Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.
Where to start? First, months ago I had began typing this post and I had thought that I had saved it to come back to proof before posting. Sigh. I didn’t save it and for some reason (technology hates me sometimes) the auto save function didn’t save anything except the title. So here we are now! Months later and it is my goal to get this blog up to date and it all starts with this book.
Before We Were Yours- Book Discussion- take 2.
This book. Even though it has been months since I have read this novel and since the Dine & Opine discussion, I still remember so many points of discussion. All members were in agreement that this book is amazing. Building this story around the history of stealing children and selling them, with higher authorities in the know, created an unforgettable read.
One point of discussion that came up during Dine & Opine’s conversation was regarding adoptions. There are so many questions that come to mind surrounding adoptions. When adopting a baby/toddler- when do you, the parent, tell the child? Is it something that you choose to acknowledge immediately? Or is it something that you choose to wait til a time that works for everyone? When adopting an older child- there are memories that the child has, perhaps traditions (holidays) that they, the child, might want to hang onto and continue. How do you, the parent(s), work with the child to make them feel at home?
These questions, and many others were asked during our discussion. I think one reason is that in this heartbreaking story, the children never had a say, no one listened. They were made into new personas and had to live their storylines set up by complete strangers. The new parents unaware, for the most part, of the truth behind these orphans were then trying to build a family with a fictional glue.