Lisa Wingate makes known the little known facts of searching for family in the post civil war south. Intriguing!

My new favorite author. I love the historical aspect of her stories. And this one doesn’t disappoint. I learn so much and find myself wanting to dig deeper into the subject.

I've been a fan of author Lisa Wingate for years, but between her previous best-seller (Before We Were Yours) and this book, she has cemented herself as the queen of historical fiction. Wingate excels at presenting long-forgotten chapters of the American story, and beautifully crafting characters and settings to bring history to life.

As is oft her method, Wingate weaves together two stories from two different times, The first (in 1875) is of a young woman recently freed from slavery, off on a perilous adventure to secure her family's land. The second (in 1987) is of a young teacher, trying to inspire her troubled students. The two stories are connected by a plantation home, those who lived there and the things they do to maintain power, and the constant longing of the heart for those friends lost along the way.

A pleasure to read... My thanks to the author and publisher for the opportunity. #NetGalley #TheBookOfLostFriends

Lisa Wingate once again brought it to life a piece of history that I didn't know existed. The Lost Friends advertisement was a method in which freed slaves hope to connect again with their family members they'd been separated with. She takes readers on a journey to the post Civil War south, and weaves this story to a modern day school where a teacher struggles to connect with students in a low income school.

While the novel depicts a beautiful story, it felt a little slow at times. I struggled to fully connect with the stories of the past. I liked how the chapters were broken up with some of the real advertising. I appreciate how Wingate is thorough and accurate in her research to really bring this piece of history to life. Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to review this. It hits shelfs April 7th.

In Lisa Wingate’s newest novel, “The Book of Lost Friends”, the author takes the reader on a historic journey to the post-Civil War South. We meet Hannie Gossett, who embarks on a journey with Lavinia, to whom she was previously enslaved, and Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s illegitimate half-sister. The girls are on the journey for different reasons, but come together over their “Lost Friends” stories, advertising for freed slaves to help find their long-lost family members.

In the South in 1987, new teacher Benny Silva begins her career at a low-income school, and is frustrated by students without a desire to learn. While she is discouraged at first, she continues to persevere to find something to grab the interest and attention of her students. She involves the students in a project connecting them with the past of their town and families, and hopes to spark that light of learning in each of them.

This novel depicts a beautiful story, but overall I felt like it was a bit slow and it took me some time to get through. Toward the conclusion of the novel, I do think it finished strong with a powerful ending. I think I went into this novel with my hopes set very high, since “Before We Were Yours” was one of my favorite reads last year. While this book was not the right fit for me, I would still encourage others to read and enjoy this novel, as I am probably in the minority. I will definitely continue to read Lisa Wingate’s work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Lisa Wingate has written an amazing story. I'd never read about the "Lost Friends" ads that posted for folks to find family and friends after the Civil War ended. I love the way she approached the story with a split-time perspective. Benny Silva is the perfect character to guide her students into the history of their town and their families. She has her own interesting story, which you'll discover as you read. I absolutely love Hannie and her spunk and courage. She's incredible. As I read each different time period, I couldn't wait to get back to the other one. Both stories are told in rhythm with one another, even though separated by 112 years. Being reminded how families were split apart is heartbreaking and thought provoking. The struggle to find their people took strength and an amazing amount of courage. If you read historical fiction or contemporary fiction, you'll enjoy The Book of Lost Friends. This is a 5++ stars story. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

First of all, thanks Lisa Wingate, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for the advance copy.

Once again, Lisa Wingate does a great job at bringing to our attention a historical event/matter. This book is narrated from the perspective of 2 main characters: Hannie (1875) and Benny (1987). As it goes back and forth, I could not decide which story I was more invested in. I really enjoyed the newspaper articles of the 'Lost Friends'. It shows the importance of family and knowing where we come from.

My only 'complaint' it would be that the chapters were very long. I find that I read more when the chapters are shorter. But, that's just me...

Definitely a must read for those who enjoy historical fiction.

