I did that thing that pisses me off when other people do it. I got a book from the library that sounded good, didn’t just snatch it from the shelf but took the time to request it and then go pick it up once my name got to the top of the list. Then I bring the book home and…don’t read it. I Just kinda put it in a pile with other books I want to read and left it there. sigh.
Then when the book is due and I try to renew it only to discover I can’t because 22 other people are waiting for it I don’t immediately return it, I keep it another couple days and finally read it.
I get so irritated when I’m on a waiting list for a book and people have over due copies and yet, this week, that person was me. *rolls eyes*
On a good note, I read the book today and am taking it back tomorrow, so others can stop cursing me lol
On to the book review!
It is a fictional story based on a true event, something I tend to find fascinating, well, if it is written well, which this book is.
The story is told in two timelines. We follow Avery in present day who is part of a prominent family, has her life all mapped out for her, she stumbles across what might be an old family scandal so she goes digging to find out more. Then there is Rill, her story starts back in the late 1930’s, she is the oldest child in a poor but happy family. All the children are taken to a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage even though they aren’t orphans and experience horrible things over the coming months all while trying to figure out how to get back to their parents.
The story of Rill and her siblings intersects with Avery and her family in ways I won’t detail since I don’t want to spoil the story for you. Suffice to say you are left to do some detective work alongside Avery as you try to sort out the mystery, while suffering alongside poor Rill and her siblings as they go through things no children should.
Avery, Rill, and the other children and family members in this book are fiction, the orphanage, woman who ran it, and the way children were sold as commodities, are true. A woman named Georgia Tann ran a bizarre organization that flourished thanks to bribing various officials, having a large spotting network to help her find suitable looking children to kidnap, and the lack of regulation within the adoption system at that time.
It really is amazing, in a horrible way, what she was able to get away with for so long.
Despite how dark I am making it seem it isn’t a depressing book. It is an easy read, it all just sort of flows along. I liked a lot of the characters, even the annoying ones lol, I don’t want to discuss the ending because I don’t like giving spoilers but it won’t make you unhappy…probably…how would I know what ending you would prefer? 😉 lol
So there you have it, my first book review…hopefully I get better at this! 😀
The Amazing Shrinking Woman 