It’s First Line Friday, which means it’s time to open the book nearest you and share the first line. Today I’m sharing from Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. It’s an NYT bestseller. It’s also the winner of the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards for historical fiction (which is kind of odd, as it’s set in the past and the present). From what I’ve read so far, it totally deserves the award.
Here’s the first line:
About Before We Were Yours
Born into a world of wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all. A loving daughter to her father, a US senator, with her own ambitious career as a lawyer and a handsome fiancé waiting for her in Baltimore, she has lived a charmed life.
But when Avery returns to Aiken to help her father weather a health crisis and a political attack, a chance encounter with May Crandall, an elderly woman she’s never met before, leaves Avery deeply shaken. Avery’s decision to learn more about May’s life will take her on a journey through a hidden history of stolen children and illegal adoption. A journey that will reveal a secret that could lead to devastation…or 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.
(Yes, for some unknown reason, the Kindle and hardcover versions have different covers).
You can find Before We Were Yours online at:
Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong
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You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.
And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.
I really want to read this one!
I’m featuring the first line from the SECOND chapter of Mesu Andrews’ ‘Isaiah’s Daughter’ on my blog (since the first line of chapter one is on Hoarding Books this week), but right now I’m going to share the first line from ‘Fatal Mistake’ by Susan Sleeman:
“He was coming for her, and he was close.”
Have a great weekend!
It’s amazing! It deserves all those raving reviews.
Have a great weekend!
My first line today (that I’m also sharing on my blog) is from Melissa Tagg’s From the Start. “How in the world had rain earned such a romantic rep?”
I hope you have a great weekend!
I didn’t know rain had a romantic rep. What am I missing?
Thanks for sharing!
Over on my blog I’m sharing the first line from Heather Day Gilbert’s latest “Guilt by Association” It is the 3rd book in her Murder in the Mountains series. I’ll share here the first line from chapter 4.
“Without a doubt, the number five trailer is the prettiest place in Scots’ Hollow.”
Have a wonderful weekend!
Guilt by Association is on my to-read list. I’ve only read the first in the series, but I really enjoyed it.
You have a wonderful weekend too!
I really want to read this one. I’ve heard so many amazing things about it.
I’m sharing about The Melody of the Soul by Liz Tolsma on my blog today, but I’ll share a first line from a book on my soon-to-read list here.
Your first thought upon picking up this book is probably: How can a person born without any limbs consider himself to to be the hands and feet of Jesus on this Earth?
-Be the Hands and Feet: Living Out God’s Love for All His Children by Nick Vujicic
Happy weekend!
Nick Vujicic is such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing!
This book! Soooo good.
The snow in middle Tennessee melted enough that my mailman finally showed up with a few packages in hand (a few of the books I’ve been waiting on). I pulled the first line to share from one of those:
Her head throbbed and grogginess gripped her.
–Thread of Revenge by Elizabeth Goddard
Book mail – the best kind! Thanks for stopping by!
The book I’m sharing on my blog this week is Runaway Bride by Mary Connealy. I will share here the first line from a children’s book I just finished reading by A. Lynn Basset called The Boy and The Clock Book. “Tick-tock, tick-tock. Only three minutes stood between Charlie Higgins and the best summer ever!” Have a great weekend!
Sounds like a great book for kids. Thanks for sharing!
Love Lisa Wingate! My book club had the pleasure of hosting her for a book signing. My first line comes from my current read, Coldwater by Samuel Parker. “The day was born in darkness.”
Hosting Lisa Wingate for a book signing – that would have been a pleasure.
Thanks for sharing.
Hosting Lisa Wingate for a book signing – that would have been a pleasure.
Thanks for sharing.
Happy Friday! My first line is from Callum’s Compass by Sara L. Foust:
“A persistent knock at the front door dragged Kat Williams awake.”
Thanks for sharing. Have a great weekend!
I can’t wait to read this book!!
My current first line is from The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright –
“Death had a way of creeping up on a soul, and Ivy Thorpe was determined that when it visited her, she would not be surprised.”
This is still on my to-read pile. It promises plenty of suspense!
I keep seeing this one around, especially considering it’s a NYT Bestseller! Clearly it must be deserving. And that first line is definitely intriguing!
Yes, it deserves all the awards and rave reviews. Thanks for visiting!
I’ve got this one on my wish list.
PROLOGUE
Two Years Earlier
Renee huddled in the garden shed in her pajamas and tried to hear him over the pounding of her heart in her ears. – Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble
Happy Friday and happy reading!
It’s definitely worth reading. Have a great weekend!
Fascinating first line!
Happy Friday!
Over on my blog, I am featuring Brett Armstrong’s novel Destitutio Quod Remissio. It’s an interesting read so far. Here I will post the first lines from chapter four of this book.
“The streets were filled beyond the usual that day, or perhaps it only appeared so to Marcus. The market district was expansive enough to accommodate thousands. Over it looked the tall stone buildings surrounding the huge open Forum that was the city’s center for centuries. All of the grand structures were washed white by the noon’s radiance and loomed large over the transactions of Rome’s citizens.”
I have run into this adoption stands often in mysteries. It seems to be a favorite theme. I have read THE ORPHAN TRAIN by Christine Baker Kline some time ago. I need to read other books about as I do have childhood memories about the trains.
Today I am featuring one of my favorite series, Mattie Winston. The link is
http://wordpress.com/view/idahobluebird50.com
I can’t remember who had this book as an #FLF within the last few months, but she directed me to the non-fiction (of course) story. Have you read it? If not, its called The Baby Thief by Barbara Raymond. It’s not the BEST book ever, but the only one I have found or been recommended on the topic of Georgia Tann. The stories are so heartbreaking, those poor children. So many childhoods and families destroyed.
Lisa Wingate listed several references in the back of the book. Basing the novel on a true story did provide a ring of authenticity, but also made it all the more heartbreaking. I suspect reading a book about Georgia Tann and her crimes would make me very angry. She died before she could be punished for her crimes, but I guess that means she’s received her eternal judgement.