What is before we were Yours on Netflix about?
Lisa Wingate’s ‘Before We Were Yours’ follows a gripping story of a secret family history which is tied to a series of child adoption scandals connected to Georgia Tann, one of America’s most notorious child trafficker.
What is before we were Yours by Lisa Wingate?
A 2017 New York Times bestseller, Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours is a haunting and compelling work of historical fiction told in polyvocal form with two alternating principle voices narrating a story of complex family history.
Is before we were Yours a good read?
Not only a story about family bonds, “Before We Were Yours” retells the biggest child trafficking scandal in the US. The novel has sat on my recommended list for so long, yet I was always hesitant to give it a go due to its grief-stricken content. But no time like summer break to try something out of your comfort zone!
What happened to George Tann before we were Yours?
‘Before We Were Yours’ by Lisa Wingate is a polyvocal narrative that switches between two central characters to nail the mystery behind the infamous George Tann’s illegal adoptions and child trafficking scandals in Memphis.
What is Lisa Wingate's book before we were yours about?
A 2017 New York Times bestseller, Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours is a haunting and compelling work of historical fiction told in polyvocal form with two alternating principle voices narrating a story of complex family history. From chapter to chapter, the book goes back and forth between present day South Carolina (in settings of Southern power and prestige) and Tennessee in the late 1930s and early 1940s (in settings of squalor and abuse). In attempting to map out a family’s history, the novel also reads as an engaging mystery with a smart, soulful young lawyer leading the detective work, hunting to learn the full truth of her now senile grandmother’s life.
What happened to Fern and Briny in the Arcadia?
Due to Briny’s drunken carelessness, the boat crashes and catches fire. He goes down with the boat in flame, but the girls are saved.
What is the book Avery about?
The book begins on a note of ambiguity, with an unspecified voice narrating a scene that they admit is only a guess, a wistful imagining. From there, we go on to present day to meet brisk and efficient Avery, daughter of a powerful senator, whose life is on track to marry the right man and have a high-profile law career. Her father’s recent cancer diagnosis has her on edge, and she is trying to sort out what matters most to her. Family takes precedence even over work and time spent with her fiancé, Elliot .
Who is the eldest daughter of Queenie and Briny Foss?
The missing siblings remained present with the sisters in the form of the dragonfly bracelets each wore. The other half of the story is told by Rill Foss, the eldest daughter of Queenie and Briny Foss who already have five children at the start of the novel.
Why do we delve into stories?
We delve into stories to find reflections of our own experiences, to connect with characters, or not, taking solace in the small relief that our disappointments don’t hold a candle to their disasters.
Is Before We Were Yours a historical fiction?
She weaves a twisting, fascinating tale in this genre-agnostic book that has more heft than a light beach read and more staying power than chick lit, thanks to a compelling storyline and deft character development. It falls somewhere between historical fiction, with its core plot tied to true-story horrors of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society black market adoption dealings in the 1920s to 1950, and regional fiction, set largely in Tennessee and South Carolina, including Edisto Beach.
Is Miss Tann based on a true story?
The character of evil Miss Tann is based on the actual Georgia Tann, whose child trafficking operation pandered to wealthy clients including Hollywood’s Joan Crawford and June Allyson, until it was closed down in 1950 — fertile story material that Wingate effectively plows. I’d have been a satisfied reader had she only given us the Foss kids and their tragic-heroic adventures as they tried to preserve a sense of family and identity under horrific circumstances.

An Enthralling Maze of Mystery
- ‘Before We Were Yours’ by Lisa Wingateis supercharged with a labyrinth of mysteries surrounding Georgia Tann’s real-life abuses of the children entrusted to her Memphis orphanage home; the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. In ‘Before We Were Yours’ the reader sees Avery Stafford taking on the responsibilityof unraveling the mysteries in their numbers. It was never going to b…
A Confluence of Flashbacks and Flash-Forwards
- Keep Lisa Wingate’s show of flare for storytelling aside, strategic flashbacks and flashforwards are a major part of the entire beautification she’s done to her book ‘Before We Were Yours.’ From being taken aback to Baltimore several decades ago to a trip to Memphis – then present day, Lisa Wingate’s ‘Before We Were Yours’ realty picks the reader up for a mesmerizing ride. The reader s…
A Tale of Real Life Events
- Although Lisa Wingate specifically states on the copyright page of ‘Before We Were Yours’ that the book is purely historical fiction, it is based on the true-life account of Georgia Tann’s merciless exploits towards children. Tann, from around the 1920s to 1950s, governed the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, an orphanage home, which was supposed ...