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A review by kimreadz
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
3.0
I love the cover and I enjoyed the book. It met my expectations for historical fiction—I learned about something I didn't know much about, and the book inspired me to do some online research to learn more. I may even pick up a non-fiction book about Georgia Tann. However, the book was not quite a 4-star read for me.
The story is told in two timeline. There is a historical story from 1939 narrated by Rill Foss, the oldest of a family of five children who were stolen away from their parent in order to be sold by Georgia Tann to parents desperate for a child. This story was good and I learned about sad event that I didn't know much about previously.
The second timeline is contemporary, told by Avery Stafford, and young engaged lawyer and daughter of a senator. Her Grandma Judy has recently been moved to a memory care unit due to her worsening dementia. Parts of this story were interesting, and necessary to fill in some of the details from the historical story. However, there were parts of this that I had issues with. The main issue is the 'romance' aspect. Avery is engaged, but feels an immediate attraction to another man. She then has a decision to make. It felt like a bad Hallmark movie, and was totally unnecessary to the story.
The book is worth reading. It just isn't going on my 'best reads of 2023'. Overall, I give the book 3½ stars.
If you read the book, you can find some good supplemental information on the author's website, including videos and discussion questions.
https://lisawingate.com/for-book-clubs/
The story is told in two timeline. There is a historical story from 1939 narrated by Rill Foss, the oldest of a family of five children who were stolen away from their parent in order to be sold by Georgia Tann to parents desperate for a child. This story was good and I learned about sad event that I didn't know much about previously.
The second timeline is contemporary, told by Avery Stafford, and young engaged lawyer and daughter of a senator. Her Grandma Judy has recently been moved to a memory care unit due to her worsening dementia. Parts of this story were interesting, and necessary to fill in some of the details from the historical story. However, there were parts of this that I had issues with. The main issue is the 'romance' aspect. Avery is engaged, but feels an immediate attraction to another man. She then has a decision to make. It felt like a bad Hallmark movie, and was totally unnecessary to the story.
The book is worth reading. It just isn't going on my 'best reads of 2023'. Overall, I give the book 3½ stars.
If you read the book, you can find some good supplemental information on the author's website, including videos and discussion questions.
https://lisawingate.com/for-book-clubs/