CANR
WORK TITLE: Before We Were Yours
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.lisawingate.com/
CITY:
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CANR 280
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/before-we-were-yours-is-one-of-the-years-best-books_us_59376890e4b04ff0c46682c5
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Germany; married, 1988; husband’s name Sam (a science teacher and rancher); children: two sons.
EDUCATION:Oklahoma State University, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Freelance writer. Formerly worked as a technical writer and curriculum writer for the State of Oklahoma Vocational Technical Department.
AVOCATIONS:Equestrian sports, hiking, skiing, antiquing, archaeology.
AWARDS:ACFW Carol Award in the contemporary category, 2015, for The Story Keeper.
RELIGION: Christian.WRITINGS
Author of joint blog, Southern Belleview.
SIDELIGHTS
Texas-based novelist Lisa Wingate is inspired by family, friends, and the experiences that cause men and women to reevaluate and appreciate the positive aspects of life. The author of more than twenty novels, Wingate also takes inspiration from life in Texas, both in small towns such as the one where she resides and larger urban areas, like Dallas. In an interview on the Stephanie Barko Literary Publicist Web site, Wingate responded to a query about whether she is a native Texan. Wingate replied: “I’m a member of the happy crowd who got here as soon as I could. Born in Germany, raised in Oklahoma, I married a Texan who was anxious get back, and I fell in love with Texas. We’ve lived in big cities and little towns around the state and finally landed in Central Texas, where we enjoy raising boys, keeping various farm animals, taking in the Hill Country seasons, and spending time with a large extended family of pranksters, good cooks, and storytellers.”
Wingate once told CA: “I have been writing books for as long as I can remember, and I cannot imagine not writing. I seek to write books that not only entertain, but uplift and enrich those who read them. My goal is to provide an experience that is thought-provoking and good for the soul that helps readers find their own answers to life. My work is profoundly influenced by my own spirituality as a Christian, but I seek to work in the mainstream rather than in Christian fiction.
“For me, being a writer is a little like having Peter Pan syndrome. Developing a story is like playing a childhood game, in which we created pretend worlds out in the backyard, assumed the lives of our characters, and then developed the story as we went along. My stories and characters take on lives of their own, and I never quite know what will happen until I write it. Creating a book is always a journey of discovery.
“Most of my subjects are close to life, and have been inspired by real experiences—either mine or those of others I have met along the way. I like books that feel very real, as if someone you’ve just met is sitting down and telling you a story of some pivotal, life-changing experience.”
Wingate later told CA: “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write. I started writing books before I started school, and I never quit. I had a very special first-grade teacher in Peasley School in Northboro, Massachusetts, who recognized a little ability and a lot of desire in a shy transfer student. Mrs. Krackhardt wrote on my report card that she expected to see my name in the pages of a magazine one day, and I suddenly felt incredibly special. She started reading my stories to the class, and I was hooked. I quickly discovered the joy of having an audience, and set out on many, many writing projects. Even though I always dreamed of becoming a writer, I didn’t begin pursuing the goal in earnest until after college, marriage, a career as a journalist and a technical writer, and then the birth of my oldest son (ordered girl, got boy, fell in love with boy). A highlight of my career was when a Northboro reporter discovered this vignette in my bio and contacted me, resulting in Mrs. Krackhardt and me finding each other again. Would you believe that her former students include several writers?
“I’m often asked about which book is my favorite. Tending Roses is my sentimental favorite because it tells my real grandmother’s stories and in her voice. My grandmother came to stay with me when my first son, her first great-grandchild, was a newborn. Together we decided to plant flowerbeds in front of my house. One day, when the baby was fussy, we had to go inside rather than finishing the flowerbed. Grandma bundled the baby and sat down in a chair with him, and soon he was quietly drifting off to sleep. As the afternoon sun streamed in the window, Grandma leaned back, closed her eyes, and began telling me the story of her life, and her flowerbeds, and the lessons she learned there. That story, ‘Time for Tending Roses,’ eventually became the inspiration for my first novel. The book is in its seventeenth printing and has enjoyed over ten years’ shelf life. I still gain new readers who first read Tending Roses and go on to read all of my books! I love hearing from readers who tell me what Grandma’s stories mean in their lives.
