This is BEFORE WE WERE YOURS audiobook (rate this post or leave a comment to share your opinion about this audios, and if you have more information about this audios please leave comments to share. Thank @Adam for sharing this audios). Lets play BEFORE WE WERE YOURS full audios free online in the audio player below.
The novel is set in two different time periods. The first is in Memphis, Tennessee in 1939, where we meet the Foss family. The Foss family is a poor family that lives on a shantyboat on the Mississippi River. The family consists of Briny, Queenie, and their five children: Rill, Camellia, Lark, Fern, and Gabion. The second time period is in present-day South Carolina, where we meet Avery Stafford, a successful lawyer and daughter of a prominent senator.
The novel begins with Avery Stafford returning to her hometown of Aiken, South Carolina to attend a political event with her father. While at the event, Avery meets an elderly woman named May Crandall, who mistakes Avery for someone else. May shows Avery a photograph of a woman who looks exactly like her grandmother, and Avery becomes curious about her family’s past. Avery begins to investigate her family’s history and discovers a connection to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society.
The novel then switches to the perspective of Rill Foss, the oldest child in the Foss family. Rill and her siblings are kidnapped from their shantyboat by the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and taken to the organization’s headquarters in Memphis. The children are separated from each other and forced to live in terrible conditions. Rill is determined to keep her siblings together and escape from the organization’s clutches.
As the novel progresses, we see Avery uncovering more and more about her family’s past and the connection to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. We also see Rill and her siblings struggle to survive in the organization’s care and try to find a way back to their family.
One of the strengths of the audiobook version of Before We Were Yours is the narration by Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber. Rankin narrates the sections of the novel that take place in the past, while Taber narrates the sections that take place in the present. Both narrators do an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and conveying the emotions of the story.
Another strength of the audiobook is the way the story is structured. The novel switches back and forth between the perspectives of Rill and Avery, and the audiobook does an excellent job of making it clear when the perspective is changing. The audiobook also includes a helpful cast of characters at the beginning, which is especially useful for keeping track of the large cast of characters in the sections that take place in the past.
The novel itself is a powerful and emotional story that sheds light on a dark chapter in American history. The Tennessee Children’s Home Society was a real organization that kidnapped and sold children for profit, and the novel does an excellent job of bringing this story to light. The novel also explores themes of family, identity, and the power of the past to shape the present.
One of the criticisms of the novel is that it can be overly sentimental at times. The novel is certainly emotional, and some readers may find the sentimentality to be too much. However, the emotional impact of the story is what makes it so powerful, and the audiobook does an excellent job of conveying this emotion.
Overall, the audiobook version of Before We Were Yours is an excellent way to experience this powerful and emotional story. The narration by Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber is excellent, and the structure of the story is well-suited to the audiobook format. The novel sheds light on a dark chapter in American history and explores themes of family, identity, and the power of the past to shape the present.