I absolutely loved this book. I am now realizing how much I enjoy historical fiction. I fell in love with the characters and could not wait to pick up the book again every time I had to put it down.
For the first time ever reading a book, I felt like I was in the story watching it all unfold in front of me. Lisa Wingate is an extremely talented writer. She told the story so well I could picture everything in my mind so easily. I felt like after reading this book that I had some knowledge of the past and what it must have been like. I am afraid after reading this nothing will be any where near as good.

4.5 Stars

History has much to teach us.

At the beginning of this book, there are notes from Lisa Wingate, about Dialect and Historical Terminology, which is where the above quote is taken from. She goes on to say: ”That was one of the reasons for the inclusion of the real-life Lost Friends ads in this book. They are the stories of actual people who lived, and struggled, and who almost inadvertently left these small pieces of themselves for posterity.”

Told in two different time frames, this begins with one of the Lost Friends letters to the editor, a plea to anyone reading or hearing their story, the family they seek to find some word from, or about, knowing that the possibilities are slim, and how often names were changed along the way as names may have changed along the way. Pastors were requested to read these pleas to their congregations.

”At the very least, we must tell our stories, mustn’t we? Speak the names? You know, there is an old proverb that says, ‘We die once when the last breath leaves our bodies. We die a second time when the last person speaks our name.’ The first death is beyond our control, but the second one we can strive to prevent.”

As this story begins, the initial timeframe is 1875, in Louisiana, with Hannie Gossett sharing her story, through the retelling of a dream - a memory of when she was six years old and watching buyers gather to buy her family a little at a time, she sees them being carted off one by one and two by two, listening as her mother recites their names, and the names of those who took them, and where they were being taken. Along with Hannie, the stories of Lavinia, the daughter of Hannie’s former owner, along with Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s half sister, the daughter of Lavinia’s father and Juneau Jane’s mother, who was also owned by Lavinia’s father.

The other timeframe in 1987, also in Louisiana, and this time is shared through a new teacher, Benedetta, Benny, Silva, teaching students from seventh to twelfth grade. Students who don’t want to be there, and frequently don’t show up. She begins searching for a way to motivate these students, to reach them on some level so that they will want to learn. It is a struggle, for both the students, and the teacher, until she discovers a book that will change everything.

There’s so much more, but this is the kind of story that deserves to be discovered by each reader.
Very moving stories are shared in both timeframes, and the Lost Friends letters are especially poignant, as these are letters that were written by real people who were searching for their lost loved ones – lost because their families were scattered, one from another, by those that purchased them as slaves, sending husbands away from their wives, mothers from their children.

Listen, the road seems to admonish. Listen. I have stories.


Pub Date: 07 APR 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine / Ballantine Books

I could not get into this book. I really enjoyed the 1980's time period with the children and the books, but it didn't tie in enough throughout the book for me to put anything together. The earlier time period was interesting and I feel that a lot could have been done with it, but it was too dry. This was a hard book for me to get through, which is disappointing because I really enjoyed Lisa Wingate's previous novel. I did like the news postings in between the chapters.

Just when I thought Lisa Wingate had outdone herself with Before We Were Yours, here comes The Book of Lost Friends. This book is a true account of how things used to be back in the 1800’s. The relationship Hannie has with others and her determination to find her beloved family is so deep. Lisa Wingate does a superb job researching and retelling stories that make us feel that we are actually there with her characters.

This book goes back and forth from the 1800’s to the 1980’s and does so with such ease and fascination. The 1980’s brings us Benedetta, a teacher who is young and impressionable and navigating her way through her first year of teaching.

Lisa Wingate’s books are historical and accurate and I have learned so much of our history through her. I recommend this book to everyone and will be using it for my bookclub as well.

Many heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for sharing an ARC with me to review, I feel thankful that I have the opportunity to do so. My reviews can be found on Goodreads and once the book is published they can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

The Book of Lost Friends is an incredible historical fiction novel set in the Post-Civil War and 1987. Lisa Wingate just keeps getting better with each novel she pens. Can't wait for the next!
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Lisa Wingate has done it again!!! Her storytelling of an unknown piece of American history for me, captured my attention and swept me back and forth through time. Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this next gem from Lisa for my honest feedback.

