Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Inden vi blev jeres

I was primarily interested in the historical timeline of this book, so I guess I should have read something nonfiction on the subject instead. I did enjoy parts of this, but it was also a bit circuitous in ways?

The modern timeline was not enjoyable, like a Southern version of a Debbie Macomber book. It’s a feat to bore me with a plot about someone trying to find out secrets that I’m already invested in!

I have to sadly say that both of these were drowned out to me by a chorus of conservative, even racist, dogwhistles. Everything an author includes in a book is a choice. Confederate roses are a choice. A character in modern day using an old, *moved* slave cabin as a workshop is a choice. Saying that your sister is glaring at you and looks like a Chinaman doing laundry is a choice. It appears that a lot of readers are fine with these choices. I will be choosing to be more cautious with my White Woman Fiction reading selections in the future.

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sarahmerfi's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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lisaann23's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

When a book stays with you, you know it is well written. I thought about the characters (and missed them) long after the book ended. It is a heavy subject, but still has much hope within it.

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forgetfullucy17's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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beckcatbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional

4.5

God, this story. This shines a light on an important but also devastating piece of history, and I’m equal parts heartbroken and incensed by the lives that were affected by this. Rill Foss has my heart and her story will stick with me for a long time.

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sarah_amy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book both had and broke my heart. I cared so much about Rill/May, her siblings and all the other children, and Avery's investigation among it all. I went in completely blind with this book, so was floored to know this is based on real events and that Georgia Tann was the person behind all the horror. I was less interested in the political side of it all and the romance felt a bit forced (not a bad match, just unnecessary). It would have been a 5 star on the investigation and flashbacks to Rill/May's past alone, but the politics/romance almost felt like I was being interrupted by a side story.

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lindseymeown's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I loved the movement between timelines from granddaughter Avery’s present day narrative, following the threads of her curiosity about her ailing and aging grandmother while oscillating back and forth between her duty to her prominent family name and her own desires for her life trajectory, and the story of Rill and her siblings navigating the Great Depression, a whole gaggle of shantyboat river children caught up in Memphis social worker Tann’s web of forced, and thereby false, orphanhood and Rill’s resulting quest to keep her family together.

Y’all, the reality behind this historical fiction story, included in an author’s note at the book’s end, is actually wild— like, a 30-year track of what was essentially state-sanctioned child-trafficking in the name of child protection and then labeled as adoption. During her work with the adoption agency known as the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis, Georgia Tann made the equivalent of ten million dollars in today-money by literally stealing children from poor people and selling them to the highest bidder, placing babies and young children into situations of molestatjon, abuse, neglect, and leading to the death of who knows how many while they waited to be moved into permanent new homes with their wealthy new families.

Like, this one left me with a big how and why and what the hell, so I’ll be over here in a research rabbit hole for a bit if you’re looking for me.

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ajay913's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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