fear of the children as they were snatched away, and the desperation, pain, and lifelong heartbreak of the birth parents.

Her heartlessness and carelessness, and authorities turning a blind eye to her money-making horrendous “business” resulted in broken families, shattered parents, many children dying and being mistreated before finding a home, and others suffering awful upbringings once they did. Despite her evil schemes, some of the adoptees were raised by loving families.

* If you’ve read Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours, I highly recommend this non-fiction addition. It tells the real-life survival stories of victims of Georgia Tann and her Tennessee Children’s Home Society.

** If you haven’t read Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours, it would be highly beneficial to read it first. You won’t regret it. It caused every nerve ending in my body to prickle, and gave my soul the major f-e-e-l-s. With vivid scenes, remarkable characters, a momentous historical scandal, and lessons of faith, family, friendship, and freedom, it’s on my list of the most memorable, heart-searing books I’ve read.

Source: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.

I didn’t enjoy this book :( I wish I had since I enjoyed the book Before We Were Yours so much. I didn’t like the writing and the back and forth between authors was jarring, not smooth and cohesive.

An excellent addendum to BEFORE WE WERE YOURS, and a fascinating in-depth view on Georgia Tann's hellscape. It's so hard to believe that all of this went on under the noses of so many, and no one knew. Though non-fiction is not my usual genre, it was good to read all of this, and get a feel for not only the reality of the situation, but also the reality of those who survived it--and those who did not.

I can say hands down Before and After is the most satisfying read ever! Before We Were Yours is such a beautiful, heart wrenching look on a sad piece of history called The Tennessee Children's Home and it's mistress of evil, Georgia Tann. After reading it I felt so empty and sad. Before and After cured that and showed some children ended up with better lives. Moral question is then, did she actually really do a good service for children and the community?

I absolutely loved Before We Were Yours, and if you would have asked me if Lisa Wingate could top that story of the TCHS, I would have said, no way. But she did it, by golly she did it, this is an incredible follow up and has now turned fiction into a true story.

It was so fun to follow along on how Before We Were Yours affected so many people. Amazing that the book churned up so many memories and became the catalyst they needed to launch into more research on their own stories, finding missing family members they hadn’t seen in years. To actually hear their telling of how Georgia Tann affected them was remarkable. I couldn’t wait to go from one survivor to another, yes, I felt they all were survivors. I was most surprised that DNA has become such an important tool in finding loved ones separated like this. Each story is so interesting.

How Tennessee turned their backs and ignored what was going on was despicable and then had the audacity to make the survivors pay “again” to retrieve their records. You always think bad people will get what they deserve, I do not feel Georgia did. Her world was falling and she took so many secrets with her.

The writing is excellent, the storyline is spot on and I had a hard time putting it down. Great Book!!!

I thank Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this for my honest unbiased review. High five stars for this one, high five!!!!

Such a great follow-up to the historical fiction novel "Before We Were Yours." A fascinating and tragic look at the true realities of those affected by the crimes committed by Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home. I hope those families are able to finally find peace.

Five stars - because these stories should be read and remembered. If you read and liked the book Before We Were Yours - and frankly, even if you haven't - then read this follow-up, true-life book co-authored by BWWY novelist. After Before We Were Yours, a fictionalized tale of children stolen by a Tennessee orphanage and sold into adoption, is published and becomes a book club sensation, actual adoptees began to reach out to the author to share their stories and a small group decide to stage a reunion in Memphis. Before and After chronicles the reunion and the individual stories of those who actually lived through the Tennessee Children's Home Society scandal. As the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. And while from a literary perspective I am not sure I'd give this book 5 starts -- there are ways it could have been edited for more clarity, context and insight into the individual stories - as a whole these stories made me literally hold my breath while reading them and these stories.... true stories.... deserve to be read and remembered and honored.

As a Pulpwood Queen Book Club member, I’ve been a fan of both Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate for many years. Like millions of other readers, o was captivated by Lisa’s book, Before We Were Yours, based on the Tennessee Children’s Home scandal. Knowing it was based on fact made the heartbreaking story all the more emotional. I’m so glad Judy & Lisa teamed up to record the real life stories of those affected by Georgia Tann’s greed. People frequently comment on how difficult it is to adopt these days and you only have to have read about this to understand why it needs to be somewhat difficult. In the long run, hay is for the best to ensure innocent children are not taken illegally from their families and that they are in fact going to a good stable home. I highly recommend reading Before We Were Yours followed by this true account.

Readers will need to read the fiction book, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate before reading this book to fully understand the background of this non-fiction book. Both authors work together to reunite "victims" of Georgia Tann with their families. This book is mainly short histories and reunions of fifteen different adoptees.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This line int he book stood out for me "Someone out there will choose to become that one person for one person. Change a life. Save a life".

