Before We Were Yours: A Novel

ISBN: 0593599004

Author: Wingate, Lisa

Condition: New

THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT-Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly BestsellerPoignant, engrossing.-People Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nations history and weaves a tale of enduring power.-Paula McLainMemphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their familys Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge-until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Childrens Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents-but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facilitys cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her familys long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.Based on one of Americas most notorious real-life scandals-in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country-Lisa Wingates riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.Publishers Weeklys #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 Winner of the Southern Book Prize If All Arkansas Read the Same Book SelectionThis edition includes a new essay by the author about shantyboat life.