Colored Tennessean (Nashville), Oct. 14, 1865
information wanted of Caroline Dodson, who was sold from Nashville Nov. 1st 1862 by James Lumsden to Warwick, (a trader then in human beings), who carried her to Atlanta, Georgia, and she was last heard of in the sale pen of Robert Clarke, (human trader in that place), from which she was sold. Any information of her whereabouts will be thankfully received and rewarded by her mother,
Lucinda Lowery,
Box 1121, Nashville, Tenn.

***Real Ad posted by a family member looking to reunite with a loved one. Just one of many ads placed after emancipation.

Can you even imagine having to write such an ad? Can you image having a child, a spouse, a parent, a sibling torn from your life to never have word from them again?

Can you imagine being bought and sold?

Can you image having family members who were slaves?

Can you imagine what it must be like to have ancestors who owned slaves?

Can you imagine going on a journey trying to find your father to have the unimaginable happen to you so that it rends you unable to function?

Can you imagine trying to inspire and motivate your students? Find a project which will make them want to learn and be proud of themselves?

Inspired by historical events, The Book of Lost Friends is a story of three women on a journey in the post-Civil war south, it is also the story of a teacher who rediscovers those women's story and its connection to her students’ lives.

Louisiana, 1875 - Lavinia, a spoiled heir to a destitute plantation goes on a quest with her illegitimate Creole half-sister, Juneau Jane, and her former slave, Hannie. While Lavinia and Juneau Jane are searching for their father and their possible inheritance, while Hannie desperately wants to know what happened to her mother and eight siblings who were sold before the end of slavery. Will she ever see them again? Having seen ads along the way placed by freed slaves looking for family members, she wonders, could she find them this way?

Louisiana, 1987 - Benedetta (Benny) Silva is a first-year teacher who is desperately trying to get her students attention. Absences, hunger and poverty keep many from getting a good education. Looking through an old plantation for books that her classroom and local library might use, she finds a book - a history of three women. Could this change everything for her class? The three women's journey changed their lives but will have an impact on Benny and her student's lives as well.

Slow to start this book packed a powerful punch. The story is told in two timelines with the Lost Friends ads placed in between. These ads pack a powerful punch which resonates throughout the book. BTW, all the ads placed by freed slaves have been made into a book titled " Last Seen: Voices from Slavery's Lost Families"

Wingate did a great job building her plot and joining the two-story lines. They are moving and powerful. I found this book to be captivating, thought provoking, and emotionally moving. I loved book that not only teach me something but affect me emotionally as well. Fans of Wingate and Historical fiction will find this book appealing.

Highly Recommend!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I already have this book saved in my cart to purchase. The viewpoint that Lisa Wingate chooses to tell this story from is impactful. In today's world we seem to want to erase the tragic, painful & shameful parts of our history. Lisa has chosen to not only acknowledge these events but place a human heartbeat to the facts, not erasing the horrors but educating to why we should guard against these attitudes and actions so as to not repeat history. We cannot deny the heartbreak, we cannot change the past, but through her fictional characters (that she has written with such depth and dimension they touch your heart) she has shown us a reality we must own and move forward from.

The Book of Lost Friends is a story told in alternating view points of Hannie, an 18 year old emancipated slave in 1875, and Benny, a first year teacher working in a poor rural Louisiana to erase her student loans in 1987. I like alternating view points, it tends to lend depth to the story. I also really enjoy books that give a snapshot of history while telling a story. This book gives humanity and soul to historical facts, love it!

I was surprised I liked this book more that I thought I would! The story told in two perspectives/ and timelines tells the story of two women finding bravery and history. The love of history and stories are really shown in this books...

The Book of Lost Friends is an incredibly touching story told from the perspectives of two women living during different time periods. During the first time period, a former slave named Hannie, who has been separated from her family, embarks on a journey in hopes of ensuring she will receive a share of land she has been promised. When her travel mates, Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the daughters of Hannie’s former owner, encounter trouble, Hannie risks it all to save them. As she ventures from Louisiana to Texas, she discovers that there are many former slaves who are searching for their family members. Hannie, with the assistance of Juneau Jane, begins documenting names and locations of “lost friends” in an attempt to reconnect families while searching for her lost family members as well.

