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Before We Were Yours

Lisa Wingate

Start date: January 1, 2019

Finish date: January 28, 2019

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Before We Were Yours

January: Free-For-All
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What Members Thought

Dec 27, 2017 Maya B rated it it was ok

I felt the author spent too much time on the development of characters. Very wordy. It slowed the pace and the flow of the story down. I did like learning about Georgia Tann even though I felt the need to google for more information

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Aug 14, 2019 Icy-Cobwebs-In-Space rated it it was amazing

Shelves: armchair-new-england, 2019_a-z_ha-challenge, a1-by-author-request-reviewed, 2019_reads_, a1-i-own-books, 2019_cozies_challenge, august_2019_reads, 2019_aug_high-summer, 2019_arc_august, 2019_aug_location_hob

Historical/contemporary fiction that will tear at your heart, BEFORE WE WERE YOURS is sadly grounded in historical accuracy. Like Colson Whitehead's THE NICKEL BOYS, an ugly historical era is here the basis for a moving story of trauma and success, of the true core strength at the heart of Family, and of the lengths to which some individuals are compelled to satisfy cupidity, greed, and lust for power and control when the end is seen to justify the remains. Suffused with imagery the reader wants ...more

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Mar 09, 2018 Judy Lindow rated it liked it

I'd never heard about the woman who created these orphanages and first started commodifying children to the extent she - they - did during this period. Turns out there's a dearth of books on the subject and frankly, I think a non-fiction on the subject would interest me more - the facts in themselves are so bizarre. Truth be told (that's an odd phrase), I don't know much about adopting, but I've heard it's very challenging, they put people through hoops, it costs lots of money, time, there are a ...more

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Aug 03, 2018 Robin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

although this book was fiction, it is actually based on real life events that happened years ago. the entire idea of there even being any truth to the whole story is horrifying. there are two main stories that eventually entwine into one.

~the past one is narrated by Rill, a 12-year-old young girl who tries hard to keep her family together when she and her three younger sisters and brother are practically kidnapped and taken away from their parents and brought to a childrens home in tennessee. b although this book was fiction, it is actually based on real life events that happened years ago. the entire idea of there even being any truth to the whole story is horrifying. there are two main stories that eventually entwine into one.

~the past one is narrated by Rill, a 12-year-old young girl who tries hard to keep her family together when she and her three younger sisters and brother are practically kidnapped and taken away from their parents and brought to a childrens home in tennessee. between the 1920s-1950s, the woman ran the home illegally brokered children to whoever was willing to pay for them, using scare tactics to get the parents to sign away their rights with false promises to pay hospital bills and lies about stillborn babies just because they were poor and she felt she could offer the children better lives once she placed them in what she felt were more suitable homes. not to say the kids had such a great life as poor little river rats, but at least they were together, loved, and wanted by their parents. it is unfathomable that the people who ran the childrens home actually thought they were doing the children right by taking them away from the only life they knew. although the foss children are fictional characters, their story is based on real facts that actually happened to many of these children, many who didnt ever get to live on to tell about it.

~the modern day story is told by a 30-year-old woman former attorney named Avery who (view spoiler) comes from a prestigious political southern family whose world would be turned upside down if this story actually came out. when Avery comes across information about her grandmother Judy's past, it opens up a whole bunch of questions leading to the childrens home story, but unfortunately Judy suffers from dementia and cannot provide answers. luckily, then Avery accidently meets May (view spoiler) and eventually she learns how she is actually connected to her grandmother and the significance the dragonfly bracelet Avery now wears had to them both.

although the events that go with this story are truly sad, thankfully most the Foss children ended up adopted by well-off families and seemed to have decent lives (view spoiler)

i dont recall how i heard about this book, i think i saw it won historical fiction awards and i usually like historical fiction, so maybe that how i found it, but was but overall it was definitely a captivating story that i am glad i read and learned a little history about this unfortunate situation. ...more

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Sep 12, 2019 Samantha rated it really liked it

A beautifully told story that weaves through family histories in the south. Be prepared though the side history of the Tennessee children's home it's hard to hear. ...more

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Mar 31, 2020 Lisa rated it really liked it

I had no idea this had happened and thought it was a fictional story until the epilogue. The story was a fictionalization account of patched together true stories. The style of dual storylines, past and present was well done and it wasn’t a predictable story. And yet, I didn’t love this book. Maybe because it was an audiobook and maybe because I’ve been so distracted with the current Covid pandemic. I’ve been trying to get through this for some time. I’m glad I finished it and I would recommend ...more

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Apr 08, 2020 Christiana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great book! A sad book with a happy ending! I had a number of friends in foster Care growing up and I had always suspected something like this had happened in the past.

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