4.5 stars

To tell a tale of loss is never an easy task. The heartbreaking moments are many, and the realization hits the reader that these things so well related in a fictional setting did indeed take place in our country. These are things never to be forgotten, never to be relegated to the back pages of history. These are things in which a living nightmare was experienced.

I have been having a bit of a time lately with the historical fiction genre. I have found it to be more on the fiction end of things than on the historical and for me that has been disappointing. However, with Lisa Wingate's, The Book of Lost Friends, I am very pleased to have found a generous believable mixture of both history and fiction. Told in two time periods, 1875 and 1987, we are transported to Louisiana. It is ten years after the Civil War and the slaves have been emancipated but in essence while they are free their struggles have not abated. It is the South with the attitude of the Klan running rampant. It is also the South where slave families have been brutally separated never to see their loved ones. Sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents have been torn from each other and not a day goes by where one of our main protagonists does not feel that all encompassing loss.

Hannie, the former slave, now sharecropper, and two women, Lavinia, the heiress to a run down plantation and her half sister, Juneau Jane, a mixed race child, set out upon a journey to find their father, to settle an inheritance, meeting dangers along the way and hardship. Hannie, rekindles, as they travel, that question that plagues her constantly, could my family, that was torn from me and sold off, be out there? Hannie so desires connections just as the two half sisters do. Hope dwells in the heart of Hannie and of course the sisters as well. As they travel the book of lost friends takes on a great importance for it is in that book that people pour out their loss of family pining for the time when they can reunite with loved ones. The people in the book pledge their anguish which is then printed in a paper distributed to churches far and wide and read aloud in churches. Names are read, lineages are given, and perhaps some day families and loved ones will be reunited.

The other part of the book which alternates with the 1875 component, deals with a teacher, Benedetta Silva, hoping to cancel her student debt by teaching in a run down poorly serviced school. She is the teacher to a group of high school age disadvantaged children who see no value in learning. She becomes discouraged, disappointed, and bereft as she combats apathy, hopelessness and despair. Bennie trips onto an idea, a glimmer of something that might spur her recalcitrant students. Can a project reconnecting the kids with the past of their town, ignite something in them? It's a risk but one Bennie feels in her heart is well worth taking.

Connections are drawn, family is discovered, and there is renewed interest, understanding, and love shared as the happenings of 1875 unite with those of 1987.

I recommend this book for the gentle telling, the awakening to the horrible instances that happened to so many in our country's history, and the part that history can and does play in the realization that remembrance brings so much into our learning of life.

Thank you to Lisa Wingate, Random House-Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this wonderful book due out April 7, 2020.

This book started painfully slow for me and I almost abandoned it. I’m glad I didn’t. It was a powerful story about a time in history I know little about. It defiantly piqued my interest to learn more about post civil war years in the south. A good read

A few years ago, Lisa Wingate's "Before We Were Yours" haunted me for weeks after I turned the final page. And while "The Book of Lost Friends" took me a little longer to get into, Wingate masterfully weaves a tale of a freed African American on a grand adventure in 1875 with the story of a teacher in poor, rural Louisiana in 1987. I wasn't ready for the book to end and would have happily read another 100 pages of the story.

When Benedetta Silva moves to Augustine, she knows next to nothing of its history... and the influential families wish it would stay that way. However, Benedetta discovers a treasure trove of a library with glimpses into the town's past that could affect the troubled teens she teaches and everyone in town.

Hannie is a young African American, choosing to work the land of her former owners, with land ownership just within her reach. But she unwittingly gets swept up in a quest of epic proportions when her former owner's daughter Lavinia tricks her illegitimate, Creole-born half-sister Juneau Jane to go visit a man about her inheritance. When the man turns on both of the girls, Hannie's life takes a drastic turn.

Lost Friends refers to the compilation of newspaper ads placed by freed slaves in hopes of finding their family. Although the girls collect the stories as they travel, helping others reconnect with lost loved ones, one big question remains: Will Hannie ever see her family again?

