Review By: Gretchen Fronk
Published: 2017
Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Fiction Based on Real Events
Audience: Grades 7–12, Adult
Content Warnings: Rape, Kidnapping, Abuse, Death
Goodreads Link: Before We Were Yours
Summary:
In Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate blends fact and fiction to reveal the heartbreaking true history behind the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. Set in both 1939 Memphis and the modern-day South, the story follows young Rill Foss and her siblings, who are torn from their riverboat home and placed in a corrupt orphanage. Decades later, Avery Stafford uncovers a family secret that ties her to their tragedy.
Review:
This book was amazing. It ripped my heart out and stomped on it and then put it back and filled it up with hope and melancholy. I had never heard of this woman and what she did to children, nor how long she was allowed to get away with her criminal actions. For that, I am glad I read the book. I was left shocked at the plight of the children. How could these things ever happen? And for those who survived, what a secret to keep and hide. Since reading the novel, I have added the sequel to my list of must reads. While the characters of the novel are fictional, they are based on individuals’ true stories, and the sequel highlights these stories. I cannot wait to continue the journey.
