"Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate is a great and very emotional novel. It is inspired by true events that happened in the 1930s that relate to the Tennessee Children Home Society orphanage and its director Georgia Tann. Children were taken from their parents by force, they were manipulated and lied to, especially while in unfortunate circumstances. They would be then sold to wealthy families. The treatment of these children in the orphanage was inhumane, they were tortured, starved, and even killed.
The story happens in two different time periods, one in 1939 and one in the present time. Rill and her 4 siblings, ages 2 to 12 come from the shantyboat family, who were taken away from their parents while their mother had a complicated baby delivery. They were placed in Memphis Tennessee Home Orphanage. Sadly, they go through many difficult challenges, torture, abuse and some of them don't even make it alive. At some point, Rill and her sisters get adopted by nice and wealthy families and they get a second chance in life. The love and the bond that those sisters had was absolutely beautiful. In the present-day, the past is being uncovered, and lives get closure. Love is a miracle, that stays with people and in their hearts forever. This is the book that stays with us long after is red. Recommend it highly.
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