Another interesting book by Lisa Wingate. It tells the story of three sisters walking across the south from Louisiana to Texas in 1875. She bases the story on true events posted in a newspaper of families trying to find their family members who were snatched from them by force and sold. Then the story moves to 1987 and a school teacher in a small impoverished town. While attempting to get books for her students, she discovers a journal. The story jumps between these two time periods and ties it together in the end. I received an advance copy of this book from net galley.

I received a free e-copy of The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate from NetGalley for my honest review.

This book takes place in Louisiana during 1988 and also in Louisiana and Texas in 1985. It is a story of the freed slaves that are trying to find their family members who were sold in slavery. A story to remind us that our past is as important as our future. A beautiful and emotional read!

Lisa Wingate hits the ball out of the park with her latest historical fiction set in the post-civil war south. 3 young girls are on a quest to claim what is rightfully theirs and they encounter both acts of benevolence and violent evil along the way. Wingate expertly weaves actual excerpts from the Book of Lost Friends, which were ads in which former slaves seek to be reunited with lost family members.

I can’t say enough good things about this. Both the writing and the topic are spectacular. Wingate has the uncanny ability to make her characters live and breathe as if they will jump right out of the book. I fell in love with several of the characters and was, at the same time, incensed by their biased treatment. This was an honest and raw look at post-Civil War society, but it also examined similar untoward treatment of black people in the south a 100 years later. This is a story that desperately needed to be told and leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Ballantine Books and Lisa Wingate for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher Random House - Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Book of Lost Friends is two stories in one that do not fully intersect until the final pages. I appreciated the first -hand account from Hanny who is a courageous force to be reckoned with and whose story brings emotional depth to the list of names recovered in the Gossett home. The stories of former slaves who were torn from their families is one that shouldn't be forgotten and through the storytelling and a cast of memorable characters the book leaves a lasting impression.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher Random House - Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a long awaited book for me as I am a huge fan of all the books that Lisa Wingate writes. She does extensive research on her historical novels and brings history to life in the pages of her stories. This one is outstanding and I just cannot say enough good things about it. I could not put it down once I began reading.

After the Civil War a young woman, Hattie, begins searching for her former owner. The journey takes her all over Louisiana and Texas. The owner has promised her land and he must sign off on that promise. She and two other young women travel looking for him. During the trip they find out about a publication of the List of Lost Friends where former slaves are trying to locate their family and loved ones. This publication is read from church pulpits to help families reunite. So many of the slaves cannot read or write and they try to help as they head toward Texas. The second part of the book is about a young school teacher in the South in the 1980s. She is trying to help her English students relate to the past and bind them to their present day life. She is inspirational in a wonderful way as students and readers learn.

Thank you Lisa for another great book and for all you teach us. This is a must read for everyone and will be a huge favorite with book clubs everywhere.

This dual storyline book drew me in right away! I found both storylines interesting and the characters fascinating. They connected in a fantastic way and the conclusion of this book was done just right.

The storyline from the past features Louisiana and Texas post-Civil War and still a very tumultuous time in this country. We have three unlikely characters thrown together on a quest to track down the head of the Louisiana plantation. One character is Lavinia, the spoiled daughter; next up is the illegitimate Creole daughter Juneau Jane; and finally, a former slave from the plantation, Hannie. These women set out on a dangerous journey to figure out what has happened to Mr. Gossett. Throw in dangerous men, marshals, soldiers, and river voyages and you have a journey to take with these young women.

We learn of the tragic past for Hannie – torn apart from her large family when she was very young as they were stolen and sold off at different auctions all through the south. This journey might shed some light and help her find some of those lost family members.

The modern-day story features a woman trying to carve a niche as a new teacher at an impoverished school in Louisiana. This town is already wary of strangers, Benny finds it tough to connect with her students who have little interest in books like “Animal Farm” and don’t see the relevance to their lives today. She starts to find a way to get them all interested in their family history and hopes to connect that to writing and literature, but it stirs up a lot of the past that some in town would like to see buried and forgotten.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, this book is for you! I loved “Before We Were Yours” and this one is just as good! Highly recommended.