This book is a follow up to Lisa's book, Before We Were Yours. You need to read that book before this one or some of the references won't make sense. Judy interviewed real life survivors of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home. These stories are heart breaking and yet inspirational. It is so hard to believe that this went on for almost 30 years. The adoptees stories were told with compassion and empathy. Their stories will stay with you.

Two years ago I read Before We Were Yours and it remains one of the most impactful books based on true events that I have ever read. While the characters were fictional, Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Adoption Scandal were not.

Books like Before We Were Yours are powerful because they bring to light heartbreaking parts of history that many people were unaware of before. In addition, this book took on an even bigger role for a group of people who came forward as children were connected to these actual events.

Before and After shares the non-fiction real-life accounts of 12 victims and their personal stories including photos and artifacts from the Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage. Authors Judy Christie & Lis Wingate took on the powerful role of connected these victims to each other and to siblings some of them never knew they had.

While what Georgia Tann did was just horrific, I did appreciate that some of the stories shared moments of light in a time of such darkness. The story of baby Lillian who's adoptive parents chose her over a healthy baby boy when they found her sickly and covered in a rash in a corner of a room on their way to pick up their baby was especially impactful. Her adoptive parents ended up elbowing past Tann and choosing Lillian, which ultimately saved her life. Tann would leave the sickly children to die since they were what she assumed "worthless" and it is estimated that over 500 children lost their lives while in the care of Tann.

This book felt very satisfying as Before We Were Yours opened the door to such a tragic part of fairly recent U.S. History. I love the idea that this group of survivors was able to come together and now have each other to process with and support one another. While the stories in Before and After were heartbreaking it was also filled with lots of hope and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the book Before We Were Yours, so I was very curious about this non fiction book Before and After 'based' on it. I really enjoyed it, and thought what reunion it had to be for all! To read a book based on a part of history is one thing, but to read these stories of how/what actually happened! I am a librarian, and plan to tell all who loved Before We Were Yours, to read this!!

Before We Were Yours is a phenomenal book that’s spread like wildfire, everyone is either talking about it or read it. The story has fictional characters, but has a real life villain, that works at a terrifying place. So when I saw this sequel, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

Georgia Tann was a cruel woman who was responsible for brokering children and placing them with adoptive families. Although she did help some, she was responsible for the deaths, stolen lives, unethical placement and theft of thousands of others for personal profit. She worked in a home in Tennessee and had many politicians, clergy and community leaders in her corrupt circle.

Before and After is a follow up by two authors that take the time to put together a reunion for adoptees looking for connections to their birth families and wanting to share their stories. There are approximately 15 individuals interviewed that share their story. A very touching account told by adoptees that are mostly now in their 80s.

I enjoyed the book, although I didn’t love it like I did its predecessor. The interviews were kept short with a small narration following each interview written by Judy Christie. The interviews are glossed over at a high level. I never felt connected to any of the adoptees nor did the interviews invoke in me the sympathy they probably deserved. You will read about DNA, their children, their searches and the difficulties in getting access to sealed information over the years. A brief summary of life with their adoptive parents and anything they can remember about life before they reached the Tennessee Children’s Home.

Know that this is not a stand alone book. If you haven’t already, you will want to either read Before We Were Yours or do your internet homework on the Tennessee adoption scandal to fully appreciate this book.

'Tann's empire at the Tennessee Children's Home Society has been built with a combustible blend of desperate pregnant women, shattered children, vulnerable poverty-stricken families, eager adoptive parents, powerful politicians, ego, and greed.'

I read Lisa Wingate's 'Before We Were Yours' and it impacted me deeply. Based on the facts of the cruel and devious Georgia Tann, who stole and adopted out over 5000 children between 1924-1950, it was a powerful book! After the book came out, many came forth because they knew they were part of that vicious story, taken from parents by Tann and sold to others, sometimes to a life of goodness and sometimes not. People began contacting Wingate about this and this book was born.

Based on the true stories of these people who were victims, for that's what they can properly and truly be called, of Tann's evil empire, they now tell their stories. Stories of how they always felt 'something was missing' and how they never felt totally complete. And then through the work of Wingate and Judy Christie, these people searched and found siblings they never knew they had!

Deeply moving and mind numbing, this book is a testament to the hearts of those that were abused so cruelly by a heinous woman whose crime rivaled that of any serial killer.

These stories will break your heart and bring joy at the same time. I was very moved by this book.

*My thanks to the publishers for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions stated here are entirely my own.