Each month we will select a book to read and then publish a review. The selection will be posted on Instagram and Facebook before our publication date for anyone who would like to read along. This month we read Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate. This story caught our attention because of its partial setting in Aiken, South Carolina, as well as its basis in the true events involving the Memphis Children’s Home scandal. I, for one, am looking forward to the books Nichole “Book Nerd Nikkie” Miller will select in the future. Be sure to follow Aiken Bella Magazine on Facebook and Instagram for updates and our next selection.
– EmilyAnn Raynor
A Book Review By Nichole Miller:
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Before We Were Yours is an emotional look at two time periods and two different worlds. This story starts in 1939 with a family of nomads living on a houseboat on the Mississippi River. Late one night the mother goes into labor, is unable to deliver, and is rushed to the hospital in the closest town, leaving the children alone. While the parents are at the hospital, the children are illegally abducted and taken to a home for unwanted children. Here their lives will change forever.
Fast forward to present day in Aiken, South Carolina, where we meet Avery Stafford. Avery is the girl who has it all. Coming home to be by her father’s side during a health crisis, she puts her charmed life on hold. As a prominent lawyer in Baltimore, she is being groomed to replace him as a South Carolina Senator. However, during a charity event she meets May Crandall, who sparks a curiosity in Avery. This curiosity leads to the discovery of secrets that could destroy the Stafford family and any possibility of a political career.
This heart wrenching story set in Memphis, Tennessee, and Aiken, South Carolina, will draw you in from the first page. It is based on the real life events of Georgia Tann, Director of the Memphis based adoption agency. Georgia Tann used her position to steal children from impoverished families and sell them to wealthy families all over the country. This engaging page turner tells a tale — no matter how far our paths may lead in different directions, our hearts will always find a way home. Lisa Wingate weaves a story that will have your emotions in high gear to the last page.
