Before and After: a nice companion to Before We Were Yours

Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate is a follow-up to Ms. Wingate’s bestselling book, Before We were Yours which I reviewed two years ago (a link for that review is posted below). Ms. Christie, a journalist, and Ms. Wingate present the real stories of individuals who were stolen from their parents, from their homes and placed in illegal adoptions. As well as documented the outpouring of support for Before We Were Yours as many do not know these painful events which occurred in Memphis, Tennessee from roughly 1923 to 1950 when the scandal broke. Each story was heartbreaking as many of the victims were torn between being angry that they were taken from their families and loving the families they grew up in. Before and After helps put the physical names and faces to the events readers see in Before We Were Yours.

Some of the stories were harder to read then others. Some stories the children were stolen from very loving homes and placed in not so loving homes. Stories of uneducated, but loving parents being tricked into signing away their children. Even the adopted parents were doped by Ms. Tann as there are many stories of Jewish parents asking, and being told they were getting, a Jewish baby, only to find out years later, their baby isn’t Jewish. There was one part of the story I had to laugh, and it isn’t related to the victim’s stories. Ms. Christie was recounting a story that her older brother helped name her that she quipped “Who lets a 7-year-old name their child?” Well, my husband and I let our 6-year-old have a say in the names that were considered for our youngest daughter. It was a name we ultimately chose too. If you have read Before We were Yours, I highly recommend reading Before and After. If you haven’t read Before We were Yours, I highly recommend reading it and following up with Before and After.

Before and After

is available in hardcover and eBook

My review of Before We Were Yours

https://observationsfromasimplelife.blogspot.com/2017/07/before-we-were-yours-excellent-story.html

Before We were Yours: a excellent story about a painful past

Before We were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a tale of one woman’s determination to discover the truth behind her grandmother’s mysterious behavior. Avery Stafford is a successful federal lawyer who comes home to help with her ailing father, Senator Wells Stafford, who is up for reelection. While at political function with her dad, she is approached by an elderly woman who calls her by a different name. Avery’s heart is drawn to the elderly woman and as she seeks out information about the woman, she discovers a deeper mystery. Flashback to Tennessee, 1939, Rill Foss is the oldest child of Briny and Queenie Foss, river gypsies who live on their boat, Arcadia. Until one day when she and her four younger siblings are taken from their home and delivered to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. There Rill tells her story of abuse and lies as she realizes what is going on. Will Avery discover the truth? Is her family connected to the elderly woman? Does Rill and her siblings ever make it home?

At first, Before We were Yours was slow to start. I wondered what the point was as I read back and forth between Avery’s point of view and Rill’s. But soon the story took off and I was hook. I couldn’t put it down. I read into the wee hours of the night, eagerly waiting for the resolution. What happened to Rill and her siblings? When I read the author’s note at the end of the book, I realized the story was based on real events of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and the woman who ran it. I highly, highly recommend Before We were Yours for the great, intriguing story.

Before We were Yours

is available in hardcover and eBook