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wren_in_black 's review for:
Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate
Oh. My. Heart.
This story is so sad. I've hidden this entire review, because I don't think I can talk about it without spoilers.
Avery is a breath of fresh air. I've been reading too much YA and it's nice to read about a 30 year old woman, especially one who isn't married and doesn't have children yet. At 28 I am married, but don't have children. My ten year school reunion is in less than a month and I'm one of the very few without kids. It feels good to see this portrayed as normal. Her tenacity and nosiness remind me of myself as well.
Rill's story might be the most heartbreaking. She's the only one who really remembers Arcadia and also has the knowledge of how the "kingdom" fell. I wish she knew if Briney actually died on the river or not. Her final chapter of what-ifs, of what might have changed if she grew up on the river were haunting and beautiful. I am so glad that she was able to stay with Judy at the end. Would she have given it up to stay? Rill Foss would have. Mae, probably not. She is in some ways two people, but in many others, still just one.
Judy's story wasn't as sad to me while reading, but now that I'm finished it does weigh on me too. She had no memories of Queenie. Her birth set this all in motion. She never met her twin brother. She never met her other brother or one of her sisters. She must have been a wife already, and maybe even a mother, when she learned her true birth story.
I've always searched through my genealogy. And I will push anyone who knew my grandmother for stories of her. She had Alzheimer's like Judy and I was in junior high when she lost most of herself. What questions I would ask her now if I could. I imagine this might be a touch of how Judy would have felt.
I can't imagine how the real children and women and fathers and siblings behind this story felt. Briney's story is perhaps even more sad than that of the sisters. He was so broken he would have killed two of his daughters without understanding it because he lost his wife and other children, and with them his entire life. He must have felt like a failure.
I'd love to have someone to discuss this book with at length, so send me a message if you'd like to do the same.
This story is so sad. I've hidden this entire review, because I don't think I can talk about it without spoilers.
Avery is a breath of fresh air. I've been reading too much YA and it's nice to read about a 30 year old woman, especially one who isn't married and doesn't have children yet. At 28 I am married, but don't have children. My ten year school reunion is in less than a month and I'm one of the very few without kids. It feels good to see this portrayed as normal. Her tenacity and nosiness remind me of myself as well.
Rill's story might be the most heartbreaking. She's the only one who really remembers Arcadia and also has the knowledge of how the "kingdom" fell. I wish she knew if Briney actually died on the river or not. Her final chapter of what-ifs, of what might have changed if she grew up on the river were haunting and beautiful. I am so glad that she was able to stay with Judy at the end. Would she have given it up to stay? Rill Foss would have. Mae, probably not. She is in some ways two people, but in many others, still just one.
Judy's story wasn't as sad to me while reading, but now that I'm finished it does weigh on me too. She had no memories of Queenie. Her birth set this all in motion. She never met her twin brother. She never met her other brother or one of her sisters. She must have been a wife already, and maybe even a mother, when she learned her true birth story.
I've always searched through my genealogy. And I will push anyone who knew my grandmother for stories of her. She had Alzheimer's like Judy and I was in junior high when she lost most of herself. What questions I would ask her now if I could. I imagine this might be a touch of how Judy would have felt.
I can't imagine how the real children and women and fathers and siblings behind this story felt. Briney's story is perhaps even more sad than that of the sisters. He was so broken he would have killed two of his daughters without understanding it because he lost his wife and other children, and with them his entire life. He must have felt like a failure.
I'd love to have someone to discuss this book with at length, so send me a message if you'd like to do the same.