Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, A Book Review by Rebecca Moll
Every now and then a book lands in my lap that strikes a chord of truth.
Every now and then a book lands in my lap written by a true story teller.
Beginning as seamlessly as it ends, expertly crafted, passionately created, characters so real you imagine them friends and neighbors, a true story teller gives you a gift with ease and grace, just like you sat down for a good porch rocking.
Before We Were Yours strikes a chord of truth: "No one life is worth more than another."
Lisa Wingate is a true story teller. Get ready for some good rocking.
This pairing of truth and grace has you rooted page after page, your mind stalling at the thought of children as chattel. Your heart breaks for Rill, Fern, Lark, Camelia, and Gabion, the cruelty and abuse they endured, their unimaginable losses. Your ire rises at the indifference and pure meanness of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society.
Told through eyes of past and present generations, the unearthing of these horrors present day speaks to wrongs that cannot, nor will ever be, righted and a sense that this is hard packed dirt, this unearthing barely scratching the surface.
Questions mount like nameless, faceless lost children. How many children? Is this still happening in our world today? How could someone who looks like your grandmother be the queen of such evil? How could so many turn a blind eye?
Georgia Tann went to her grave with her secrets. Still, we fathom answers.
Money...Power...Possession...come to mind. But these are just manifestations of a wronging of the truth that,
"No one life is worth more than another."
Every soul has equal value, no matter what. Swallow that and keep rocking.
Georgia Tann believed poor parents were of less value than rich parents, children with blonde hair more valuable, and some children of such little value, they were left to die. To even place a dollar value to a child...
Lisa Wingate wakes you up, invites you to the porch, coffee as you please, settles you in your rocker, and gets you moving. Before you even realize it, you've been out there for hours. Its a nice chair and the sun is at high noon. Smooth rocking turns the pages as Avery and Trent unearth a past that Grandma Judy can't and May fears, a search that leads to new directions for both young and old. And, back and forth you rock. As you turn the last page, a golden sun sinks in the distance, heavy with the sins of the past, a slight ting of orange, the hope of humanity, and the belief that,
"No one life is worth more than another."
Rock-a-bye, Rock-a-bye.
Every now and then a book lands in my lap written by a true story teller.
Beginning as seamlessly as it ends, expertly crafted, passionately created, characters so real you imagine them friends and neighbors, a true story teller gives you a gift with ease and grace, just like you sat down for a good porch rocking.
Before We Were Yours strikes a chord of truth: "No one life is worth more than another."
Lisa Wingate is a true story teller. Get ready for some good rocking.
This pairing of truth and grace has you rooted page after page, your mind stalling at the thought of children as chattel. Your heart breaks for Rill, Fern, Lark, Camelia, and Gabion, the cruelty and abuse they endured, their unimaginable losses. Your ire rises at the indifference and pure meanness of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society.
Told through eyes of past and present generations, the unearthing of these horrors present day speaks to wrongs that cannot, nor will ever be, righted and a sense that this is hard packed dirt, this unearthing barely scratching the surface.
Questions mount like nameless, faceless lost children. How many children? Is this still happening in our world today? How could someone who looks like your grandmother be the queen of such evil? How could so many turn a blind eye?
Georgia Tann went to her grave with her secrets. Still, we fathom answers.
Money...Power...Possession...come to mind. But these are just manifestations of a wronging of the truth that,
"No one life is worth more than another."
Every soul has equal value, no matter what. Swallow that and keep rocking.
Georgia Tann believed poor parents were of less value than rich parents, children with blonde hair more valuable, and some children of such little value, they were left to die. To even place a dollar value to a child...
Lisa Wingate wakes you up, invites you to the porch, coffee as you please, settles you in your rocker, and gets you moving. Before you even realize it, you've been out there for hours. Its a nice chair and the sun is at high noon. Smooth rocking turns the pages as Avery and Trent unearth a past that Grandma Judy can't and May fears, a search that leads to new directions for both young and old. And, back and forth you rock. As you turn the last page, a golden sun sinks in the distance, heavy with the sins of the past, a slight ting of orange, the hope of humanity, and the belief that,
"No one life is worth more than another."
Rock-a-bye, Rock-a-bye.
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