Therapy Bits

Category: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

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. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancee, 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 — Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

Comments:

This is one of the most poignant and compelling stories I can recall ever reading. It alternates between Rill’s story in the past and Avery’s story in the present. Emily Rankin narrates Avery’s chapters and Catherine Taber narrates Rill’s chapters. Both narrator’s performances are outstanding. This very moving story and these vividly drawn characters are likely to stay with me for a long time. I can’t recommend this story highly enough.

I listened to the commercial edition of this audiobook from audible.

Rating: 5 out of 5