Historical novels

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, December 2019; written by Tammy Dinsmore

Recently I have found myself reading and enjoying novels set in the U.S. during the 1930s. The following are two that I particularly liked.

In “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger, the story starts at the Lincoln School for Indians in Minnesota. It is 1932 and four children, three of whom are not Indian and who have been orphaned, are sent to the school. The school is an inhospitable place, and after a series of events there, Odie, Albert, Mose, and Emmy set off in a canoe headed for the Mississippi River looking for a relative of Odie and Albert’s that they believe is living in St. Louis, Missouri. The story takes place over the course of one summer. They are being pursued by the woman who runs the school and by law enforcement. There are several characters they meet along the way, including a farmer who is down on his luck, a traveling faith healer, and an Indian man who helps Mose figure out who he is. Each time they think they’ve found a place where they can stop running, a place with people they care about and who care about them, events push them back to the river and the canoe. This is a coming of age story as well as a journey through some great American landscapes.

I have been a fan of author Lisa Wingate for a long time, and her novel “Before We Were Yours” was not a disappointment.

In Memphis in 1939, twelve year old Rill Foss lives with her parents and four siblings on a shantyboat. On a dark and stormy night, Rill’s mother goes into labor and is in need of a doctor. Rill’s father puts her in charge of her brother and sisters and takes their mother to a hospital. While they are away, strangers come aboard the shantyboat and take all of the children to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage. Rill and her siblings are lied to and are told that they will be reunited with their parents soon. Rill tries hard to keep her family together, but when one after another of the children go to other homes; she knows she’s in trouble.

In present day Aiken, South Carolina, Avery Stoddard comes from wealth and privilege. She has come home to help her father during his health crisis. While touring a nursing home, an encounter with a new resident there has Avery asking questions. Over the course of a few weeks, Avery starts digging into her family’s past and finds out what the connection is between her family and the woman she encountered at the nursing home.

Alternating between Rill’s story and Avery’s investigation of her family’s past, the two stories come together in the end with a surprise twist.

The book is based on a true story about Georgia Tann, the director of an orphanage in Memphis and how she stole children from poor families and placed them for adoption with wealthy families.