Before We Were Yours: A Novel
<p>THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT - A <i>New York Times</i>, <i>USA Today</i>, <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, and <i>Publishers Weekly</i> best seller</p> <p><b>Look for Lisa Wingate’s powerful new historical novel, </b><b><i>The Book of Lost Friends, </i></b><b>available now!</b> </p> <p><b>“Poignant, engrossing.” (</b><b><i>People</i></b><b>)</b> <b> “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.” (Paula McLain)</b></p> <p>Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge - until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents - but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.</p> <p>Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.</p> <p>Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals - in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country - Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.</p> <p><i>Publishers Weekly</i>’s Number Three Longest-Running Best Seller of 2017 Winner of the Southern Book Prize  If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection</p>