Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
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.
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.
Before We Were Yours cover art

Before We Were Yours

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

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

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

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

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.

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

Summary

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

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
    910
  • 4 Stars
    240
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    880
  • 4 Stars
    164
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    836
  • 4 Stars
    209
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 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

Well written. A gripping story, and good narrators

I really enjoyed this book, even though the love story was a bit obvious. Although these people didn't exist, the stories are based on history, so it was very gripping. Hard to imagine what the parents and children went through.
The narration was spot on. I liked having two narrators for Rill and Averly because it made the story easier to follow.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

26 people found this helpful

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

thoroughly enjoyed it

Little bit slow to start but once it got going I was hooked.

I really enjoyed this story but it wasn't without it's faults. Rill's narration was far more interesting than Avery's, and I found Avery to be a little dense for such a smart woman.

The narration was great.

I think what I found most interesting was it was based on true events and since reading this book I've looked up a lot to do with the orphanage.

I would recommend this listen.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

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

Excellent production

Fascinating and very moving account of an era totally outside my experiences; brilliant narration ; I highly recommend this book

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

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

I loved this book

This is a fabulous book. It is a sad story beautifully told. I loved this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

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

An Interesting Historic Fiction

I really enjoyed this book which is about Georgia Tann who was orchestrator of true life scandalous adoptions in America. Though it is fiction, it is based on fact. This book is well written and narrated.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

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

A roller coaster of emotions... a thought provoking and powerful story!

I had never heard of Georgia Tann, and the pain and suffering she caused to 100s of families and although this is a work of fiction based on real life events, it hit me right between the eyes.
I couldn’t stop listening as I really wanted to know what happened to this family and often I would sit with tears rolling down my face.
This book is a roller coaster of emotions and the author and narrators convey this is a way that is thought provoking and sensitive.
I loved (probably the wrong choice of words, given the subject matter) this book and felt a real empathy towards the fictional and real life children and their families and their stories that this book was based on.
Sadly trafficking of children still exists and although this was in the 1930s it just goes to show that people are still prepared to put money and power before anything.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

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

More than expected

I was expecting a novel about orphans but this is based on truth. The story is nevertheless a real page turner. The author gives some further reading at the end.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

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

Wow. Heart wrenching & unputdownable

Not sure what I was expecting, but this was the best book I’ve ‘read’ in some time. Very difficult to listen to at times. Avery, was a welcome modern day antidote to the travesties of the past, Even more powerful because of its basis in fact. Kingdom Arcadia will stay with me for sometime.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Beautifully narrated story which shines a light on a very unsavoury episode in American history

I really enjoyed this book. The story, which is based on a true scandal in the 1930’s, is told from two perspectives, one of a 12 year old child in 1939, and the other a modern career woman. Their stories intertwine in a pretty obvious way. The exploitation of children by the Tennessee Children’s Society is shocking, and the way in which this use of children who were maltreated and then sold on for adoption has obvious links to the slavery practices of the previous century.

The two narrators are superb, and manage to differentiate between a host of characters in a way which brings the characters to life.

Altogether a great book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful