“Before We Were Yours” is a novel inspired by true events, about a Memphis adoption organization that stole and sold children to wealthy families. The novel begins with the story about five siblings being taken away one night from their idyllic home in Memphis in the year 1939.
The story focuses on the eldest sibling, Rill, and her struggle to protect her brothers and sisters, after discovering that the adoption facility is a cruel and vile place. After these events are recounted, the novel jumps into present time, and it introduces the character of Avery, whose journey takes her to discover a disturbing and sad past.
The novel is important because it sheds light on the disturbing past about the Tennessee adoption center through the fictional characters, the cruel fates of the children that were ripped apart from their families and forced to go through horrendous abuse. It shows how the system failed the innocent and unprotected, because of how long this had gone on.
