Reviews with content warning for Classism - Before We Were Yours

I've seen this book for several years, and thought about it, but for some reason I had it in my mind that it was a "Dust Bowl" book along the lines of James Agee and "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men." I grabbed it on Audible the other day because a book club I'm in had it listed as a summer read, and I am glad I did!
The story centers on the experiences of a little girl (Rill) who along with her siblings is taken into state custody off of their family's shanty boat during the Great Depression -- juxtaposing Rill's story with the modern day story of Avery, a member of a wealthy political family. One thing I'll say before I get to spoilers -- I am often hesitant about any book that pulls the "back and forth through time" card, but this one is actually done fairly well! The blending is nearly seamless and is connected to the story, and keeps you engaged from beginning to end. Now...for story thoughts, enter the spoilers:

The book opens with a brief vignette of a young woman giving birth to a stillborn child. Her husband? father? immediately tells the doctor the young woman's inability to have children will kill her, and the doctor suggests "there is a solution..." and then the book begins. So from page 1 you have the inkling that this is going to have to do with stolen children -- and boy does it! The essence of the book is the question of what happened to Rill and her siblings once they were "kidnapped" by the police. [Rill's mother is unable to give birth to twins on the boat and is taken by Rill's father into the city to the hospital, leaving Rill in charge of the children. The police show up and nearly immediately take Rill and family into custody, delivering them to the infamous Georgia Tann.] From there the novel develops beautifully well, and keeps the reader thoroughly engaged. Rill's story is interspersed with Avery's story -- a beautiful, rich, spoiled "but I know I'm spoiled and I appreciate it" young woman who has rushed to town to be appointed to the legislature in her father's place when/if he dies of cancer. Avery was a little over the top for me. The character wasn't very likable because she was so out of touch, and the "I don't necessarily want all this privilege" wasn't enough to make me like her. Avery accompanies her father on a trip to a nursing home where she meets an elderly woman named May Weathers who seems to think Avery's bracelet is her own -- this leads Avery to start researching May Weathers, discovers a photograph that looks like her own grandmother and then the search is on.

So the first 3/4 of the book I thought was great. I was deeply invested and really enjoyed it - even though Avery's character annoyed me a bit. BUT - I felt like the last 1/4 was dragged out unnecessarily. The whole part where the girls run away and find their father's boat was unrealistic - I'm sorry, the river is LONG...it's highly unlikely two children under 12 are going to find the single boat they are looking for in essentially one day. The addition of the "boy who is actually a girl" was unnecessary. She could have just been a girl character -- have her be the little girl who comes and brings her father lunch every day while he works - he can still beat her and be mean to her. It just felt forced. Rill's father crashing the boat and the fiery wreck -- all felt unnecessary. The story to that point had been focused on the children and the horrors of the Children's Home...I understand the desire to give them "closure" on their life so they could "be OK" in their new life - but it just wasn't realistic and almost added a justification to the story, like "this is what their lives would have been like, so the police are right to have taken them."
Also - Avery - Ugh. Her character annoyed me from the beginning - the exaggerated emphasis on her wealth -- the awkward "we're riding horses on Sunday because we're rich..." or "we have too many houses because we're rich" felt like overkill. We get it - wealthy families bought the children. But the love story took the cake. There was ZERO reason to have Avery engaged and then suddenly fall in love with someone else. There wasn't a hint she was unhappy with her fiancee until suddenly she's hiding her wedding ring to talk to Trent. Just cut the fiancee, have her be a single woman uninterested in getting married but pressured to "find a man" for politics. She doesn't need to be emotionally cheating on someone for the relationship with Trent to have value.

So overall, I enjoyed the story. I had ZERO knowledge of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society until I read this book and did some research. It's horrid, but not entirely shocking if you understand the state of social services in the 1930s. There's a reason "Little Orphan Annie" was a classic story.
Bottom line - this is worth a read, and I don't resent the time I spent listening to it -- I actually enjoyed it! I might recommend it to someone here or there - but I won't read it again.

Content Warnings

sarahflanders's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

tiana_king's review against another edition

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dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

trinloyd's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book way more than I anticipated. It is heartbreaking and gut wrenching, and so well written. The author did a beautiful job telling this story.

Content Warnings