One can hardly imagine being ripped away from loved ones and sold to the highest bidder. Sadly it was a common occurrence in the 1800s. The Book of Lost Friends is a touching story about those who endured such treatment and sought out to reunite with their kin after the Civil War. It is also a tale of underprivileged kids in the 1980s that have a love of history ignited by a naive first year teacher. The past and present are always entwined whether we want to admit it or not. This wonderful story illustrates that learning about our past can help us move forward into the future. Lisa Wingate is an amazing author whose writing gets better and better!

The Book of Lost Friends was one of those books that I could not put down. This historical fiction novel told the stories of two women, set in different time periods. Throughout the story, you start to see how the characters are connected. Hannie is a freed slave in 1875 looking for the family members she has been separated from. Her companions on her journey are Lavinia, the daughter of the family who owned Hannie, and Lavinia's half-sister Juneau Jane. The two are searching for the papers that will show their inheritance. The three women are unlikely traveling companions who encounter many dangers on their quests in the South during the time after the end of slavery.
The other part of the story is told by Benny, a first-year teacher in 1987. She lands a job in small Augustine, Louisiana at a poor, rural school. Desperately trying to gain her students' respect and to motivate them to learn she starts a project with her students to help them learn about the history of the people in their town. In a town that is not accepting of new ideas and people, this project is not always welcomed by members of the community.

Lisa Wingate’s newest novel intertwines three events, 1875 post war Louisiana and Texas; a newspaper column “Lost Friends” published by the Methodist Church in the Southwestern Christian Advocate during the late 1800s; and 1985 Louisiana. 1875 tells of the story of ex-slave Hannie and 1985 follows Benny Silva as she begins her first year of teaching English at an impoverished secondary school. Alternating chapters tell Hannie and Benny’s story with a “Lost Friends” column at the end of Hannie’s chapters. As with her prior novel Before We Were Yours Wingate manages to connect the lives of Hannie and Benny and in such a way that you do not want to stop reading the book until you find out the connection. I enjoyed the book and will recommend it to friends and family. It reminds us what slavery really involved and shows the racism and classism that existed in 1875 and 1985; and reminds us that it still exists today. A great read, I just wish I had leaned a little more about Benny Silva.

No one can find a story like this author, then turn it into a bestseller. Thus one will be a great book club pick! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!!

I am fascinated on how Lisa Wingate finds historical events and weaves them into wonderful stories. Lost Friends stems from people, mostly slaves sending their letters to be published in the SOUTHWESTERN newspaper. These are ads telling subscribers who they are and who they are trying to find, usually family members. It's social media before Facebook. Simply people trying to connect to loved ones.
Lisa weaves this historical item through Hannie Gossett, former slave from the 1875 to modern day Benedetta Silva, teacher in 1987. The story develops and in the end she tells how these people are related. It's an enticing tale woven in mystery, love and compassion.

I had to request The Book of Lost Friends from NetGalley, as Before We Were Yours was a definite favorite of mine a couple of years ago (my top read of 2017 to be exact). It definitely had a lot to live up to and Lisa Wingate did not disappoint.

The Book of Lost Friends follows two storylines--Hannie, a former slave in Louisiana, not long after the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation, and Benny, a first year teacher who has come to rural Louisiana to teach at an impoverished school. Hannie is attempting to track down family members who had been sold during slavery, via The Book of Lost Friends, a newspaper column send to preachers in the south, while accompanying her former owners who are in search of their father. Benny, while trying to connect with her students, begins discovering the history of her town, back into the days of slavery and how it all connects.

The book was truly enjoyable, not quite on the level of Before We Were Yours, but still a great read. The storylines in the more present-day chapters left a lot of questions unanswered (relationships between characters especially) that could have easily added several more chapters to the book. However, the post-slavery story was exceedingly well-done, and one I could have read as a book unto itself.

A four-star book of breath-holding mini-stories that moves from the 1840s to 1987 about slavery and family. The author uses huge time-jumps that ultimately connect some of the slave families pulled apart when they were sold one or two at a time. Those who could remember their family names became a storehouse of relatives' names and places until they could find them. The Book of Lost Friends was that storehouse of names and places used in advertisements of a magazine/newspaper with subscribers from the network of black church preachers in the latter half of the 19th century. How that Book began and how it survived is the story.
Exciting cliffhanging scenes drive the reader to find out what's next in the amazing journey of a freed young black girl alongside the story of a freshly minted teacher trying to help her struggling students while fighting deep dark secrets from being revealed.
I highly recommend this story written by an excellent writer and researcher.

