By Margo, Everett Public Library staff
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a gripping and powerful read. The characters are well-developed and the story is based on historical fact which is fascinating.
Stretching back to the 1920s, many children were left parentless. The unfortunate consequence of this was that some children became a commodity. The Orphan Train, written by Christina Baker Kline, brought awareness to this sad and secretive time in U.S. history when children were shipped off from their families, often losing contact with their siblings and relatives.
Wingate’s latest novel hones in on one particular orphanage run by Georgia Tann in Memphis, Tennessee. The Tennessee Children’s Home Society operated from 1920 to 1950. While there were real orphans in need of a home, other children in Ms. Tann’s system were not there by choice. Horrible conditions and shameful atrocities were kept secret by powerful people until, under pressure from the victims’ families, the home’s records were finally opened in 1995.
Before We Were Yours parallels the lives of two fictional families separated by time. One stormy night in 1939 a young family living in a shanty boat along the Mississippi river is forever changed. In the present day the story of the prominent Stafford family of Aiken, South Carolina unfolds, merging the past with the present. Inserting facts, Wingate writes a credible and compelling story exposing the pain and heartache of innocent children in the grip of a very influential woman.
In the late 1920s there was a black market for orphaned children. Georgia Tann’s orphanage was run with the help of individuals in authority. People of status and importance were recipients of Tann’s industry. Families in dire straits were duped into signing papers which allowed Ms. Tann to prosper. This went on for nearly 30 years. Children were taken from their parents and torn apart from their siblings.
Stafford family member Avery is on track to follow in her congressman father’s political footsteps. But a chance encounter during a publicity campaign at a local nursing home turns into something more when a hidden secret unbeknownst to all but her grandmother is revealed. Avery is curious to find answers and meets up with just the right person who will help her unravel the past.
Literary fiction is my favorite but every now and then I enjoy reading a simple well written story. Discovering this obscure bit of history, reading a plausible story, and meeting pleasant characters is why I would recommend this book.
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