A review by lindseymeown
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I loved the movement between timelines from granddaughter Avery’s present day narrative, following the threads of her curiosity about her ailing and aging grandmother while oscillating back and forth between her duty to her prominent family name and her own desires for her life trajectory, and the story of Rill and her siblings navigating the Great Depression, a whole gaggle of shantyboat river children caught up in Memphis social worker Tann’s web of forced, and thereby false, orphanhood and Rill’s resulting quest to keep her family together. 

Y’all, the reality behind this historical fiction story, included in an author’s note at the book’s end, is actually wild— like, a 30-year track of what was essentially state-sanctioned child-trafficking in the name of child protection and then labeled as adoption. During her work with the adoption agency known as the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis,  Georgia Tann made the equivalent of ten million dollars in today-money by literally stealing children from poor people and selling them to the highest bidder, placing babies and young children into situations of molestatjon, abuse, neglect, and leading to the death of who knows how many while they waited to be moved into permanent new homes with their wealthy new families. 

Like, this one left me with a big how and why and what the hell, so I’ll be over here in a research rabbit hole for a bit if you’re looking for me. 
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