Before We Were Yours
vAuthor Lisa Wingate
vReview by Tonya Olson Ferrell
Before We Were Yours is a tale of historical
fiction and is based on the real-life scandal
of Georgia Tann, who kidnapped poor
children and sold them to rich families in the
1920’s-1940’s through the Tennessee Children’s
Home Society. Several of the children died due
to neglect or abuse.
The book begins in 1939 with the story of
Rill Foss aboard her family’s shantyboat, the
Arcadia. Rill and her four younger siblings
were river rats and they lived an adventurous
life with their loving parents aboard their boat.
They were certainly poor, but they were happy,
and they had each other.
As the story begins, Rill’s mother, Queenie,
is pregnant with her sixth child; when her
labor begins, it’s clear that this will be a
dangerous delivery and hospital care is
needed. Rill’s father, Briny, takes Queenie into
town and leaves Rill in charge. While their parents are gone, a group
of policeman arrive and take the children into custody, where they
are turned over to Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home
Society.
Along with Rill’s story, the book also
follows the story of Avery Stafford. Avery’s
story takes place in present-day South
Carolina and the book’s narrative weaves back
and forth between Rill and Avery’s timelines
and lives.
As someone who considers her sister
her very best friend in the world, the tale of
the siblings alone was enough to hook me.
Happily, this book is also so much more:
mystery, suspense, intrigue, history, romance,
family-drama.
Before We Were Yours is currently number
seven on the New York Times Bestseller list;
the book has remained on the list for the past
29 weeks. Lisa Wingate has written several
novels previously, and the library owns many
of them. Before We Were Yours is currently
available in hardcover as well as a “Book Club
Bag”. Book Club Bags include 10 copies of
a book for book club use; the copies check
out for two months. Anyone with a Yankton
Community Library card can check out the
bags and we have 59 bags currently in circulation, with more being
added all the time. Ask about them today! n
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24vHERVOICEvMAY/JUNE 2018