Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This haunting tale will stay with you long after you finish reading, especially when you realize the story is based on real events that actually occurred. The book is split into a modern day story and a story set in 1930's Memphis Tennessee. Twelve year old Rill and her little siblings were happily raised on the Mississippi River by two loving parents, but when something goes wrong with her mother's pregnancy Rill is left to fend for her siblings as her parents rush off to the hospital. Rill and the children are taken by the police and brought to the Tennessee Children's Home Society, an orphanage run by a despicable person named Miss Tann. The children there are mistreated and sold into illegal private adoptions. Rill is powerless as she watches her siblings being taken from her. Avery Stafford was born into wealth and privilege, her father the esteemed Senator is grooming Avery for her eventual turn to run for office. Avery faces pressure from her family to carry on the Stafford name, and she struggles to meet everyone's expectations until she has an encounter with a very strange woman in a nursing home named May Weathers. Avery begins to uncover a connection between May Weathers and her grandmother, and she knows she has to uncover the truth. This story is captivating. At times I felt like reaching through the pages to comfort these poor children and to fight the injustice they faced. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

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