THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT--A New York Times, USA Today,Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller
For readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a "thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two families, two generations apart . . . based on a notorious true-life scandal."*
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.
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.
*Library Journal
Publishers Weekly's #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 * Winner of the Southern Book Prize * If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection
"A [story] of a family lost and found . . . a poignant, engrossing tale about sibling love and the toll of secrets."--People
"Sure to be one of the most compelling books you pick up this year. . . . Wingate is a master-storyteller, and you'll find yourself pulled along as she reveals the wake of terror and heartache that is Georgia Tann's legacy."--Parade
"One of the year's best books . . . It is impossible not to get swept up in this near-perfect novel."--The Huffington Post