Before We Were Yours

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Sometime books rated high - are Goodreads Choice Winners - really ‘are’ heartbreaking- beautiful- emotional - important - historical - powerful - eye opening - educational - ( based on real life scandals) - wonderful and compelling. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon.

The characters are all developed extremely well by the author and have their own individual personalities and character traits. Although, this story was based on true life stories the actual children that were portrayed in this novel were fictional. This is what's possible when love is real and strong, when people are devoted to one another, when they'll sacrifice anything to be together.I don't read a lot of non fiction so I really appreciate when a novel can enlighten me on things that happened that I wouldn't have otherwise known about . It is heart-breaking to read about the torture and suffering that these innocent children endured; they were nothing more than a profit-maker for Tann. A time where adoptions were not always legal and people who could pay for a child were given one no questions asked. To sum it all up it was an engrossing, moving, heart-wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale that has definitely left us with a lasting impression.

there was even a little romance, and even if this book all tied up a little too neatly at the end, I am a sucker for a happy ending! Some questions come up about her grandmother's past that Avery digs into that leads her down a path she never imagined. Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals--in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country--Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. I didn’t really enjoy this book, though I did prefer the chapters about the river children to the present day chapters. Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals, Before We Were Yours is a riveting, wrenching and ultimately uplifting global bestseller.Avery is a senator's daughter and when her father gets sick Avery comes home to help aid him in any way she can. Although most of the characters in the book are fictional, this emotional story represents the thousand of kidnapped children, taken by the hands of child trafficker, Georgia Tann, and placed in the Tennessee Children's Home Society to be illegally adopted. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . That Georgia Tann and her Memphis Tennessee Children's Home Society could actually exist, unraveling the lives of countless children, stealing their pasts and changing their futures, will give you chills.

Told in chapters that alternate between the present day and a past nearly 80 yrs ago the book is a fictionalised account of real events surrounding the forced abduction and subsequent adoption of children in the deep south of America. The topic in the book is disturbing and It is especially compelling because it is based on something that actually happened. These past few months have rubbed us raw from the inside out, left each of us silently bleeding beneath our skins.The present day was filled with mystery and secrets while the past was filled with heartbreak and hope. Things were swept under the carpet while she was alive and committing her crimes and now it still doesn't seem to be talked about. Based on the historical Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis, the scandal of snached children being sold as ‘orphans’ to great and good, but childless, couples across America is truely disurbing. In this book, we see how Tann led a team in capturing children from poor families and selling them to the wealthy. I was swept in from page one in this well written historical fiction story and Lisa Wingate's novel is a terrific example of why I enjoy historical fiction stories.

I sincerely feel thankful to the Goodreads Community——it’s books like this 'and' the other book which I’m almost done ‘listening’ to “Only Child” by Rhiannon. The book provoked good discussions about adoption, how sections of our society, even today, are devalued and ignored eg grooming, and how influential people can escape the law eg high profile politicians, entertainers and religious leaders etc. The book draws on the stories which came to light when the scandal was uncovered and weaves them into an emotional and heart-wrenching work of fiction, one which I don’t think I will ever forget. I am glad to have learned of this history and to have had the opportunity to learn of it through historical fiction, which I find a valuable medium. Tann used to scare parents into signing their children over were despicable and once that happened, there was nothing that could be done.Five siblings snatched /kidnapped from their river boat while their father transports their mother to the hospital on shore for the difficult birth of twins is a story that is immediately gripping. Absolutely pandering to any kind of easy, emotional screw she can twist – and doing an absolutely shit job of it. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. My father is a high-profile face upon which public anger and political finger-pointing can be focused.