Before We Were Yours: A Novel

Before We Were Yours: A Novel

<b><b>THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT-Over two million copies sold! A <i>New York Times</i>, <i>USA Today,</i> <i>Wall Street Journal,</i> and <i>Publishers Weekly </i>Bestseller<br><br></b>“Poignant, engrossing."-<i>People </i>• “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation's history and weaves a tale of enduring power."-Paula McLain</b> <br><b><br>Memphis, 1939. </b>Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's 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 Children's 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 facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.<br><br><b> Aiken, South Carolina, present day.</b> 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 family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.<br><br> Based on one of America's 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 Wingate's 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.<br><br><b><i>Publishers Weekly's</i> #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 </b>•<b> Winner of the Southern Book Prize </b>•<b> If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection</b><br><br><b>This edition includes a new essay by the author about shantyboat life.</b>