The Book of Lost Friends

March 1, 2020

After the Civil War, the Southern Christian Advocate, a newspaper for the African American community distributed throughout the South, included a column called "Lost Friends" that allowed individuals to advertise for information about missing loved ones, generally sold off or stolen before or during the war. That column is the inspiration for this enthralling and ultimately heartening new novel from Wingate (Before We Were Yours). Though it can take a moment to catch on, the two intertwined narratives eventually speak back and forth, with the first delivered by Hannie Gossett, a resourceful young sharecropper in 1875 Louisiana, who's looking for her own people when she follows her former master's imperious daughter and equally imperious mixed-race daughter (an open secret from New Orleans) as they trek to Texas to find their father and papers relating to their inheritance. The second narrator is Benny Silva, an outsider new teacher in small-town 1987 Louisiana, pushy enough to get her students involved in a project that discovers and reconstructs Hannie's story and its wider implications for their town. VERDICT Emphasizing throughout that stories matter and should never go untold, Wingate has written an absorbing historical for many readers.--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 20, 2020
In this disappointing outing, Wingate (Before We Were Yours) explores the history of a small Louisiana town where a new teacher’s attempt to connect with her students leads her to learn about the difficult lives of three women. After the Civil War, freed slave Hannie Gossett works at Goswood Grove as a sharecropper and spends years hoping her mother, who was sold during the war, will return. In 1875, Hannie, in hopes of finding her family, follows the daughters of the man who once owned her to Texas, where he disappeared. In 1987, Benny Silva arrives in Augustine, La., to teach at a high school with an apathetic student body. As a ploy to capture their imaginations, she researches Goswood Grove and finds records about Hannie’s journey to Texas. Though the twists of Hannie’s and Benny’s stories will keep readers guessing, the book is marred by a lack of depth, and Hannie’s reliance on and trust in her former owner is frustratingly unquestioned. Benny, meanwhile, who likens her own experiences as an Italian-American to those of her impoverished students of color, comes off as naive. This underwhelming tale is sunk by its surfeit of deficiencies.

April 1, 2020
Wingate (Before and After, 2019) makes history come alive with the dual tale of formerly enslaved Hannie Gossett in 1875 and Benedetta Benny Silva in 1987. Punctuating their struggles are real Lost Friends, advertisements from a southern Methodist newspaper that featured messages from those searching for loved ones lost and separated by slavery. Hannie's story starts with the recalled childhood trauma of being separated from her family. Later, when her sharecropper lease is almost up, Hannie catches Juneau Jane, a Creole girl, creeping around her former master's plantation home, claiming she is the property's rightful heir. Together, the estate's recognized heir, Miss Lavinia, Juneau Jane's half-sister, and Hannie, set off on a harrowing journey west. Modern-day Benny is an English teacher in a struggling Louisiana school, in which her students discover a surprising connection to Hannie's past that promises to upset the delicate ties that bind the close-knit community. Historical fiction fans will appreciate the authentic articles and the connection between modern times and the past, while adventure lovers will enjoy a voyage reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)