Introducing the Aiken Bella Magazine Book Club

Nichole Miller

June 7, 2020

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.

Nichole Miller

Nikke is a busy nurse practitioner but in her spare time is an avid reader of all genres. Other hobbies include kayaking, writing, and sleeping. She and her husband have two daughters, three cats, and one kombucha scoby. To rationalize her book addiction, she will be bringing us a monthly book club selection.

Nichole Miller

In the know

Artist Spotlight | Canaan Peeples Joins Aiken Center for the Arts this Fall

Meet Aiken Center for the Arts’ (ACA) new music instructor, Canaan Peeples. Canaan joins ACA this fall and will be offering individual instruction programs for all skill levels on the guitar, bass, banjo, and mandolin. His experience gives the student the opportunity to choose the genre they want to learn, be it bluegrass, blues, rock, or classical. Canaan is a classically trained guitarist from Barnwell, South Carolina. He was endowed with an amazing talent for adding color to music with emotion and tone. At 30 years old, Canaan has over 25 years of performing and musical experience. He started playing guitar when he was only 3 years old, and his

The August Bella Book Club Review | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid After all these years posh Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo is ready to tell her life story. She retreated from the spotlight in the 1980s, after years of fame, but remained a legacy. With amazing grace and beauty, she was an enigma that left the public wanting to know more about her life and, of course, the seven men she married along the way. Now, at the age of 79, she is willing to grant an interview with a large magazine on one condition — the article must be written by Monique Grant. When she chooses Monique Grant, an aspiring journalist,

The Edge of Creativity | Creative of the Month | Aiken Bella Magazine

The Edge of Creativity | Creative of the Month | July

“Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” ~ Pablo Picasso The theme of this month’s issue of Bella is youth, so this month I wanted to focus on young creatives as well as those creatives who are focusing on, working with, or inspiring the youth. As I prepared for this month’s story I came to an uncomfortable realization that there are not a lot of young creatives in my world. Sure there are a lot of young people in my life who are creative, but none that I know of that are considered “creatives” and certainly not a whole lot making a

An Extraordinary Event

As a nurse who loves history, I’ve always gravitated to the question: what were the women doing during periods of historical interest, particularly in times of crisis? One group that has garnered my attention is the experience of female military nurses who served in Vietnam. There weren’t many of them, only 4,000 to 15,000, depending on who did the counting. Records of women in the military at that time were often fragmented since female volunteers were rare in a typically male endeavor. I wondered what drew the young nurses to volunteer in the Vietnam War. I found that some came from military families and thought it was a chance to