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blester042590's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
emwax's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
dharma_s's review against another edition
4.0
This was well written, but besides all that, the story of what happened to those kids was awful. I didn't know that this had happened, so this was very enlightening.
librarianinperiwinkle's review against another edition
5.0
In 1939, twelve-year-old Rill Foss lives with her parents, three younger sisters, and a toddler brother in a ramshackle shantyboat on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee. All is well in their world until the stormy night when their father has to rush their mother to the hospital across the river in a frantic attempt to save both her and the twin babies she's struggling to bring into the world. The next morning, while Rill and the fifteen-year-old ward of their family friend are in charge, the police come and force the five siblings into a car, saying they are taking the children to visit their folks in the hospital. Rill knows this is a lie but is powerless to prevent her siblings from being kidnapped and taken to the Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage where Rill, her sisters, and her brother are plunged into a nightmare of abuse and separation.
In present-day South Carolina, Avery Stafford is a privileged daughter of a prominent family, a successful attorney, and engaged to marry a lifelong friend. While home helping her father the senator get through a health crisis, an elderly woman in a nursing home mistakes her for someone else...and changes Avery's life forever. Buried family secrets lead Avery to question who she is and what she wants in her life.
Rill and Avery's stories are told in alternating chapters, urgent and riveting, their paths slowly converging in ways both inevitable and unexpected. Bittersweet, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful.
4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because the .5 off is solely due to my incomprehension over why the present-day characters feel the past should remain a secret. Who cares if it becomes public knowledge that nearly 80 years ago children were kidnapped and sold to adoptive families? The perpetrators are long since dead, and the victims deserve to have their stories told. How would it harm the senator if people knew his mother had been one of those children? This makes no sense to me.
For readers' advisors: all four doorways are strong, especially character & story. In some ways it qualifies as a "clean read," but the subject matter might not be what readers are looking for if they ask for that. The novel is based on real-life events wherein Georgia Tann ran a Memphis-based adoption organization that elevated the perception of adoption and orphans while simultaneously ripping families apart as she coordinated the kidnapping and sale of impoverished children to wealthy families across the country from the 1920s to 1950. Thousands of children endured horrific abuse, and hundreds died (or were killed).
I do not recommend reading this novel at bedtime because you won't be able to put it down, and if you did manage to put it down, you'd lay awake thinking about it instead of sleeping. Or at least, that's what happened to me!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.
In present-day South Carolina, Avery Stafford is a privileged daughter of a prominent family, a successful attorney, and engaged to marry a lifelong friend. While home helping her father the senator get through a health crisis, an elderly woman in a nursing home mistakes her for someone else...and changes Avery's life forever. Buried family secrets lead Avery to question who she is and what she wants in her life.
Rill and Avery's stories are told in alternating chapters, urgent and riveting, their paths slowly converging in ways both inevitable and unexpected. Bittersweet, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful.
4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because the .5 off is solely due to my incomprehension over why the present-day characters feel the past should remain a secret. Who cares if it becomes public knowledge that nearly 80 years ago children were kidnapped and sold to adoptive families? The perpetrators are long since dead, and the victims deserve to have their stories told. How would it harm the senator if people knew his mother had been one of those children? This makes no sense to me.
For readers' advisors: all four doorways are strong, especially character & story. In some ways it qualifies as a "clean read," but the subject matter might not be what readers are looking for if they ask for that. The novel is based on real-life events wherein Georgia Tann ran a Memphis-based adoption organization that elevated the perception of adoption and orphans while simultaneously ripping families apart as she coordinated the kidnapping and sale of impoverished children to wealthy families across the country from the 1920s to 1950. Thousands of children endured horrific abuse, and hundreds died (or were killed).
I do not recommend reading this novel at bedtime because you won't be able to put it down, and if you did manage to put it down, you'd lay awake thinking about it instead of sleeping. Or at least, that's what happened to me!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.
erinkcrossreads's review against another edition
3.0
Gave this one a solid 3.5 stars.
I really did enjoy the dual timelines and how they came together at the very end, that was something I hoped would happen but obviously there could be twists and turns.
I did find the names and changing of names to be confusing. I know they were necessary given the plot line but I had to focus on that heavily at the start of the book and just a personal struggle more than anything.
I was happy with how the book ended - I was rooting for those things to happen while reading and was so pleased to see that it came to fruition!
This was my first Lisa Wingate novel but definitely interested in reading more. Solid historical fiction novel!
I really did enjoy the dual timelines and how they came together at the very end, that was something I hoped would happen but obviously there could be twists and turns.
I did find the names and changing of names to be confusing. I know they were necessary given the plot line but I had to focus on that heavily at the start of the book and just a personal struggle more than anything.
I was happy with how the book ended - I was rooting for those things to happen while reading and was so pleased to see that it came to fruition!
This was my first Lisa Wingate novel but definitely interested in reading more. Solid historical fiction novel!
emilyb_chicago's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully told story of a shockingly under discussed time in US history - I was amazed to find out in the afterward that this is actually Historical Fiction. The depression era and the modern stories were perfectly interwoven. The characters jumped off of the page and into your lives. I just loved picking this book up whenever I had a chance to read.
yogagirl's review against another edition
5.0
Reads like a mystery
The first chapter drew me in, and the story was powerful. The pace slowed a bit toward the end, but overall, Wingate did a great job of dramatizing this historical tragedy.
The first chapter drew me in, and the story was powerful. The pace slowed a bit toward the end, but overall, Wingate did a great job of dramatizing this historical tragedy.
angievansprang's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book does a great job with story telling and making the characters come alive off the pages. It was an incredibly sad read, especially due to the aspects of the book that are not fictional. Knowing that these things really happened to live children for years, unchecked, is a horrible thought. I’m glad this book is out there and was even able to bring clarity to some survivors. The parts I did not love were how the author & the characters spoke about most of the Black characters. I understand that much of this book was set in 1930s Tennessee, but I found certain descriptors unnecessary and racist. Fuck Georgia Tann and her conspirators, may they forever rot in hell!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Classism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Dementia, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Grief, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide, Confinement, Bullying, Sexual assault, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders
leemerick's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
sjburton's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0