“And then there is Dandelion Summer, a favorite for an entirely different reason. About six years ago Ed wrote me about his love for my books. He told me that he is a retired engineer who worked in the space program and loves doing computer projects. He up and volunteered to help me any way he could to get the news of my books over the Internet. He has done that many ways and helped me with technical issues galore. In the process we have become great cyberfriends, and he sometimes writes sentimental bits about his family and about his space career in our e-mails. It didn’t take me long to realize what a treasure trove it was, and when I saw a way to work his memoirs into a novel, Dandelion Summer was born. It kind of just happened that J. Norman, in the novel, and his daughter were somewhat estranged. As we collaborated on the novel, Ed reflected on his busy career and his wish that he had spent more time with his in earlier years. Ed contributed to the father/daughter letter in the book and to some of the questions and answers at the end of the book. It was such a great experience for me as a writer that I planned a special advance reading at one of my favorite book clubs, and we videotaped the discussion for my YouTube channel and my Web site.”
Wingate’s first novel, Tending Roses, finds young mother Kate Benson torn between putting her elderly grandmother in a nursing home and finding a way to allow the independent-spirited woman a richer life. While Wingate’s novels have sometimes been criticized for their sentimentality, Booklist contributor Patty Engelmann praised Tending Roses as a “touching story of love and faith” that puts “modern problems in perspective.”
In Good Hope Road, an act of nature changes the lives of the residents of Poetry, Missouri. With no plans for the future, twenty-one-year-old Jenilee Lane has been marking time, afraid to leave her abusive father. When a destructive tornado hits town, she rescues an elderly neighbor from a cellar in which the woman had been trapped by the storm, and the special relationship that develops between the two women gives both the strength to change their lives for the better. Calling Good Hope Road a “genuinely heartwarming story,” Engelmann noted that the novel, with its portrayal of the strength of community, reflects “the true American spirit.” “Wingate is a skilled writer,” stated Kliatt contributor Claire Rosser, noting that the book “presents a strong view of how people can change for the better.”
Wingate added more tales to what ultimately became the “Tending Roses” series. With The Language of Sycamores, Wingate turns to Karen Sommerfield, the sister of Kate from Tending Roses. Karen and her husband lead a busy life in Boston, but when she loses her job and then learns that her cancer may have returned, she turns for solace to her Missouri family and her Grandma Rose’s farm in this “positive and uplifting” book, as Engelmann described it in Booklist.
Another tale of hope is presented in Drenched in Light, in which adolescent Dell, a character from The Language of Sycamores, finds an outlet for her music when Julia, a counselor who once had dreams of becoming a ballerina, takes her under her wing. This novel is “another winner,” according to Booklist contributor Engelmann. Dell’s story continues in A Thousand Voices. Having been adopted by Karen, she graduated from high school in Kansas City and then lived in Europe, hoping that she would be accepted at Juilliard to study music. But part of her also wants to connect with her Native American heritage. In the Kiamichi Mountains of Oklahoma she finds her native roots with the Choctaw, and suddenly she feels pride in her heritage and sees a new way forward. Engelmann, writing in Booklist, once again had praise for Wingate’s storytelling skills, calling this novel a “tender and compassionate conclusion” to the “Tending Roses” series.
Texas Cooking, published in 2003, started a new series for Wingate, the “Texas Hill Country” books. Collie Collins is on the fast track as a journalist in Washington, DC, but a minor scandal sets her back. She takes a freelance job that sends her to a small town in Texas, where she suddenly discovers another way of life and also finds a man who fills her with love. When her job beckons in Washington, Collie has to make some hard decisions about her life. Writing again in Booklist, Engelmann observed: “Wingate’s empathic writing style is beautifully suited to this contemporary romance.”
The series continues with Lone Star Café, in which thirty-six-year-old Laura Draper, a journalist based in Virginia, travels to Texas to help revive a magazine her company recently acquired. She is overwhelmed by the project’s many challenges as well as her recent breakup with her boyfriend and other family issues. One day, she comes across a small restaurant owned by two elderly sisters in the tiny rural outpost called the Crossroads. There she reflects on her life and ponders whether or not she is on the right track. She also meets the sisters’ nephew, Graham, who struggles with his own problems, but Laura finds herself strongly drawn to this tender and mysterious man. Critics found Lone Star Café a welcome addition to Wingate’s growing library, citing her ability to deftly write about relationships as well as her use of the charming local flavor in small-town Texas. The book contains “beautifully evoked Texas settings,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Other reviewers appreciated the sweet romantic undercurrent in the book. Lone Star Café is “another stellar story about love and connection,” noted Patty Engelmann in a review for Booklist.
Wingate finished up the “Texas Hill Country” trilogy with the 2005 book Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner. The book’s focus is Laura Draper’s sister, paleontologist Lindsey Attwood, who finds herself embattled with her ex-husband over the custody of their eight-year-old daughter, Sydney. With her daughter in Mexico for the summer, Lindsey feels lost until Laura convinces her to come to Texas to help investigate the mysterious disappearance of ancient dinosaur tracks near Jubilee Ranch. Posing as a client of the horse ranch, Lindsey meets veterinarian Zach Truitt, who teaches her about horses and life on the ranch. The two fall hard for each other, but Lindsey is afraid of losing her stable, orderly life in Colorado for a sudden romance with Zach.
Readers again were touched by Wingate’s gentle story of love and relationships in Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner. Fans of the author’s previous works found it a fitting end to the trilogy. The book is a “tender tale filled with love, hope, and spirituality,” stated Patty Engelmann in another Booklist review. A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked that Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner is a “charming love story.”
Wingate’s 2008 novel Talk of the Town is also set in a small town in Texas, and it inaugurates her “Daily, Texas” series. The book follows Mandalay Florentino, a Hollywood producer who travels there to investigate the private life of Amber Anderson, a local gospel singer who is a contestant on Mandalay’s new reality show. Amber keeps landing in tabloid trouble, and before news that she is a finalist on the reality show breaks, Mandalay needs to find out more about her show’s new “it” girl. However, Mandalay’s appearance in Amber’s hometown causes a stir as she pretends unsuccessfully that she is a tourist, and personal matters in Mandalay’s own life cause her stress. She also falls for country boy Carter, who harbors a secret he is not sure about sharing with Mandalay.
Critics stated that Talk of the Town is another successful novel for Wingate, lauding the author’s likeable characters and enchanting setting. The book is “engaging, contemporary chick lit,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Other reviewers had similar accolades for Wingate. Lori Plach, in a review for Reviewer’s Bookwatch, called Talk of the Town a “beautifully written story about small town America.”
In 2009, Wingate published Word Gets Around, which is again set in the small town of Daily, Texas. The story follows recent widow Lauren Eldridge, who returns to Daily to help her father out of a bad financial situation. He asks Lauren to help him tame a wild horse from his ranch before a film he has invested in begins filming in Daily. While she wants to be anywhere but Daily, Lauren feels obligated to help her father, who comforted her when her husband was killed in an accident. Soon, though, Lauren realizes there is more to Daily than her childhood, as she finds love again and a town full of compassionate friends.
Word Gets Around received many positive reviews overall, with critics confirming Wingate’s ability to bring a small town to life in her work. Daily is a “delightfully homespun what-you-see-is-what-you-get town,” stated a Publishers Weekly contributor. Shelley Mosley, in a review for Booklist, called Word Gets Around a “charming read.”
Never Say Never is also set in Daily, Texas, and further afield. Sixty-nine-year-old Donetta and a group of friends decide to take a cruise with surprising results. Arriving in the port of Perdida, Texas, they discover that a hurricane is on the way and that their cruise ship has already sailed. The town is being evacuated, and Kai Miller, a young worker from the cruise ship who has also missed the sailing, joins those fleeing; both Kai and Donetta have adventures aplenty before reaching safety in Daily.
Reviewing this work in Booklist, Mosley found it an “engaging adventure story [that] will appeal to all ages.” Similarly, a reviewer for the Christian Romance Novel Web site noted: “[Wingate] pulls you into the story so that you can feel the hurricane raging around the characters. This was a great read.”
Dallas is the setting for the novels in the “Blue Sky Hill” series, which was launched with A Month of Summer. Rebecca Macklin returns to her family home in Dallas to care for her estranged father, a victim of Alzheimer’s. Caring for him actually begins to heal old wounds in this novel that “sheds light on the toll that aging and disease take on families,” as Engelmann described the work in Booklist.
The death of a dear uncle gives SandraKaye a second chance at life in The Summer Kitchen. SandraKaye, whose marriage and family life are under stress, reconnects with her old Dallas neighborhood as she prepares her uncle’s house for sale. She also helps a runaway girl, and in the process begins to heal personal wounds. Engelmann dubbed this novel a “warmhearted and genuinely inspirational story of tragedy and hope” in her Booklist review.
Wingate weaves a tale of friendship and real estate fraud in Beyond Summer. Tam Lambert’s father leaves her and the rest of the family in dire straits when he flees to Mexico, one step ahead of embezzlement and fraud charges over his real estate dealings. Tam and the family leave their upscale home for a new house in the Blue Sky Hill neighborhood of Dallas. There Tam becomes friends with Shasta, a young married woman new the neighborhood. But when Shasta and others in the neighborhood find their homes at risk because of the real estate fraud Tam’s father committed, their friendship is put at risk. Booklist contributor Hilary Hatton called this a “timely story about finding strength and wealth in the most unlikely of places.”
The “Blue Sky Hill” series continues with Dandelion Summer, another book of second chances and unlikely friendships. Former aerospace scientist J. Norman Alvrod has become a recluse following the death of his wife. His daughter wants to put him in a nursing home, but he refuses. Instead, she hires a local teenager, Epiphany, from the low-rent part of Blue Sky Hill to look after him. In time, this duo forms a lasting friendship: Epiphany finds a real mentor in the older man, and Norman discovers forgotten siblings through the young girl. A Publishers Weekly reviewer termed this fourth installment a “tender tale … [of] hope, redemption, and family.”
Larkspur Cove, published in 2011, begins the “Moses Lake” series. This first installment features Andrea Henderson, who has just moved to Moses Lake after her marriage to a Christian leader has fallen apart because of his adultery and embezzlement of church funds. Here she wants to start a new life for herself and her son. She hopes that her job as a social worker will lead to a positive new direction. Local game warden Mart McClendon has also come to Moses Lake for a fresh beginning, still blaming himself for the deaths of his brother and nephew. Andrea and Mart are brought together by a little girl who suddenly is seen in the company of the town hermit, Lem. They learn that the little girl, Birdie, is Lem’s granddaughter, abandoned by her father, and they now try to help the girl. In doing so, they open up new possibilities for themselves.
“Reading Larkspur Cove … was like stepping into another world,” wrote a reviewer for Amy’s Blog. “The character development was both broad and full of depth.” The reviewer called the book a “great read.” Similar praise came from a Cross Is All Web site contributor who noted: “The characters were well thought out and developed. I loved the way the story progressed as the characters dealt with their past and moved to a better, brighter, faith-filled future.”
The “Moses Lake” series continues with Blue Moon Bay, which tells the story of Heather Hampton, an architect who has convinced her uncles to sell the family land in Moses Lake to industrial developers. Heather has little love for the town, for she was moved there against her inclinations during her senior year of high school. After leaving the town, she never returned until now, hoping to finalize her plans and serve as the architect for the plant. She is surprised to learn that there is considerable opposition to the plant, even though it will be the source of new jobs and economic growth for the town. Among the opponents are Heather’s brother and the town banker, Blaine Underhill. Shelley Mosley, writing in Booklist, called the novel “a warm and expressive modern twist on the parable of the Prodigal Son, or, in this case, Prodigal Daughter, that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers.”
In the next installment in the “Moses Lake” series, Firefly Island, congressional staffer Mallory Hale marries Daniel Webster Everson after a whirlwind romance. Daniel is offered a job by one Jack West, requiring the family, which includes a young son from Daniel’s previous marriage, to move to Moses Lake, Texas. What follows is a story of secrecy, deception, and scandal as Mallory ties to fit in as a wife and mother in Texas, but doing so proves to be difficult in large part because her neighbors are wary of Jack West. Eventually, Mallory discovers uncomfortable truths rooted in her former life amid the swirl of Washington politics. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the novel “cozy but predictable,” objecting that “the novel’s moralistic ending is unsatisfying and fails to match the often suspenseful power of the rest of the novel.” Carolyn Richard, in a review for Booklist, was more positive, writing that “Wingate’s many fans and fans of women’s fiction will find this novel about one woman’s struggle to discover who she is meant to be deeply satisfying.”
The fourth novel in the “Moses Lake” series, Wildwood Creek, follows Allie Kirkland to Texas, where she has been offered a job as a production assistant on a docudrama about the legendary frontier settlement of Wildwood, which is being filmed in the hills near Moses Lake. Allie finally feels that her dream of following in the footsteps of her father, a film director, is within reach. But in 1861, the real Wildwood was a dangerous place. The founder of the town, Harland Delavan, domineered over the town’s helpless citizens, including a young Irish schoolteacher named Bonnie Rose. Eventually the site was abandoned, but legends remain about mysterious disappearances of town residents. When production begins, Allie is offered a role in front of the camera playing the part of Bonnie Rose, but soon eerie connections between Allie and Bonnie Rose begin to surface. People on the film set, including the handsome Blake Fulton, seem to be hiding secrets, leaving Allie uncertain whom to trust. Carolyn Richard, writing for Booklist, remarked about Allie and Bonnie Rose that “readers will love discovering the truth about the lives of these two strong women from vastly different times.” A critic for the Book Review Sisters Web site used such words as “riveted,” “gripping,” “intrigued,” and “a treasure” to describe the novel. Kelly Klepfer, writing for the Novel Reviews Web site, was equally enthusiastic, commenting: “The writing is transcendent in that as soon as I began reading I became unaware of the words and was pulled completely into the story and the settings through my senses and through the deep characterization.”
In 2013 Wingate launched the “Carolina” series with The Prayer Box. The protagonist is Tandi Jo Reese, now a single mother with two children. Fleeing from a wealthy and abusive ex-husband, she takes refuge on North Carolina’s Hatteras Island, which is still trying to recover from the destruction of a hurricane. There she takes up residence in a deserted caregiver’s cottage owned by Iola Anne Poole, an elderly woman who is something of a town pariah. When Iola dies, Tandi takes on the job of clearing out her house, in the process discovering that Iola kept a “prayer box” for each year of her life. Tandi reads the contents of each box, finding inspiration in Iola’s eventful life and her bedrock religious faith. Tandi, meanwhile, continues to be attracted to the wrong kind of man, and her teenage daughter’s rebelliousness is getting out of hand.
Critics greeted this new series with applause. In Booklist, Shelley Mosley praised the author for her “careful eye to detail and a beautiful, lyrical style.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly found the novel “sweet and sad, soul-warming and heartbreaking” and a “masterful exploration of the road to redemption.” The reviewer concluded that “relatable characters and vivid portrayals of events both current and historical create an enchanting, memorable pilgrimage into the fullness of faith and love.”
Before We Were Yours introduces Washington-based attorney Avery Stafford, who has been called from her high-profile job back to her native South Carolina, where her father, a senator, needs her help. In addition, her grandmother Judy has just been hospitalized with dementia. While visiting Judy at her nursing home Stafford becomes involved with the story of May Crandall, who seems to have a connection to Judy that no one suspects. “Wingate … writes with flair,” stated Booklist reviewer Mary Ellen Quinn, “and her distinctly drawn characters … will keep readers turning the pages.” “Wingate is a compelling storyteller,” declared a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “steeping her narrative with a forward momentum that keeps the reader as engaged and curious as Avery in her quest.”
Avery’s story is interwoven with that of Rill, a young girl who is put in charge of her siblings while her parents are at the hospital welcoming a new child into the family. On Rill’s watch, unscrupulous figures arrive and take her and her siblings to an orphanage—essentially kidnapping them from their parents. “It is a rarity for an author to create a book with two central stories told side by side and not have one overshadow the other,” wrote Jackie K. Cooper in the Huffington Post. “That is certainly not the case here as Avery’s journey is every bit as compelling as Rill’s. They take place in two different worlds but the bond between [them] … evolve[s] naturally.” “Wingate sheds light on a shameful true story of child exploitation,” opined a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “but is less successful in engaging readers in her fictional characters’ lives.”
