"Book of Lost Friends" by Lisa Wingate is like a powerful tale that mixes the struggles of post-Civil War South with a modern-day hunt for answers. Picture this: In 1875, there's Hannie, a cool teacher helping former slaves find their lost peeps. Fast forward to 1987, where Benedetta, another teacher, stumbles upon Hannie's journal and decides to dive into her own truth-seeking adventure.
Wingate spins the story with finesse, exposing the harsh reality of life for freed slaves and the wild challenges of Reconstruction. The characters? Total rockstars, each grappling with loss and craving connections in a world gone haywire. The Book of Lost Friends, a bunch of ads from ex-slaves trying to track down family, becomes this super cool link between past and present.
What makes this novel kickass is how Wingate captures the grit of the human spirit facing tough times. There's a mix of identity drama, love vibes, and a thirst for justice that hits you right in the feels. It's not just history; it's a shoutout to the lasting power of stories. Wingate’s smooth storytelling and hardcore research make "Book of Lost Friends" a rollercoaster of emotions and a trip through time you won't forget.

I wanted to love this, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. The writing was superb, of course, but the plot just didn't draw me in and it felt too long winded and drawn out. I also felt a lot of it felt very unrealistic, especially the modern side of things, where suddenly you have a class of disinterested kids love school as they had to do one project.

This story is beautiful and also heartbreaking
The characters were believable and their storylines were interesting.
The story is told in a dual timeline. It is slow to get going.
This book is captivating and thought provoking

I loved this book, and all the stories it contained. The alternating plots, of Hannie, a 19th century enslaved girl and Benny a 20th century teacher captivated me. Both faced prejudice, hardships and loneliness,, but both found purpose and home in telling others’ stories and succeeding despite their circumstances. It wasn’t surprising that their stories intertwined, but I did particularly like the way the stories of so many minor characters also connected. My only criticism is that I wanted to know more of some of the stories, while others resolved a bit too conveniently or vaguely.

Another great novel from Wingate. Really enjoyed this story and would recommend. Lives up to the expectations.

Wonderful, a completely absorbing read. Not many books squeeze tears from me, but this one did - I felt I’d been on such a journey at the end, alongside the characters. I’ll be recommending this to friends - it’s not just for lovers of historical
fiction but lovers of engaging, well researched writing.
I can’t wait to see what Lisa Wingate does next.

Louisiana 1875, Hannie has just turned Eighteen, having been left alone on the Gossett plantation, her entire family exchanged to other plantation owners for money. She accompanies the ladies of the house, Lavinia and Juneau Jane on a journey where they begin compiling 'The Book of Lost Friends'.

Louisiana 1987, Benedetta Silva is a new teacher at a poverty ridden school. Her attempts at teaching her class are not what she was expecting. The kids are unruly and the only condition is that they be kept in the classroom. They are mostly distracted by hunger, as most are starving.

She is about to give up when she discovers that the abandoned house near her own houses a huge library. She decides to build a library for her classroom and try and engage the kids through reading.

However, she soon discovers that the old house harbours some dark secrets. Her discovery doesn't lead her to shut the door on the place though, as it would with many. Instead, it inspires a class project that the previously disinterested kids quickly become absorbed in.

But will the school board and other residents of the town allow a painful and ugly part of their history to be bought back to life?

Hope runs strongly through this novel, and the belief that no matter how tough things are, they will get better. Something that we can all identify strongly with at the moment.

The Book of Lost Friends is a wonderfully written historical novel inspired by real events and set in two timelines of 1875 & 1987.

Hannie Gossett was 6 years old when her entire family including aunts, uncles and cousins were sold off in trader yards on the road from Louisiana to Texas. They were supposed to be moved into a refuge during the American Civil War but instead they were re-sold by a deceitful man of greed Jep Loach. All of her family members secretly carried three blue glass beads in a poke sack that was a sign of their own people so they could find each other again one day.

At the end of the Civil War former slaves were trying desperately to find their lost relatives that had been sold, most of them didn’t know where their relatives had ended up. ‘The Lost Friends’ were advertisements that appeared in newspapers and they would be read out in churches to help find families torn apart to be reunited again.

Louisiana 1987 – Benny Silva is a young first year teacher who has moved into the area as she has been given a teaching position at the poor rural school there. She is trying hard to make a difference in the lives of her disadvantaged young students who come to school unfed and bored with her lessons. Benny is feeling like an outsider to the community and is renting an old farmhouse next to a graveyard and an abandoned plantation where she finds a private library that changes everything.

Themes in this novel include slavery, poverty, loss, family separation, bravery and hope.