I am confident that the Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate is a story that will stay with me for a very long time. Wingate includes actual advertisements from those looking for their "Lost Friends" after the civil war. Southern Newspapers ran these advertisements, and they were read aloud in churches with the hopes of reuniting friends and families torn apart by slavery. I had unfortunately never heard of these advertisements, and they made me feel both horrified once again for those that endured the pain and heartbreak of separation from those they loved (amongst the endless other evils of slavery), and also hopeful that the heart will never stop longing for it's missing pieces.

1875: Hannie was very young when her family was cruelly sold off in pieces and she's spent the rest of her young life clinging to the memories and the hope of finding them again. She meticulously stores their names in her brain, noting the details she remembers from their last whereabouts. Hannie is so brave, interesting and wise beyond her years, and I just fell in love with her. Throughout the story, she consistently shows great character by doing what she believes is right, even when it's not what is safest or most beneficial for her. Hannie goes on such a journey, alongside two unlikely travel companions, and made my heart nearly explode a few times.

1987: Benny is a new English teacher in an impossible situation. She does her best to connect with her students, but their lives in Rural-Louisiana, in a high school that even the school board has basically written-off, leave little for them to feel hopeful about, let alone motivate them to do well in school. Benny befriends her landlord Nathan Gossett, who also owns the vacant plantation, Goswood Grove, and with a little unexpected help from one of her students, they uncover some priceless historical information. Benny also enlists the help of some respected members of the community (I love Granny T. and Sarge!), and her classes go on an incredible journey to make the history of their town and families come alive.

Glows:

I love learning about Hannie's period of time, even though it's also heartbreaking. The characters are engaging, and at times terrifying. I really enjoyed the adventure the three women were on, even though I was often very nervous about what was going to happen, or at times really sad about circumstances. I thought the different accents/dialects were well-done.

The 80's time period was also written well and kept my interest. I connected with many characters in this book and was really rooting for their growth and happiness.

Grows:

One thing that bothered me was the names for the groups of students in Benny's story. I really didn't like the term "swamp rats," even though I KNOW these were likely common terms, and I've heard terms like "mall rats," and "street rats" (Aladdin!) before. I still don't like it.

I know books can't go on forever, but I would have loved to know a little bit more about Benny especially before the end of the book. We get hints of her story, but not much that makes us truly understand until the very end.

I also personally really want to know what happened back at Goswood after Hannie and the other ladies leave. I don't know how it would make sense in the story, but I really want to know what Mrs. Gossett, Tati, Jason and John did in their absence.

Overall, I absolutely enjoyed and would definitely recommend this book. Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group, NetGalley, and Lisa Wingate for an advanced electronic copy of this book.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Ballentine and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. Once again, Lisa Wingate has written a great story based on true history. In 1875, Hannie (a former slave) is on a journey to find her lost family. In 1987, teacher Benedetta Silva is searching for a way to help her students connect to their ancestors and appreciate life a little more. The author does a wonderful job of connecting these two women and bringing their stories together. I really liked the "Lost Friends" advertisements throughout the book. This is a winner!

After loving Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, I couldn't wait to read The Book of Lost Friends and was thrilled to receive an ARC from NetGalley. This book did not disappoint. It's written in two different points of view in two different time periods. Hannie is a young, ex-slave in 1875 and Benny, a teacher in Louisiana, in 1987. Each woman learns and grows through their journey during the story. The title, The Book of Lost Friends, is based on "Lost Friends" postings that were posted after the Civil War by ex-slave families hoping to find their loved ones that had been sold away while enslaved. This is another "couldn't put it down" book.

I do love Lisa Wingate and her previous books, but this one did not grab me. It seemed dry and repetitive...and I couldn't connect with the characters.
I do believe however that others will love the historical significance this story does bring. If you love history..do try it.