Publisher Description
THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller “Poignant, engrossing.”—People • “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain Memphis, 1939. 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. 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 family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. 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. Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection
Historical Context of Before We Were Yours
The events in Before We Were Yours begin in 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee. Throughout most of the ‘30s, the Great Depression forced millions of Americans out of work and out of their homes. For many people living in the states along the Mississippi River—including Queenie and Briny Foss—living on a shanty boat was an ideal solution because they could quickly travel from one city to the next to find work with their families. Still, poverty was rampant and work opportunities were scarce, so these shanty-boat families struggled to get by. However, some people thrived during the Great Depression, including Georgia Tann, who also existed in real life. Between 1924 and 1950 when the Tennessee Children’s Home Society closed, Tann trafficked over 5,000 children using fraudulent adoption papers and with the help of some of Memphis, Tennessee’s family court judges. In most cases, Tann did not run background checks on adoptive parents and she favored out-of-state adoptions because they allowed her to charge exorbitant fees. Because Tann would give children to whomever could pay these fees, many out-of-state celebrities and even politicians used Tann’s services. These include Joan Crawford (who was actually denied a petition for adoption in California because of her lifestyle and multiple failed marriages), Dick Powell, and Ric Flair. To meet the demand for children, Tann began kidnapping children from the lower classes or using scare tactics to force single mothers to give up their babies. The children under Tann’s care were frequently neglected, sexually and physically abused, and even starved to death for not following the rules. Nobody knows how many children died (either from illness, forced starvation, or abuse) in Tann’s care, but it’s estimated that the number could be as high as 500. An investigation into the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and Tann began in late 1950, but Tann died before charges were filed.
Please note that the group meets on the third Wednesday of the month and the group will be having lunch at the PYCC Clubhouse at 12:30 before the regular book group discussion.
Upcoming Selections:
December - none
January - An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris (political intrigue for the election year)
Try using Z-library to get a copy of the book. https://b-ok.cc/. It is an online library with literally millions of books to download for free or with a modest donation.
Please Register so we know how many are coming. For questions, call/text Mollie @ 321-446-4535.
Location: PYCC Clubhouse.
