This is the amazing, heartbreaking and true story of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, a nonprofit orphanage run by Georgia Tann that was quite popular drawing support from prominant families. Celebrities like Joan Crawford and June Allyson had adopted children from the agency.

But Tann had been cooking the books, destroying paperwork of its fradulent adoptions, skimmed almost 90% of the adoption fees and was generally running a black market adoption ring. How? She took babies from mental hospital patients, without their knowledge, and supplied false information to the adopters. They also adopted out children who had been placed in their temporary care. Plus the classic taking kids from unwed moms, giving them away and telling the mothers they had died.

This book does not entirely focus on the scandal and investigation of the home. It focuses on the children, taking stories of those who had been adopted out and their search for truth. Some remember being lured into the home, utterly confused by new parents when they had been their bio moms would come back. Others had no memory but want to meet their parents after finding out the truth, give some comfort in being reunited.

It’s a fascinating event and well-done in its thoughtfulness and respect to the adults as they navigate their history and how many lives had been hurt by one woman’s actions.