Many thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate for the opportunity to read and review this nonfiction follow-up to Before We Were Yours, which was a fictionalized account of Georgia Tann's Tennessee Children's Home Society. Tann ran a child-trafficking operation under the guises of an adoption agency/orphanage from the 1920s-1950s.
After the popularity of that book, people started contacting the author, Wingate, at book readings and by email to tell her their true stories. One victim was driven to create a reunion of other victims in Memphis when Wingate was scheduled to appear at a book event. With little time to prepare, Wingate brought in her friend and journalist, Judy Christie, to help her document the stories and pictures. Little by little, things came together in extraordinary ways and gave these victims an opportunity to open up, some for the first time, and share their stories as well as ways to track down missing biological family members.
This book contains 15 different family stories - all heartbreaking but in the end filled with gratitude and blessings for the life that was theirs. I also loved the author's thoughts that make the reader think about ways to move forward in our lives with more compassion and thoughtfulness. A must read!
No comments:
Post a Comment