Before We Were Yours is a story about families torn apart by Social Injustice. Told from two different points of view: Rill, now known as May, who experienced horrors most of us can’t even begin to imagine; and Avery, a former Federal Prosecutor and the Daughter of a Senator, who feels the need to live up to her families’ expectations at all times. Allison is a senior sibling to Avery and has four children; triplet boys, and a girl Courtney about her 10th year. Allison and Avery share a close sisterly bond as the former sees the latter as a good distraction from raising a home full of kids. Avery begins digging into the past. She is determined to uncover the connection between her grandmother, who suffers from dementia, and the mysterious woman that she met at the nursing home. In her brief moments of lucidity, her grandmother's appears to light up with recognition when she mentions May. However, she is less than forthcoming. Avery is left to follow the cryptic clues if she wants to unearth her grandmother's secrets, knowing it may be the downfall of her highly public family. But the love of sisters needs no words. It does not depend on memories, or mementos, or proof. It runs as deep as a heartbeat. It is as ever present as a pulse.

Chapter two brings readers to present-day Aiken, South Carolina, to the world of Avery Stafford, a young and intelligent lawyer and daughter of senator Wells Stafford. She is attending an event at a nursing home with her father. Avery had traveled several miles – temporarily leaving her job and fiancé, Elliot – to be with her family and care for her chronically ill father with the intent to replace him in the US senate should the illness persist.

“Before We Were Yours Summary”

So, forgive us for merely repeating what Cooper wrote a year ago: take “Before We Were Yours” with you on your summer holiday. The story is a dual story line: one features a family of children who were taken from their parents, and spent time in the home before being separated and adopted, while the second story line is set in the present day, featuring a young woman, Avery, who is searching for the truth about her grandmother.

Is the wife to Wells Stafford and mother to Avery, Missy, and Allison. She is probably the person Missy takes after as she is also viewed as a perfectionist. She is loved by Wells resulting in her pet name Honeybee. Readers don’t get to find out what her real name is – as she gets called that by everyone, including her children. Maybe we would have done more justice to the real facts of the story if we just called her Beelzebub!Avery is a central character, but she can’t compete with Rill, so the author wisely fattens up her part of the story with a little romance, which kept her character from simply becoming a means to an end. I did enjoy how the mystery unfolded, which made Avery into a bit of an amateur sleuth. In the present day in Aiken, South Carolina, Avery Stafford, has returned home to assist her father with a health issue. While home she is approached by an elderly woman named May who takes her bracelet. When she meets with the woman, questions arise. Avery goes on a quest to learn the truth and to find out what connection this woman, May, has with her family. Avery goes with a snap of the picture to the nursing home where Judy is staying. On seeing it Judy screams “Queenie!” ( as quoted from Before We Were Yours’ ), and mutters about a secret story, and makes Avery promise not to say a word she has heard to anyone. Avery grows even more curious and decides to investigate. A rerun of the Investigation Discovery: Dangerous Women cycled through at about two in the morning. I looked up and saw images of an old mansion. The front room was filled with bassinettes and babies. I tuned in and immediately became fascinated by the bizarre, tragic, and startling history of Georgia Tann and her Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. I couldn’t help but dig into the story. That was the spark that ignited Before We Were Yours." 5/29/17 in an interview on The Untold Story Guru.