Book Of Lost Friends: Novel

This novel switchesbetween the two story lines with each new chapter , a former slave’s journey and near death experiences to find relatives sold away before emancipation, and a teacher’s struggle to inspire her unruly class in 1980s Louisiana by getting them interested in their past.
It’s a great premise and the author is an impressive writer. Personally though, I found the book overly long and at times I felt quite disconnected from the story.
The ending was brief, including the modern protagonist’s back story which seemed almost like an afterthought.
Before each chapter is an extract from the ‘Southwestern’ where former slaves posted details of relatives sold away which would be read out in African American churches, a sobering reminder of the enduring pain and evil of slavery even after it was abolished. So many must never have found parents or siblings they were so brutally parted from

Got to say the theme of this book was interesting , for sure….but very s-l-o-w. Found myself jumping ahead and skimming some of the pages….but what I did learn more about was the horrible atrocities and hardships that took place in our history. Well researched by Wingate and an important subject to write about, too, but just found it a little tedious.

I really like this author. I read her book (before we were yours). So I picked this up when I saw it. Just as good. Keeps you reading.

Suspenseful. I liked going from present to past times. Even the ending was a surprise about the narrator’s life and I wanted it to continue on to see how her relationship with the new male character in her life would go.

A dual narrative, three women, each fighting their own way, each searching for a connection in the deep South, where land was handed down between generations and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is jarring. This is Lisa Wingate’s novel THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS.

In a small town in Louisiana in 1857, post-Civil War, slavery abolished, Hannie, recently freed, finds herself in the most unlikely of circumstances. Joined with the possibly wickeder than her mother, Lavinia, her family’s plantation on its way to ruin, and her unacknowledged half black half-sister Juneau Jane. The young women have hit the road, each seeking the same set of documents, each with a different purpose.

Fast forward to 1987, Benny has student debt and it seems the only job she could find to help repay it was in this same rural town at a school that has seen better days, teaching students who are more violent and disrespectful than concerned with an education, and locals who are dubious of this newcomer who has come in with her bright ideas.

During Reconstruction, many families were separated and had no way to find each other. Ads were circulated through newspapers, by families searching for parents and siblings whom they were separated from, and perhaps had some idea of what state they might have gone to, but very little information otherwise, hoping to be reunited. The ads, known as the Lost Friends column. A precursor to social media?

The book within the book (of Lost Friends) represented hope. It carried many along. Through hard weather, through fear, and through suffering. This was all they had. But it was what was most important. While not everyone is on the same road, often, they want to get to the same place. Wingate proves this with the past meeting the present, which she easily transitions between. She demonstrates that with suffering comes strength, with putting hate aside we can feel love, and looking past differences, we can see that we are more alike than we realize. With authentic characters, who touch the heart and those who make you fume with rage, each of whom develop vibrantly across the pages.