Author: Lisa Wingate
Title: Before We Were Yours
Publication
Date: 2017
Pages: 342
Genre: Historical Fiction
Geographical
Setting:
Memphis, Tennessee; Aiken,
South Carolina
Time
Period: 1939; present day
Plot Summary
Rill Foss, the eldest of five siblings, tells the
heartbreaking story of being snatched away from her biological parents in 1939 as
a young girl and funneled through the operations and abuses of unlicensed
boarding facilities and group homes and final adoption by a wealthy
family. Rill struggles to keep her
siblings safe and to return home to the riverboat, eventually letting go of
Rill Foss to become May Weathers, May Seviers and finally a wise May Crandall
announcing, “We must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out
of step…” (Wingate 315). In the present
day, Avery Stafford, accomplished attorney and favored daughter of
well-respected South Carolina Senator Wells Stafford, alternates the narration,
describing meeting elderly May Crandall during a political appearance, to her
journey towards discovery and truth that ultimately connects May and Avery in
more ways than just a dragonfly bracelet.
Lisa Wingate, a former journalist accounts the devastation
and heartbreak from Georgia Tann’s thirty years of unlawful child abductions
and adoptions under the Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home
Society, along with her vast network of accomplices, resulting in the death and
mistreatment of countless children, “In a four-month period in 1945, a
dysentery epidemic had caused the deaths of forty to fifty children under the
care of Georgia’s facility…” (Wingate 337).
She shares the fictional Foss children and the “true-life story of the
Tennessee Children’s Home Society” to remind us that children are a treasure,
“…babies and children, no matter what corner of the world they hail from, are
not commodities, or objects, or blank slates, Georgia Tann so often represented
her wards; they are human beings with histories, and needs, and hopes, and dreams
of their own,” (Wingate 339).
Subject Headings
Brothers and Sisters
Orphanages
Appeal
Frame/ Setting
“World-building is crucial in Historical Fiction. In these books readers discover a wealth of
details relating to the setting as well as to characters and events,” (Saricks
292). Wingate vibrantly illustrates the
culture of the river boat family in contrast to the prestigious lifestyle of
the Stafford family. While Avery describes
the “Stafford sense of duty” (44) and “rock star treatment because of my family
name,” (49), Rill talks about the difficult life on the shanty boat, “..there’s
nothing more to do but go in the shanty and figure out how we’re gonna
eat. All we’ve got is the one cornpone
cake and some pears…” (39). Wingate successfully emphasizes the cultural
extremes, society and geographical differences between the wealthy families and
the poor families struggling on the shanty boats.
Mood/ Tone
The mood established in a Historical Fiction novel can range
from foreboding to heartwarming, “Mood is everywhere in this genre,” (Saricks
294). Because of the variety of possible
tones in this genre, the reader may want to anticipate the mood of a book
before beginning, “Since these tone and mood terms are so effective when we
talk with readers-allowing us to offer a revealing glimpse of how the book
might affect them- we need to be aware of mood as we read…” (Saricks 294). Wingate relates the deep fear and desperation
of the young Foss children, alternating with Avery’s light and humorous journey
to find truth. While Rill’s love for her
father, Briny is expressed in the backdrop of uncertainty and hardship,
“Briny’s a good hustler….mostly now he hustles pool and plays [piano] for
things he can trade off to get what we need,” (34), Avery’s pride and bond with
her father is regularly emphasized, “There is not, anywhere, a stronger man or
better man than my dad,” (Wingate 8). Avery’s
witty thoughts add a sense of comfort to the otherwise turbulent tone, “The
good life demands a lot of maintenance,” (Wingate 114).
