How did Avery grow as a result of her discoveries about the family’s past? How did it change her view of herself and her family’s expectations for her? Did your family have expectations for you that you didn’t agree with? Who in Avery’s family might struggle most to accept her decision to change her life plans? When, one night, she goes into labor, Briny has to take her to the hospital and leaves Rill in charge of the children. But, come on, you may say, police officers kidnapping children in 1939 in the U.S. and sending them to orphanages? Arriving at the exact same moment the parents aren’t there? Avery travels there, and she does meet a Trent Turner, only it’s not the one with the info, but his grandson – who goes by the same name!

The perfect blend of past and present.... The present day was filled with mystery and secrets while the past was filled with heartbreak and hope... Starvation, mistreatment, abuse – that’s how the days go by for the siblings. Camelia is even raped by one of the members of TCHS staff, Mr. Riggs. After some time, she disappears – never to be seen again.

For the Stafford family, reputation is everything , and part of their reputation involves the uniform respectability of every member of the family—even those who just marry into it. In fact, Avery initially struggles to conceive of a scandal more serious than the possibility of lower-class relatives threatening to step into the spotlight. Avery recounts her mother Honeybee ’s story of meeting Wells Stafford (Avery’s father), saying that “When she learned that [Wells] was a Stafford, she set her cap.” This highlights the fact that many people desire to be a Stafford—Honeybee resolves to marry Wells simply for his family name, even before she knows him personally. However, Avery believes they must have “woodpile relatives”—in other words, distant relatives that belong to the lower classes—after learning that there is someone named “Queenie” that Judy doesn’t want her to know about. Avery’s concern highlights just how distant her upper-class family is from the lower classes, and their opinion of poverty as somehow scandalous and shameful, something that would threaten their family’s reputation.

The true story of Georgia Tann and the Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society is a bizarre and sad paradox. There is little doubt that the organization rescued many children from deplorable, dangerous circumstances, or simply accepted children who were unwanted and place them in loving home. There is also little doubt that countless children were taken from loving parents without cause or due process and never seen again by their desperately grieving biological families.” You feeling all right?” I reach across to brush a long blond hair—mine—off the seat so it won’t cling to his trousers when he gets out. If my mother were here, she’d whip out a mini lint brush, but she’s home, preparing for our second event of the day—a family Christmas photo that must be taken months early… just in case Daddy’s prognosis worsens. Lisa Wingate’s book is a fictionalized account of this scheme. I'm grateful to the author for shedding light on this shameful part of our history. Knowing the story was based on true events just made it that much more horrifying. The successful federal prosecutor Avery Stafford is the daughter of a virtuous senator and the fiancée of a handsome guy called Elliot.This story is heartfelt and genuine, especially as Wingate explores the idea of home and family from a youngster’s point of view.” — Historical Novels Review The woman has no way of knowing her child’s fate, or if she doesknow, the medications will cause the memory of it to be nothing but a blur by tomorrow. She ceases her thrashing and surrenders to the twilight sleep, lulled by the doses of morphine and scopolamine administered to help her defeat the pain. It was called Tennessee Children’s Home Society (TCHS), and it did exactly what you just read: it kidnapped children from low-income families and gave them away to affluent couples. It turns out that Shad is one of the twins born on the night Rill Foss and her four siblings were kidnapped by the police.

Too long - so much un-needed commentary could have been removed. Most of this came in Avery's story line. For example, way too much detail on the cab, riding in the cab, etc. After sometime, I just wanted it over. Like many have said —- I am glad I read it. The horrors were gut-wrenching - no other way to say it The few sparkles had me feeling ‘thank God’. She is pretty. A gentle, fragile soul. Not the sort who would intentionally bring about the catastrophic unraveling that is only, this moment, beginning. In my multifold years of life, I have learned that most people get along as best they can. They don’t intend to hurt anyone. It is merely a terrible by-product of surviving.

Lisa Wingate Biography

I absolutely loved this heartbreakingly beautiful piece of writing! I'd give this book 10 stars if I could! "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate grabbed me from the very beginning, tossed my emotions around like a salad, and never let go! I didn't want it to end.

Allison is a senior sibling to Avery and has four children; triplet boys, and a girl Courtney about her 10th year. Allison and Avery share a close sisterly bond as the former sees the latter as a good distraction from raising a home full of kids.

Leslie is Wells’s personal assistant, who is described as being very competent at the job. Leslie sometimes combines the management and assistant roles of Avery with that of her father, and occasionally farms duties out to Ian, her assistant. Right behind you.” I’d do anything for him, but I hope it’s many more years before we’re forced to reverse the roles of parent and child. I’ve learned how hard that is while watching my father struggle to make decisions for his mother.