Title: Before and After
Author: Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate
Major Themes: Adoption, Georgia Tann, Abuse
Synopsis: After the story of Georgia Tann’s corrupt child-selling business was uncovered in the well-known novel Before We Were Yours, adoptees discovered their own connections with the story and many were reunited with their birth families.
Two or three years ago, I came across the audiobook of Before We Were Yours. The story captured my imagination, and by the time I finished it, it had taken its place as one of my top ten books that year. It was an excellent story, and even now, it ranks as one of the most touching novels I’ve ever read. When I saw Before and After, I was intrigued—how often do you get to read a book about how a novel changed people’s lives? This turned out to be an interesting true-life follow-up to the story, one I recently enjoyed listening to.
Publisher’s description:
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal—some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach.
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents—hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.
The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.
Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children’s Home Society reunion…with extraordinary results.
My thoughts:
I’ve always had a heart for people who grew up as fostered or adopted children. Their lives can be so difficult—frequently, there are far too many unanswered questions or deep hurts. Compound that with the likes of Georgia Tann’s child-selling business and falsified adoption records, and you have a recipe for a lot more hurt. This story doesn’t focus on that aspect so much, though, as on the hope and healing Lisa Wingate’s story brought people. For the first time, adoptees were able to start piecing together what happened in their histories, and the results were often beautiful.
I enjoyed getting the dual perspectives of Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate in Before and After. Hearing how they worked together to try to help people was inspiring, and I loved the way they were able to give a voice to many who were previously voiceless through these pages. The stories of the adoptees were often heartbreaking, but also frequently hopeful—it was touching to be able to hear their perspectives on how they were treated as children.
If you enjoy books about adopted children, or have read Before We Were Yours (which I’d highly encourage you to read, if you haven’t!), I’d recommend you check out this book. Some aspects are difficult to hear, but it’s also a special testament to the resiliency of our human nature and the hope that, ultimately, things will work out for the best. A worthwhile read!
WARNING: Chapter 1: Oh my gosh. Chapter 3: My gracious. Chapter 5: Oh my gosh (twice). Chapter 6: Oh my God, story of a married man coming in at night and climbing into bed with a girl’s mother, my God. Chapter 7: Damn, Lordy lordy. Chapter 15: Darn, damn, mention of astrology. Chapter 18: Oh my gosh.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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