Print and e-book, 320 pages
Published October 22nd 2019 by Ballantine Books
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal--some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate's bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach.
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents--hiding the fact that many weren't orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.
The publication of Lisa Wingate's novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann's lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.
Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children's Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results.
Published October 22nd 2019 by Ballantine Books
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal--some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate's bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach.
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents--hiding the fact that many weren't orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.
The publication of Lisa Wingate's novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann's lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.
Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children's Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results.
My thoughts about Before and After ~~
Before and After was a book that was hard to read but also hard to put down. Hard to read because it told the stories of some of the children who lived at the Tennessee Children's Home Society and the hard lives that they lived there. But it was also hard to put down because I became so involved in those lives that I had to find out what happened to them as they got older.
I read Lisa' book, Before We Were Yours and loved it! Before and After touches on some of the real-life stories of the children who were affected by living at the Tennessee Children's Home Society—stories that are both heartbreaking and touching. It was amazing to me, and I'm sure to Lisa Wingate as well, the response her book got from the children, now adults, who lived in this home, sometimes wrenched away from their families.
Before and After brings some of those children and their families together so they can get some closure on that time in their lives and move on. What a beautiful thing it would have been to witness these reunions. This truly is an amazing story!
I received an ARC of Before and After from NetGalley and this is my honest review.
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| Before We Were Yours |
About the authors
Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana.
She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abingdon Press’s new inspirational fiction line.
Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press.
Wreath, published in October 2011, is Judy’s first young adult book. Look for it and a free download on her books page!
Judy was a journalist for many years and is a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how ~ Goodreads
She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abingdon Press’s new inspirational fiction line.
Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press.
Wreath, published in October 2011, is Judy’s first young adult book. Look for it and a free download on her books page!
Judy was a journalist for many years and is a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how ~ Goodreads
Connect with Judy
Website | Facebook | Goodreads
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Connect with Lisa
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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Lisa Wingate is a former journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the bestselling author of more than thirty books. Her blockbuster Before We Were Yours was on the NYT best seller list for over one year. Her work has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. Lisa believes stories can change the world. ~ Goodreads
Connect with Lisa
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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I didn't get to read Wingate's books about this topic yet, but I did read The Pink Bonnet by Liz Tolsma which covers the same Tennessee Home. It was shocking!
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