Before We Were Yours cover art

Before We Were Yours

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Before We Were Yours

By: Lisa Wingate
Narrated by: Catherine Taber, Emily Rankin
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But 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....

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather 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, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals, in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country, Before We Were Yours is a riveting, wrenching and ultimately uplifting tale.

©2017 Lisa Wingate (P)2017 Random House Audio
Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Wedding Adoption Emotionally Gripping Feel-Good Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Fostering Celebrity American History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Things We Cannot Say cover art
There's Something I Have to Tell You cover art
Sisters cover art
Larkspur Cove cover art
Tending Roses cover art
Falling Home cover art
Night Road cover art
The Beach Trees cover art
Double Forté cover art
True Colors cover art
The Truthful Story cover art
Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers cover art
Out of Darkness cover art
The Silent Wife cover art
This I Know cover art
Summer's Child cover art

Critic reviews

"Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation's history and weaves a tale of enduring power." (Paula McLain)

What listeners say about Before We Were Yours

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    938
  • 4 Stars
    240
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    903
  • 4 Stars
    168
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    860
  • 4 Stars
    211
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen

I really enjoyed this book. The best listen I’ve had in ages. I’d recommend it to anyone

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Was very moved by half of the story. The love story was unnecessary and bored me . The boat children stayed with me and I enjoyed their parts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautifull told tale about families and secrets

An intriguing plot.Interesting characters.Excellent storytelling. Beautiful descriptions of river life. Hearbreaking in parts
Highly recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

A moving and richly detailed story that stands as fiction but is shocking as fact. The pace feels measured although a lot happens. The writing and performances were beautifully done.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enthralling!

I really loved this book. It was heart breaking and heart warming all at the same time. Made all the more heart breaking by the fact that the back story is based on real events. Narration was excellent - would thoroughly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautifully written story.

The book carefully weaves the web through this amazing family history.
Sadly the authors’s note at the end reveals, although this was a work of fiction, the story could have been a true life story of literally thousands of children spanning several decades, under the hands of Georgia Tann
Child trafficking in ways most of us would never think possible.
A truly thought provoking read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautifully written, compellingly told story.

I could not stop listening to this book! I loved the interwieving of past and present and the complex and colourful characters. The story was both heartbreaking and hopeful. It's made all the more poignant but the fact that this is based on a true story, a story of horror but also of determination and love.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply wonderful

Beautifully read, this book opens up the story of children as commodities during the American depression. Sounds like it could be hard going, but it is so well written, you just can’t stop listening! Ultimately uplifting and with a post-script authors note providing clarity and further sources. Highly recommend. If you love the intrigue of Rebecca, the mystery and beauty of Where the Crawdads Sing and have an open heart, this is the book for you!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant

I couldn't put this book down. it had me engaged the whole way through. The narrator was excellent also.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping & moving - brilliant

Loved this book, from start to end.
Corruption, power, money and entitlement - and the power of the human spirit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!