In the second time period, Benny, a first-year teacher of Italian descent, begins teaching secondary school in an impoverished community. She initially struggles to connect with her neighbors and the students in her class but eventually is taken under the wing of Granny T and Aunt Sarge, who help her get settled in. She learns that her rental home is owned by Nathan Gossett, who comes from a rich and well-known family with power and secrets. With the assistance of her new friends, Benny undertakes a project to motivate her students by engaging them in a project exploring their ancestral history. Her efforts cause a disruption in the community, revealing the lingering existence of racism and classism in recent history.

The story was well-written with excellent character development and pacing. I flew through the book in anticipation of learning the characters’ outcomes and uncovering the relation between the two timelines. While very dark themes are explored, particularly during the first time period, there is a more prominent and overarching theme of hope. I can think of two particular points in the book when I was so overcome with emotion that I teared up and felt goosebumps running up my arms. This is an absolutely fantastic read and I highly recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

1875, in the rural south, three unlikely women go on a journey. Missy Lavinia believes her father is dead and she’s entitled to more of her inheritance than her mulatto half sister Juneau Jane. During one of their fights they decide to go to one of the rougher parts of town to figure out the will, and Hannie, disguised as a boy, drives them. The events in town don’t go as planned and leaves Hannie to take care of two unconscious girls, all while pretending she’s still a boy. Once they find a little cottage for shelter, Hannie discovers stories written on the wall from the local newspaper. Each story is more like a classified ad, searching for the family members that were lost during the slave period. Mothers looking for her children, children looking for their lost siblings. Seeing as Hannie is one of those lost siblings, she decides to create her own book using the stories and those of people she meets along the way, hoping to be reunited with her lost family. Together the three girls, and the book trek all through the south hoping to find what each one has lost in their lives.

1987, still in the south, Benny Silvia starts her teaching in Augustine. The kids are unruly, poor, hungry and deprived of a good education. Benny tries to engage them but nothing seems to work until she starts to link the items in her library next door to that of the families of her students. Teaching them to dig down and discover who they are, ignites a fire in her students she thought was lost. Together with the help of a few friends, Benny uncovers the truth of the town and why the Book of Lost Friends was so important.

A refreshing tale told of the years after the emancipation and what became of the people. The stories of Hannah and Juneau June are so entertaining and suspenseful. I would skip the parts of Benny just to make sure Hannie and the girls ended up alright. Benny is actually the character I felt the most sorry for as it turns out. She tries and tries to make things better but she keeps getting shit on. There is also a little romance in the novel that keeps the novel moving at a faster pace.

As for the novel itself as a whole, I will say that I probably had too high of expectations for the book. Before We Were Yours is one of my favorite books of all time, and I was expecting this to be a new favorite as well and it just didn’t capture my attention as I wanted it to. The story is good, the characters are remarkable, but whether it’s the language or the imagery, I just couldn’t connect with the novel. I felt like the words didn’t flow as they should have and I struggled paying attention while reading it. However, this is one of those rare books that a negative review like this is going to be in the minority, but I couldn’t help saying what I thought! I think most people are going to enjoy this, and they should.

Rate: 3/5
Fiction
Author: Lisa Wingate

This is a very special book, told in an engaging manner. The story switches between two women (Hannie, a former slave and Benny, a first-time teacher in the deep South) and two different time periods (1870s and 1980). I often dislike the convention of interweaving stories told in alternating chapters but Lisa Wingate tells these stories superbly in “The Book of Lost Friends.” Each story holds suspense so that I was anxious to read more about both Hannie and Benny. I was very touched by the entire concept which reminded me of the lists of names published after WWII as family members tried to locate Holocaust survivors. Benny helps to make history and learning relevant to her students and Hannie’s legacy is a tribute to what is possible. This book should appeal to a wide range of readers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.