Smithfield Critics Book Discussion Group – “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate

In Memphis in 1939, twelve year old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat.  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.  In Aiken, South Carolina in the present day, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon.  When Avery returns home to help her father during 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.