THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times USA Today Wall Street
Journal and Publishers Weekly BestsellerPoignant engrossing.”—People • Lisa Wingate takes an
almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula
McLainMemphis 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 fiancé 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.Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the
Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book SelectionThis edition includes a new
essay by the author about shantyboat life.