When still a child Hannie had seen her complete family sold to other plantation owners, leaving her alone on the Gossett plantation, filling her days with work from dawn to dusk. Hannie had kept Miss Lavinia, daughter of the plantation owner, company as her slave when Lavinia was a baby. In 1875, at eighteen years old, Hannie accompanied Miss Lavinia and Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s free-born Creole half-sister on a journey the three of them took in search of answers.

After encountering ruthless men at one of their stops, Hannie became the rescuer. As they journeyed further, always on the trail of Mister William Gossett, their troubles were many. But along the way Juneau Jane started jotting in a book they named “The Book of Lost Friends” where advertisements were published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate, a Methodist newspaper, and the many names and details which were collected, paralleled Hannie’s own story of losing her Mama and eight siblings.

Benedetta Silva arrived in Augustine, Louisiana in 1987 for her position at the local school. Benny was an English teacher, and at first, she didn’t think it was the job for her. The children took no notice of her, but she knew if she didn’t find the answers, she would be out of a job. The Mississippi river town had a history, and when she discovered the old Gossett homestead near to the cottage she was renting, Benny was intrigued. Gradually, Benny and her students discovered a story of ancestors – a story of three young women, a long and tragic journey, and a book…

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate is a heartfelt, intriguing story of the days of slavery, the Civil War, and connections. A story of cruelty, of sadness, of heartbreak – and a string of beads. I found Hannie to be an amazing character; her courage and determination was outstanding. The diary entries within this book are actual advertisements which were found in the “Book of Lost Friends” which Hannie and Juneau Jane carried with them throughout the journey. And the Author’s Notes at the end explains how it all came about. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

“Just because we’re not always happy with what’s true doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it. It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.”

It’s hard to know where to begin this review, but if I were to try to summarise the theme of this story, I couldn’t do much better than the quote I’ve led with. History is indeed full of truths we would rather forget, and it’s vitally important that it not be whitewashed simply because it makes us uncomfortable. But this story goes even deeper than general history, exploring the ways in which individual stories echo down the years and contribute to our sense of identity—an understanding of who we are, where we’ve come from, and what we might become.

As with her previous novel, Before We Were Yours, the character voices in this novel are beautifully and authentically rendered—Hannie’s in particular—making this a very immersive read. It was impossible not to get caught up in the ups and downs of Hannie’s oft-harrowing journey and Benny’s attempts at engaging the students in her classes, and I thought the inclusion of actual letters from the Lost Friends ads that inspired this book was particularly poignant. But perhaps most poignant of all was the way in which Wingate links Hannie’s and Benny’s stories right at the very end of the novel. It’s not an AHA! moment, but rather a quiet little ah moment—a small ray of light that lands on that missing puzzle piece that has been hiding in the shadows.

My one small criticism is that there were a few times I felt the story dragged slightly, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing all this story has to offer.

This book is based on true events in Louisiana and tells the story of Hannie Gossett, an ex-slave in 1875, and Benedetta Silva, a new teacher at a poverty-ridden school in 1987.

In newspapers after the American Civil War, ex-slaves could pay 5o cents to put an advertisement in the paper stating who they were, who had owned them and what they knew of the potential whereabouts of their family members. This paper would circulate neighboring states and be read out at church as a means for people to try and reunite with their families. This is the inspiration for this story.

Hannie is traveling with her cousin (of sorts) and collecting lists of people as she goes, to add to the names she asks about in each town. Her cousin is born of a free mother and a white father and is looking for her father to find out if he is alive and to try and ensure that she has been provided for so she is not left for her mother to marry off to whichever man bids the highest.

Benedetta is renting a cottage next to a cemetery and a big abandoned house while she attempts to teach a class where the only requirement is that the kids are kept in the classroom. They are unruly, disinterested in learning anything and they are all hungry because there is nothing for them to eat at home. Benedetta discovers that there is a massive library in the abandoned house near where she lives and gains permission from the owner (also her landlord) to go through the books and take whatever she likes to build a classroom library. However, she soon discovers the secrets of this old house and the part its inhabitants played in the trade of people before the Civil War. This inspires a class project that the kids all quickly get very invested in. But will the school board and other residents of the town allow a painful and ugly part of their history to be bought back to life?

This is an absolutely phenomenal, haunting read and really made my heartache. Lisa Wingate captures the reader from the beginning in this historical fiction based so closely on real events that whilst reading I could almost smell and hear the history on the page. Despite the book being about some truly horrific events, in both sides of the story hope is prevalent, so even when the story is sad, it's not depressing and overwhelming because the characters hold to the belief that life will get better.

I got this copy of #TheBookOfLostFriends for free on #NetGalley in exchange for a free review and it is available to buy now on Amazon.

"The Book of Lost Friends" is a powerful and gut-wrenching story that is beautifully written. Almost every chapter tore a little bit of my heart, while the ending glued it back together and then tore a little more. This should be required reading. You NEED to read this book.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

This story is based on factual events.

Two women, Bennie and Hannie's lives intertwine in different circumstances. Benny is a struggling first year teacher in a rural Louisiana school. Hannie is a former slave whose still working for her former owner. Shes searching for other members of her family. Lavinia is the spoiled heiress to her father's estate. Her illegitimate half sister turns up claiming her share of the inheritance. Hannie discovers the two women in a perilous situation and comes to their rescue.

This story has two timelines. The 1800's where we learn about Hannie and 1987 when Benny is teaching in Louisiana. The story is captivating and fascinating. It's inspired by true events, when families searched for each other that had been separated by slavery. They had to pay to p,face advertisements looking for "lost friends". Thr storybis told from Benny and Hannie's perspectives. A well written, 5hought provoking and interesting read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author Lisa Wingate for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hannie Gossett is a young eight year old girl caught up in a terrible situation, she’s waiting to be sold in a slave pen, and she has slowly witnessed her entire family been torn apart by greed and slavery. Her mother Mittie, her Aunt Jenny, her brothers, sisters and cousins had all been sold and scattered all over the country as they reluctantly traveled west. Her mama told her to never to forget her family, she gave each of them a little sack with three blue glass beads to link them together forever and to remember how much she loved them all.

Louisiana 1875, Hannie is still plagued by terrible nightmares of her entire family being sold; she desperately wants to find them, she has been working hard as a sharecropper and she should own the land in a years time. She finds herself saving two two young women from awful fate and Missy and Juneau Jane are both connected to a southern plantation called Goswood Grove House in Augustine. The girls are half sisters; both share the same father William Gossett and have different mothers. The three girls embark on a dangerous journey traveling to Texas; the two sisters want to find their father, to determine which one of them will inherit his plantation and Hannie wants to know if she owns the land she has been working hard to earn for almost 10 years.

After the end of the American Civil War, so many former slaves wanted to desperately find their families and relatives that had being sold and scattered all over the south. Most had very little information about where their parents, husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters could be. The Lost Friends advertisements appeared in newspapers, black preachers would read out the columns in southern churches, it was a way of trying to find members of families torn apart by slavery and finally reunite them.

Louisiana 1987, Benedetta Silva is a young teacher, she needs to pay her student loan and she’s employed to teach at a poor school in Augustine. Her students are stuck in the cycle of poverty, they often miss school and much to Benny's horror they’re sent to school hungry. They find Benny’s lessons boring she needs a way to get through to these kids; the school has little resources and especially books. She contacts Nathan Gossett her reluctant landlord, about using the books she discovers left abandoned in a library in an old plantation house he inherited. Once she, Nathan and her students start to delve into the past, they discover long lost links between the old plantation, residents of Augustine and their teenage children.

The Book of Lost Friends has a dual timeline its goes between 1875 and 1987 at first I found it very confusing, I wasn’t sure if I would like the book at all and I decided to keep reading. I’m glad I did, as once it’s was all linked together at the end of the story it all makes sense and you understand why Lisa Wingate used two timelines. Its a story about slavery, loss, separation, family, love and a new generation discovering hope. I gave the book four stars, I have shared my review on NetGalley, Goodreads, Twitter and my blog.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this novel. I'm very grateful!

The author's last book, Before We Were Yours, was so great and I loved it. Therefore I was so happy when I got approved for this arc.

I had such a hard time getting into this novel though. It felt like the story were disjointed and I couldn't connect with the characters. It's also to slow burn for me. I'm so very sorry about this. I thought this would be at least a four star read.

An emotional and well written story I loved.
It's engrossing and poignant, you cannot help feel for the characters and turning pages as fast as you can.
The author is a talented storyteller and the plot flows, the characters are fleshed out and the historical background vivid and realistic.
An excellent and poignant read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Lisa Wingate sure does deliver when it comes to blending historical and contemporary fiction.    Though she's authored more than 30 books the only two I've read have both been in this format and I've loved them both.   The first was Before We Were Yours which I read in 2017 and, unlike many I've read in the three years since, my recollection of it remains vivid.   Now having just finished <b> The Book Of Lost Friends</b> I feel sure I'll be able to say the same thing of this title many years down the track.    In both cases her novels have built upon factual events.    As one of the two main characters pointed out about history <i><blockquote>... Just because we’re not always happy with what’s true doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it. It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future.  Hopefully." </blockquote></i>     So very true and, as this was in part one of Wingates goals, she has surely succeeded with this wonderful book.

