ebook_em's Reviews (960)

I listened to this audiobook because this had been on my TBR list for a while and it was immediately available at the library. I had high hopes because it was a Goodreads Choice winner in 2017, but I was disappointed.

Before We Were Yours is a historical ficiton novel based on the true story of the Tennesse Children’s Home Society, which kidnapped poor children and sold them to wealthy families for adoption during the early 20th century. Most of the plot centers around the atrocities overseen by Georgia Tann. There are two POV characters: Rill, who is one of the kidnapped children, and Avery, a senator’s daughter in the present day who tries to unearth her family’s connection to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society.

My biggest issue with this book is that it exploits a primary villain, Georgia Tann, to paint the adoption scandal as a singular incident rather than a systemic problem that persists to this day. The author’s note at the end of the book alludes to more widespread issues, mentioning that Georgia Tann’s perception of low-income blonde children as “blank slates” partly formed the ideological basis of the modern adoption system. However, all the sources she references in the author’s note center around the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and she fails to acknowledge how private adoption agencies and the family policing system continue to traumatize children today. This acknowledgment is, of course, absent from the novel itself as well. I don’t necessarily think that historical fiction authors must connect their subject matter to modern day manifestations, but the choice not to do so when a POV character is literally a federal prosecutor and aspiring politician seems like a missed opportunity at best. At several points, the characters seem to harp on the exceptional nature of the scandal. Though I felt empathy for the Foss children and the horrors they endured, I also felt like the author relied heavily on “perfect victim” tropes, making this story feel very white.

Unfortunately, the writing style, characters, and plot did not redeem this book for me. I found Avery to be an insufferable character with unclear motivations. It was difficult to care about her wealthy political family worrying about their reputation. I didn’t understand the romance subplot or why the Foss sisters felt the need to remain apart in their adult lives. The end of the book was very rushed. Giving this an extra half star for the depiction of love between sisters, but overall this was a disappointing read.