Before We Were Yours: A Novel

by Wingate, Lisa (Author)

ISBN: 9780425284704

The beloved New York Times bestselling novel inspired by firsthand accounts of the stories behind a notoriously corrupt adoption agency. A poignant, engrossing tale about sibling love and the toll of secrets.-People magazine

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.

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 fiance, 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.

Story Locale: Present day South Carolina; 1936 Tennessee

Publication History: Ballantine HC (6/17) Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Summer 2019

Format: Paperback, 368 pages

Publisher: Ballantine Books, May 2019

Product Dimensions: 8 L × 5.2 W × 0 H

* Subject to availability