Wingate once told CA: “Now, when asked which of my books is my personal favorite, I have to add The Prayer Box to Tending Roses and Dandelion Summer. I loved writing the story and felt so humbled by the character Iola. She was in my head and I felt a heavy responsibility for her letters to God to convey her faith, her selfless service to a community that largely shunned her, and her life as an inspiration to my readers. Reader response to the book has been outstanding, and after all, I write for my readers. Many have told me what an inspiration Iola’s letters have been and mention the ‘grace water’ and the lighthouse passage specifically. I envision Iola’s words written on notes everywhere, in Bibles, taped on mirrors, being read in book club discussions … the edges of the pages becoming dog-eared with rereadings. Nearly every day I receive a reader note telling me how profoundly The Prayer Box affected a life. Those are moments when I feel a glow inside and just know that I’m doing the work God intends for me to do with my gift.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15, 2001, Patty Engelmann, review of Tending Roses, p. 1735; April 15, 2003, Patty Engelmann, review of Good Hope Road, p. 1451; September 15, 2003, Patty Engelmann, review of Texas Cooking, p. 227; September 1, 2004, Patty Engelmann, review of Lone Star Café, p. 74; December 1, 2004, Patty Engelmann, review of The Language of Sycamores, p. 638; October 15, 2005, Patty Engelmann, review of Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner, p. 36; June 1, 2006, Patty Engelmann, review of Drenched in Light, p. 40; May 15, 2007, Patty Engelmann, review of A Thousand Voices, p. 27; June 1, 2008, Patty Engelmann, review of A Month of Summer, p. 43; February 1, 2009, Shelley Mosley, review of Word Gets Around, p. 35; June 1, 2009, Patty Engelmann, review of The Summer Kitchen, p. 38; February 15, 2010, Shelley Mosley, review of Never Say Never, p. 38; July 1, 2010, Hilary Hatton, review of Beyond Summer, p. 26; February 15, 2011, Shelley Mosley, review of Larkspur Cove, p. 50; February 15, 2012, Shelley Mosley, review of Blue Moon Bay, p. 29; February 1, 2013, Carolyn Richard, review of Firefly Island, p. 27; August 1, 2013, Shelley Mosley, review of The Prayer Box, p. 30; January 1, 2014, Carolyn Richard, review of Wildwood Creek, p. 60; September 1, 2014, Shelley Mosley, review of The Story Keeper, p. 47; September 15, 2015, Kate Campos, review of The Sea Keeper’s Daughters, p. 28; May 1, 2017, Mary Ellen Quinn, review of Before We Were Yours: A Novel, p. 60.
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2005, review of Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner, p. 1051; April 1, 2017, review of Before We Were Yours.
Kliatt, July, 2003, Claire Rosser, review of Good Hope Road, p. 28.
Library Journal, April 1, 2003, Wilda Williams, review of Good Hope Road, p. 84.
Publishers Weekly, August 9, 2004, review of Lone Star Café, p. 236; September 19, 2005, review of Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner, p. 45; November 5, 2007, review of Talk of the Town, p. 42; December 22, 2008, review of Word Gets Around, p. 32; May 23, 2011, review of Dandelion Summer, p. 29; December 10, 2012, review of Firefly Island, p. 35; July 8, 2013, review of The Prayer Box, p. 65; June 22, 2015, review of The Sea Keeper’s Daughters, p. 127; April 17, 2017, review of Before We Were Yours, p. 34.
Reviewer’s Bookwatch, May 1, 2008, Lori Plach, review of Talk of the Town.
Romance Reader, October 20, 2003, review of Texas Cooking.
Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), July 1, 2001, review of Tending Roses, p. 6.
ONLINE
All about Romance, http://www.likesbooks.com/ (October 13, 2003), Jennifer Kierans, review of Texas Cooking.
Amy’s Blog, http://www.bowofbronze.com/ (April 1, 2011), review of Larkspur Cove.
Best Reviews, http://www.thebestreviews.com/ (May 26, 2003), Maudeen Wachsmith, review of Good Hope Road.
Blogcritics, http://blogcritics.org/ (January 22, 2008), Violet Nesdoly, review of Talk of the Town.
Book Review Sisters, http://www.bookreviewsisters.com/ (February 21, 2014), review of Wildwood Creek.
Christian Romance Novel, http://www.christianromancenovel.com/ (March 21, 2010), review of Never Say Never.
Cross Is All, http://annawood.wordpress.com/ (April 13, 2011), review of Larkspur Cove,
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ (June 6, 2017), Jackie K. Cooper, review of Before We Were Yours.
Lisa Wingate Website, http://www.lisawingate.com (September 18, 2017), author profile.