Story Line
Before We Were Yours
describes a particular period of time, 1939-1950, and follows the life of Rill
Foss from a 12-year old kidnapped youth to an elderly adult, “Story lines in
Historical Fiction generally emphasize either a particular time or event or
they follow the lives of characters in a time,” (Saricks 294). The
reader learns about survival in real-life facilities run by Georgia Tann from
the fictional character of Rill Foss, “Although this is an intimate
first-person account, the narrator and the other characters are not famous
historical figures but people of their time caught up in an event,” (Saricks
294). Because unjust acts of Georgia Tann greatly impact Rill Foss, it is
difficult to determine whether the event or the character is of greater
importance in Before We Were Yours,
“In some Historical novels, the distinction between event-centered and
character-or family-centered is harder to make,” (Saricks 296).
Pacing:
Urgency and dreadful anticipation surround Rill’s narration
as she struggles to keep her siblings safe, “In many [Historical novels] there
is an immediacy to the pacing that pulls the reader quickly into the story,”
(Saricks 297). Rill tries to calm her
younger sisters during their first morning in the Tennessee Children’s Home
Society, “Sssshhh!’ She’s [Camellia] so loud, I half expect the door to swing
open and we’ll all be in a fix,” (Wingate 103).
Calmness and heartwarming reflection provide a comforting
mood throughout Avery’s narration, “The paddle trip brought back long-lost
memories of a sixth-grade excursion to Edisto with my dad. The memory is still golden, even all these
years later,” (Wingate 190). Wingate
successful employs two distinct moods alternating with Rill and Avery’s
narration and offering the reader an intense glimpse into the minds and hearts
of the characters.
Style/ Language
Rill uses the unsophisticated language of growing up in a
river boat, pulling the reader into the struggles of 1939, “It’s a sunny day
and hot as fry grease in the house…I skitter around the fig tree and go up
under the azaleas to listen,” (Wingate 135).
Avery uses polished language throughout her family relations and public
appearances, “I give the prescribed response about whether or not I am being
groomed for my father’s Senate seat,” (Wingate 31). Avery and Rill’s language emphasize the
drastic differences between their worlds, “Dialect can intensify a reader’s
reaction…” (Saricks 298).
Read Alikes
Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain (2013): Orphaned Ivy Hart, 15 years old, must care
for her elderly grandmother, mentally unstable older sister and nephew as they
struggle to work on a small tobacco farm in rural North Carolina. Ivy doesn’t realize how much help she needs
until social worker Jane Forrester gets involved, pulling the Hart family close
and discovery dark secrets at the farm.
Similar to Rill Foss, in When We
Were Yours, Ivy Hart takes on the role of provider for her weak family,
working and struggling at a rural tobacco farm.
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
(2013): Molly Ayers, 18 years old and
nearing the end of her child welfare experience, meets Vivian Daly as community service forces
Molly to assist Vivian in cleaning out the 91 year old’s attic. Sifting through attic boxes and chests, Molly
uncovers Vivian’s turbulent past as a young Irish Immigrant, shipped to the
western United States on an orphan train, and discovers unexpected connections
with Vivian that Molly never suspected.
Similar to the Foss siblings in When
We Were Yours, Molly and Vivian, although generations apart, share an
orphaned girl’s experience and both strive to answer buried questions.
First Desire by Nancy Reisman (2005): Adult
siblings Sadie, Jo, Goldie and Irving Cohen offer alternative narratives of
their lives from the Great Depression to just after WWII and their buried
secrets. After Rebecca Cohen’s death,
her husband, Abe escapes into the arms of Lillian, leaving, Goldie, the eldest,
to watch over the others. Each with
their own ailments and handicaps, Goldie’s sudden disappearance encourages
healing. It takes another family crisis
to eventually bring Goldie home. Similar
to the Foss siblings, in When We Were Yours,
the Cohen children, without parents, must rely on one another. First
Desire dives into the ensemble of sibling personalities and echoes the
loneliness each child endures.
Works Cited
Saricks, Joyce. The
Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, American Library Association,
2009.
Wingate, Lisa. Before We Were Yours, Ballantine Books,
2017.