Set in the post Civil War era of 1875 Louisianna, Hannie Gossett had spent the past twelve years separated from her mother and eight siblings.   Together they had been slaves at the Coswood Grove Plantation but when Hannie was only six her family was all stolen then sold off.     She alone was returned to her master at the Plantation and since that day three glass beads on a leather strap around her neck and her memories have been her only source of hope that someday they'd be reunited.   Now at age eighteen she  finds herself in the midst of a life threatening escapade - one born of both curiosity and a misplaced sense of responsibilty for Missy Lavinia, daughter of the master and mistress of the Plantation.     On the run and holed up in a remote cabin Hannie first learnt of the Lost Friends advertisements in the Southwestern Christian Advocate.     These advertisements provided a possibility for indivuduals to locate the families they'd been separated from and gave Hannie enormous hope that someday she too might find her own "lost friends".  

In 1987 Benny Silva is a first year teacher who has agreed to spend five years in a low income high school in Loisianna in exchange for wiping out her student debt.   To say she's  struggling to make a connection with her peers and her students is an understatement.   However Benny is not a quitter and she's determined to provide these kids with the education and opportunities they deserve.    Her love of books and newfound interest in the local history gets the children interested but ruffles the feathers of the owners of the Coswood Grove mansion.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines and was engaged in both stories.   I particularly liked the inclusion of actual Lost Friend advertisements which worked in two ways for me.    Firstly they acted as a signal for when the story was about to alternate from the past to the present.  Secondly, they stimulated my mind to think about the incredible number of families who had been wrenched apart and to consider their slavery stories. 

As another character in this novel said<i>"Sad thing when stories die for the lack of listenin’ ears." </i>    Bravo Lisa Wingate for breathing life into the Lost Friend stories and for bringing them to thousands of listening ears.   Thanks too to Quercus and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.

Lisa Wingate has woven together two wonderful stories to make this absorbing historical novel set in 1875 and 1987.

Following the abolition of slavery in America, many freed slaves had no idea where there families were as they were previously sold off and dispersed by their owners. In 1875 young Hannie is the last of her large family left on the Louisiana cotton farm where they were slaves. Accidently forced to accompany her previous owner's daughter, Lavinia and half daughter, Juneau Jane on a quest to look for their father, she wonders if any of her family are still alive and looking for her. Along the way she discovers a Southern newspaper that publishes a column of ads called "Lost Friends" published for freed slaves looking for their families.

In 1987 a young teacher, Bennie Silva is trying to get her disengaged students in an impoverished rural Louisiana school interested in reading. She discovers that her students don't know anything about their family trees but are fascinated to learn about their ancestors and their lives. With many of the students being the descendants of slaves they soon become engaged in researching the stories of the freed slaves who stayed in the area and Hannie's story comes to life.

This is a wonderful, well written and heartfelt novel with very realistic characters. Both stories made for compelling reading, particularly as they were based on real history from a time I knew very little about.

This was my first book to be accepted having just joined Net Galley, I loved the cover, something about it drew me in. I've not read another book by Lisa Wingate yet but I definitely will be looking out for her books from now on.
It is a beautiful thought that someone wrote these messages In the hope of reuniting families that had been broken through the worst times.
The book is historical fiction set in parts running side by side, the first is the depression in America 1875 and the second is the 1980's. Hannie who is in the first part, lost her family due to being split up. She ends up on a mission trek across country with 2 other characters, Juneux Jane and Miss Lavinia. The latter being who she worked for as a young child.
The other part -Benedetta - a teacher, wants to find her purpose in life and also help her new class see the importance and of history and their heritage. This brings both the stories together. - Lisa Wingate did a great job of this.
I found it hard to get into the old way of talking at first but once I got used to it I understood it. It is not only a history telling story but an emotional one. You learn as you go along but are moved by the characters too. This quote is my favorite and will stay with me. "We die once when the last breath leaves our bodies. We die a second time when the last person speaks our name."
Thank you to Net Galley and Lisa Wingate for providing me with an ARC in return for a review.

This is the second of Lisa Wingate's novels that I have read and again it deals with true events in America's history.

The Lost Friends was a column in a newspaper that was read out in the black churches in the hope of someone recognising the names and being able to reconnect these families broken and separated by enslavement.

There are two time lines, 1875 in Louisiana where ten years after the end of the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, former slave Hannie Gossett is still working for her master but this time to earn her self and adopted family a piece of land to call their own. But the master has gone missing along with the proof of the time and money earned to gain their piece of land.
When Hannie and the Master's two daughters, Lavinia, by his marriage and Juneau Jane from his mistress, set off to find him things don't go the way they planned.

The second time period is 1987 and a first time young school teacher, Benny Silva, starts work in an impoverished Louisiana school. Benny has to deal with children who are uninspired, very often don't attend because either there is no one to make sure they attend or they are looking after younger siblings. She also has to deal with governors who, if they have children, are sent to a different and better supplied school. They want to keep the school poor.
When Benny decides to teach them about their history she is met with resistance from the governers.

A slow book to get into but worth the effort to keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.