This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

A heart breaking read that I read rapidly, gripped by all the raw emotional feels.

Only a stone could read this and not feel touched by the poignant tale. Especially as it’s based on horrible historic facts.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.

There have been so many reviews written on this fabulous heartbreaking book.
It’s raw, it’s emotional and it’s brilliant.

The characters in this were living, yes, they were living inside my head. I felt them, I could hear them and I wanted to reach out to them.

To the ones in charge I wanted to punch them, I wanted to hurt them.

After reading the back pages of this book from the author realising that although these children were fictional, it very much could have been someone’s reality story because this is based upon a reality, a real life awful existence that many children went through, if they survived at all.

Birthing mothers told that their babies had died at birth or children taken from underprivileged families going through hardship.

These children snatched from their parents and put up for adoption. Making money from the sell of children on the pretence they would have a better life.

The home itself was full of hurt, abuse and totally abhorrent.

The facts of reality I read on the history of this actual event went on for years and years.

It beggars belief.

But it’s true.

These characters were made up, but they could well have been facts.

A highly emotional heart rending book that takes you on a journey of sorrow, pain, resilience of human nature, finding out there are evil people in this world but more kind than evil I’d like to think.

There are two stories running side by side within these chapters, I pretty much got an idea why, but not the intricate details until later.

A truly remarkable book, great writing, great research.

Highly recommend.

Thank you Querus for providing me with a copy

A touching story. Found it to be very moving. Well written with great characters. Highly recommend to everyone.

This is a 5 star story. It's based on true facts regarding the illegal adoption of poor white children in the late 1930's. The children were taken in Tennessee, America and sold to rich white families. Their real parents and family had no idea where they were. This book is one families reactions to the discovery after finding out about an adoption. It is fiction but reads as an enthralling story

Not the easiest of reads due to the subject matter, but OMG, what an eye opener and so very sad. How humanity have greed with no morals. Loved the then and now flow through the book and how these poor children have lived to tell their story. Based on true events makes it even more compelling to read.

The publisher kindly gave me the chance to read this book for an honest review.

The book is told from 2 main characters, Avery in present time and Foss in 1939, it is set in America. Avery visits a nursing home with her Father who a senetor she meets May who has a photo with her Grandmother who has dementia. Avery begins to investigate the family connection.
The other part of the story is told by Foss, who with her 4 brothers and sisters live on a shanty boat on the Mississippi river. Her mother is taken to hospital and the children are taken to an orphanage. Foss tries to keep her family together but as a 12 year old she has little control over what happens to them in the home. The home is run by Georgia Tann and adopts children to families willing to pay for the children.
This story is fiction but Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society are true and also what went on in the home. Children were taken from poverty, placed in the home then adopted to other families.

If you enjoy family fiction this book is for you, a really well thought out story for a on sensitive subject.

What a captivating read. I couldn't put it down. The elements of truth send you on a journey of spiralling emotions.

Excellent , one of the most gripping books I've read in a while. I found every time I had to put the book down I was trying to work out when I could pick it back up and carry on. There are two stories running parallel to each other .The young girl Rills story is set in 1939 , a very feisty but likeable character who along with her siblings get stolen from their house boat and put in the Tennessee Orphanage I won't spoil what she and her family go through during their time there but after reading it I made sure I gave my children and extra big cuddle as I put them to bed. The other story is set in the present day it features Avery a woman who's high class family are in politics. Avery is engaged to be married and is due to follow her father footsteps in to the world of politics. She gets herself involved with the mystery of an old lady May Weather and the links to her Grandmother Judy.
I did work out the story quite early on , but it made it more exciting waiting for the characters to work it out for themselves.
A high five star rating from me !!!

I Love the Carolina Heirlooms series by Lisa Wingate. So, when I saw this book did I just know that I had to read it. However, I waited a while to read it after getting it because I needed to be ready to tackle this book with such a serious subject.

Before We Were Yours is based on a real scandal. During the 30s and later were children kidnapped and sold to wealthy families all over the country. For their own good. However, it was a very lucrative enterprise. This book tells a story about a family of siblings that are taken to Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage after their parents have left them on the riverboat they are living on. Their mother is having a baby and it's all going wrong so the hospital is the only solution. The whole family would never be together again. Years later will Avery Stafford through a chance encounter start to unravel the truth about her families history. And she learns that not everything is as it seems...

To say that this book is an emotional reading is an understatement. The worst part is that it's based on a true scandalous story. I knew since before that Lisa Wingate is a wonderful author and, as usual, is the writing on top. What really moved me in this book is actually the very end. Without giving away what happens will I just say that it's a wonderful although bittersweet ending. I will leave it at that and just say read the book!

This was a fantastic read that was an emotional roller coaster. A historically correct account embroidered with the family of river children to emphasize the facts. I fell in love with the children and cried at their circumstances. The ending was beautiful by giving the final fact that had been missing throughout the story. To know that this was condoned by the local authorities is a terrible indictment of society. The children are so well described, as are all the places the book refers to. From life on the boat, their stay at the society home, their lives when they were finally adopted through to the final story giving a sense of closure that brought tears of happiness for them. Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves true stories written in an easy to read format. I suspect like lots of other readers I had to go to the internet to read further about this whole episode of depravity. An author to watch out for.

Before We Were Yours is an intriguing novel that started a little slow but carried on to effectively mix historical facts with interesting fictional characters. This resulted in a riveting story which is emotional at times and disturbing and shocking at others.

