Before We Were Yours

Product Information

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 story is a dual story line: one features a family of children who were taken from their parents, and spent time in the home before being separated and adopted, while the second story line is set in the present day, featuring a young woman, Avery, who is searching for the truth about her grandmother.

Rill Foss, also known as May, is the eldest of Queenie and Briny Foss’ children. At 12 years old, Rill becomes responsible for her junior siblings when her mother, Queenie (heavy with twin), is taken to the hospital by her father, Briny, and neighbor – Old Zede. A young man, Silas, is left at the Foss family’s shanty to offer extra protection for Rill and her siblings. Now, I look at my dad and think, How can you not want it, Avery? This is what he’s worked for all his life. What generations of Staffords have strived for since the revolutionary war, for heaven’s sake. Our family has always held fast to the guiding rope of public service. Daddy is no exception. Since graduating from West Point and serving as an Army aviator before I was born, he has upheld the family name with dignity and determination. The siblings were kidnapped and taken to the Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis, Tennessee. Miss Tann is an evil lady and controls all the decisions. The home is rotten to the core. The stories are sad and gruesome. Kids were brokened. Georgia Tann made money by charging huge fees for adoptions, transportation, delivery out of state. She took children from poor families and sold them to celebrities and people with political interest. She duped women in hospital maternity wards into signing surrender papers while they were still under sedation. She told people that their babies died when they hadn't. Miss Tann was such a monster, a very evil lady. Being unable to learn anything from her, Avery embarks on a personal investigation which includes reading through Judy’s old diaries. May says, “A woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to her own music if she chooses.” How has your past made you who you are? What do you want to leave behind? Anything? What is the true “music” of your own soul? Are you in step with it or out of step? What helps you hear your own music and find balance in your life?

Before We Were Yours Epilogue

I’ll start by explaining that ever since I laid eyes on this cover a few months ago, I haven’t stopped thinking of this book. There is just something about this cover that calls to me and makes me want to reach into the picture to hug and comfort these two little girls. I have never had a book cover ‘speak’ to me as powerfully as this one does. Before We Were Yours alternates between the historical story of the Foss Children and the modern-day story of Avery Stafford. Did you have a favorite between these storylines? Which one and why?

This was a tragic, and often depressing, story. However, I am so glad that I read it. It is an important story and one that needed to be told. It definitely isn't a rainbows and unicorns type of story, but it will move you and leave a lasting impression. Overall, I really "enjoyed" the book. Rill and her sisters feel real. Their fear feels real. Their love for one another feels real. It is a history lesson wrapped up in a powerful and emotive story. A fictional tale that reveals a hidden truth. Avery Stafford is a former Federal Prosecutor, who left her own life behind (which includes her fiancé) to return home to care for her ailing father, the Senator. She has been summoned to attend political functions and events with him and be the “dutiful daughter.” In the midst of attending these events, she decides to visit with her Grandmother Judy, who is suffering from Dementia. During this visit, her Grandmother divulges something to Avery that she has kept hidden all of her life. This secret leads Avery to uncover facts about her Grandmother and helps Avery down her own path to self-discovery. Avery laments that the busy schedule expected of a Stafford has prevented her from spending time on Edisto Island with her sisters or Elliot. “Who chooses the schedules we keep? We do, I guess,” she tells herself but excuses this with, “the good life demands a lot of maintenance.” In our modern age are we too busy? Too preoccupied with accumulating things to actually enjoy what we have? Too dialed into media and social media? What are your thoughts on this? What would you like to change about your own schedule? Anything? What might you gain if you did?Maybe we would have done more justice to the real facts of the story if we just called her Beelzebub! Perhaps it's just me, but it bugged me a bit how none of the children even tried to speak up. I understand how horrible it was, but children usually speak their mind. Even when you don't want them to. At least once speak their mind before they realize the trouble they might get in. Then, as adults, they wanted to hide the fact they were sisters. My father is a high-profile face upon which public anger and political finger-pointing can be focused. However, the Seviers don’t know the real names of the children, calling them May and Beth – the names Rill and Fern got after being admitted to the TCHS.