The Book of Lost Friends

Colored Tennessean (Nashville), Oct. 14, 1865
information wanted of Caroline Dodson, who was sold from Nashville Nov. 1st 1862 by James Lumsden to Warwick, (a trader then in human beings), who carried her to Atlanta, Georgia, and she was last heard of in the sale pen of Robert Clarke, (human trader in that place), from which she was sold. Any information of her whereabouts will be thankfully received and rewarded by her mother,
Lucinda Lowery,
Box 1121, Nashville, Tenn.

***Real Ad posted by a family member looking to reunite with a loved one. Just one of many ads placed after emancipation.

Can you even imagine having to write such an ad? Can you imagine having a child, a spouse, a parent, a sibling torn from your life to never have word from them again?

Can you imagine being bought and sold?

Can you imagine having family members who were slaves?

Can you imagine what it must be like to have ancestors who owned slaves?

Can you imagine going on a journey trying to find your father to have the unimaginable happen to you so that it renders you unable to function?

Can you imagine trying to inspire and motivate your students? Find a project which will make them want to learn and be proud of themselves?

Inspired by historical events, The Book of Lost Friends is a story of three women on a journey in the post-Civil war south, it is also the story of a teacher who rediscovers those women’s story and its connection to her students’ lives.

Louisiana, 1875 – Lavinia, a spoiled heir to a destitute plantation goes on a quest with her illegitimate Creole half-sister, Juneau Jane, and her former slave, Hannie. While Lavinia and Juneau Jane are searching for their father and their possible inheritance, Hannie desperately wants to know what happened to her mother and eight siblings who were sold before the end of slavery. Will she ever see them again? Having seen ads along the way placed by freed slaves looking for family members, she wonders, could she find them this way?

Louisiana, 1987 – Benedetta (Benny) Silva is a first-year teacher who is desperately trying to get her student’s attention. Absences, hunger, and poverty keep many from getting a good education. Looking through an old plantation for books that her classroom and local library might use, she finds a book – a history of three women. Could this change everything for her class? The three women’s journey changed their lives but will also have an impact on Benny and her student’s lives as well.

Slow to start this book packed a powerful punch. The story is told in two timelines with the Lost Friends ads placed in between. These ads pack a powerful punch that resonates throughout the book. BTW, all the ads placed by freed slaves have been made into a book titled ” Last Seen: Voices from Slavery’s Lost Families”

Wingate did a great job building her plot and joining the two-story lines. They are moving and powerful. I found this book to be captivating, thought-provoking, and emotionally moving. I loved books that not only teach me something but affect me emotionally as well. Fans of Wingate and Historical fiction will find this book appealing.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.