The children’s home featured in this novel, the Tennessee Children’s Home Orphanage, and one of the characters within it (Georgia Tan) are based on true stories which - horribly - actually happened. It made me want to find out more about this after finishing the novel, and though the subject matter is bleak at the best of times, I really enjoy books when I know there’s some truthful / real life element to them.

The novel focuses on two time periods - the present day, and 1939 - and, therefore, two different sets of characters. On the whole the 1930s setting was more interesting to read about, but the present day setting and character of Avery herself was easier to read and identify with, perhaps because it is just that - a present day, more 'normal' setting.

I actually found the novel a little slow at first; I remember being just under 25% through when I suddenly found myself really drawn in, because in the first quarter I didn’t really care about Rill and the other characters, from either storyline. I couldn’t really feel Rill’s horror at being taken from her parents - she seemed hugely upset, certainly, but sometimes her emotions fell a little flat, like when some of her brothers/ sisters are taken away from her. However, as you get to know them all better, the plot came alive for me and the horrible situation of the Tennessee’s Children Home Orphanage - though horrible to read and think about - made for some very interesting, absorbing reading.

The desire to know how people may or may not be connected to each other is what really made this novel for me. I felt strongly about most of the characters, whether I was rooting for them or really hated them, and this is a testament to Lisa Wingate’s writing!

Overall, an engaging and interesting read!

Oh wow! Everyone should read this novel. Based on the facts of The Tennessee Childrens Homes scandal, this book follows the lives of the Foss children after they are seized by the authorities, when there parents are at the local hospital. Their story shines a light into a very dark part of US history, where children were taken from their parents and deposited into truly cruel children’s home before being adopted(for a fee). This is a duel timeline novel and the facts of the story are gradually exposed by the grand daughter of a victim of this system. It was a fascinating and emotional read, and I intend to research the facts more closely- further reading recommendations are handily included at the end of the book.

Truely amazing book, I thoroughly enjoyed every page. I will be following this author for sure.

I could not put this book down, I was captivated by the story of the Foss children and their horrific tale, made all the worse in the knowledge that the childrens home really did exist. The emotion in the book really drew me in, I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend.

Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Gah, I have to start by saying its categorised on Netgalley as “women's fiction” and I HATE that title. Why shouldn't a man enjoy this book? Why do we rule out a whole section of readers under this stupid stereotyping? We shout Equality, and rightly so and then practice inequality in this unnecessary way. Ah well, rant over, now to the book which was Fabulous, gripping, unputdownable.

Its two stories, that at first don't seem to have a connection. There's Briny, Queenie and the family back in 1939, and Avery and her political family in the present time. Slowly as things draw on the two begin to merge. It took me til about 25% to really get hooked on the story, I loved the bit in the past but the present day story was quite enough to keep me reading and I did put aside at about 20% for something else....picked it up the next day intending to read to 50%, thinking it was one of those review books that I'd struggle with and would have to make myself read a bit each day, and found myself drawn in to the story and unable to put it down til the end :-) It was a fascinating read, a truly gripping story and chilling in that although this is fiction stories like it were real for hundreds of families. No-one really knows the true extent of the crime. All those families, fractured for profit was heartbreaking to me, and there were times in the story, Camilla for example, when I found myself tearing up. I still feel a bit choked thinking of that reality for all those poor kids, and parents who knew their children were somewhere but who were unable to find them, and had no legal rights to them even if they did. Sadly I suspect this Baby trade still goes on in too many parts of the world.
Madonna - remember when she adopted an “orphan” who was later proved to have living father and other relatives but they were poor so in our Western eyes that make taking him from his family to live with people thousands of miles away OK. It was that same kind of thinking that let this awful trade exist back then, the kids in the book were often described as “river rats” and inferred that their parents were poor so therefore they were doing the kids a service finding them new homes. The people adopting must have had questions, but suppressed them, especially as this was being sanctioned from the very highest in society.

I wasn't sure of Avery at first but quickly grew to love her, and when she first met Trent I could feel that attraction, though they were very much a backstory. I loved the way she was with May, so determined to find out the truth, and yet so respectful of May's feelings. She was doing something that from a political side could have been the downfall of her families political ambitions, but which was right. Should the truth be left alone? Of should people have a right to know where they come from? I'm with Avery, Truth is all, and I was glad she wasn't dissuaded from her quest.
It had a perfect ending, rounding things up wonderfully, but I still wondered about others in the story. I can't name them for spoiling things, but I kept thinking what happened to them, and wondering too about how the kids grew up, what kind of families and story they had. I guess you could go on ad-infinitum as each person would draw others into the story.
A wonderful story, harrowing at times but Lisa resisted the all too often temptation of making things too graphic. Sometimes its what isn't written that holds more power, what we imagine is worse than words on a page. Violence, written too often in many novels, loses its horror impact, and Lisa keeps it all “off the page” so to speak. It's not a novel full of horror though, its a horrible story in that it was reality for so many, but lightened by the friendships, the day to day life on the river, little things that meant so much when kids had nothing. What people forget sometimes is for kids, a poor but loving family is worth all the fine clothes, fancy food and ponies.

 Stars: Five, a heartbreaking read, but with moments that made me smile, like little sparks of light in the dark. A story well worth reading.
ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a highly emotional story of stolen children.
In the 1930's unattended children were rounded up and taken to the Tennessee Children's Home where they were sold for adoption. This is a story of one family's search for their other siblings. I found this book very moving and the story will stay with me for a long time. I would like to thank NetGalley and Quercus Books for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.