Before We Were Yours

 Lisa Wingate wrote the historical fiction Before We Were Yours. I was unaware of Georgia Tann, the infamous child trafficker of Tennessee. Georgia worked for the Tennessee Children's Home Society. Once appointed head of the agency she began the black market sale of children in 1924. She took children from families under false pretenses. She would go to hospitals and have parents sign away their rights while the mothers were still under sedation. She targeted children with blonde hair and green or blue eyes. Tennessee had a law written to avoid the black market sale of children saying the state would pay only $7 per adoption. Georgia sold most of her children to rich families in New York or California. The actress Joan Crawford adopted two children from the Tennessee Children's Home Society. She had such a thriving business she resorted to stealing children who were walking home from school. Some mothers who had just given birth were told their babies died when actually they were taken by Georgia Tann. Georgia was able to bribe a local judge and law enforcement to help conceal her crimes. She lived a lavish life style while the children in her homes were malnourished and abused. Sometimes she extorted more money from the adoptive parents by claiming the real parents wanted the children back. Georgia Tann was finally busted in 1950 and she died of uterine cancer before she could be sentenced. This novel takes an example of a family whose children were taken. Five siblings live on a houseboat tethered near Memphis. When the mother labors with twins, the father takes her to the hospital. While there the mother is told her twins have died. When the parents get back to their houseboat their older five children are gone. The Tennessee took seven children from these poor parents. Most of the story is told from Rill's point of view. Rill is the eldest of the seven siblings and although none of this is her fault, she feels guilty for not doing more to keep her family together. This was a really good book.