Novel Journey, http://noveljourney.blogspot.com/ (February 4, 2008), author interview; (July 5, 2011), Sarah Porter, review of Dandelion Summer.
Novel Reviews, http://novelreviews.blogspot.com/ (April 24, 2014), Kelly Klepfer, review of Wildwood Creek.
Penguin Putnam Website, http://www.penguinputnam.com/ (October 13, 2003), author interview.
Stephanie Barko Literary Publicist Website, http://stephaniebarko.com/ (May 11, 2011), “Texas Writers Month Author Interview Series: Lisa Wingate.”
Story Circle Book Reviews, http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org/ (May 20, 2008), Susan Ideus, review of Talk of the Town.
Tina’s Book Reviews, http://www.tinasbookreviews.com/ (February 9, 2010), review of Never Say Never.
Writer at Random, http://myra.typepad.com/ (February 1, 2009), review of Word Gets Around.*
Series
Tending Roses
1. Tending Roses (2001)
2. Good Hope Road (2003)
3. The Language of Sycamores (2005)
4. Drenched in Light (2006)
5. A Thousand Voices (2007)
Texas Hill Country
1. Texas Cooking (2003)
2. Lone Star Cafe (2004)
3. Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner (2005)
Blue Sky Hills
1. A Month of Summer (2008)
2. The Summer Kitchen (2009)
3. Beyond Summer (2010)
4. Dandelion Summer (2011)
Daily, Texas
1. Talk of the Town (2008)
2. Word Gets Around (2009)
3. Never Say Never (2010)
Moses Lake
1. Larkspur Cove (2011)
2. Blue Moon Bay (2012)
3. Firefly Island (2013)
Carolina Chronicles
0.5. The Sea Glass Sisters (2013)
1. The Prayer Box (2013)
1.5. The Tidewater Sisters (2014)
2. The Story Keeper (2014)
2.5. The Sandcastle Sister (2015)
3. The Sea Keeper's Daughters (2015)
Sisters (2016)
The Carolina Heirlooms Collection (omnibus) (2016)
Outer Banks
A Sandy's Seashell Shop Christmas (2014)
Novels
Wildwood Creek (2014)
Before We Were Yours (2017)
Selected among BOOKLIST'S Top 10 for two years running, Lisa Wingate writes novels that Publisher's Weekly calls "Masterful" and ForeWord Magazine refers to as "Filled with lyrical prose, hope, and healing.” Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of literary works. Her novels have garnered or been short-listed for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the LORIES Best Fiction Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, Family Fiction's Top 10, RT Booklover's Reviewer's Choice Award, and others. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others for the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She’s been a writer since Mrs. Krackhardt’s first-grade class and still believes that stories have the power to change the world.
IN THE WRITER'S OWN WORDS: A special first grade teacher, Mrs. Krackhardt, made a writer out of me. That may sound unlikely, but it's true. It's possible to find a calling when you're still in pigtails and Mary Jane shoes, and to know it's your calling. I was halfway through the first grade when I landed in Mrs. Krackhardt's classroom. I was fairly convinced there wasn't anything all that special about me... and then, Mrs. Krackhardt stood over my desk and read a story I was writing. She said things like, "This is a great story! I wonder what happens next?"
It isn't every day a shy new kid gets that kind of attention. I rushed to finish the story, and when I wrote the last word, the teacher took the pages, straightened them on the desk, looked at me over the top, and said, "You are a wonderful writer!"
A dream was born. Over the years, other dreams bloomed and died tragic, untimely deaths. I planned to become an Olympic gymnast or win the National Finals Rodeo, but there was this matter of back flips on the balance beam and these parents who stubbornly refused to buy me a pony. Yet the writer dream remained. I always believed I could do it because... well... my first grade teacher told me so, and first grade teachers don't lie.
So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.
Lisa Wingate is a former journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the bestselling author of more than twenty novels. Her work has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. She lives in the Ouachita Mountains of southwest Arkansas.
Lisa Wingate Official Bio (short)
Lisa Wingate is a former journalist, inspirational speaker, and New York Times Bestselling author of thirty novels. Her work has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Booklovers Reviewer’s Choice Award.
The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others as recipients of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, “Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller.” Lisa believes that stories can change the world!
More information about her novels can be found at www.lisawingate.com.
Lisa Wingate Official Bio (long)
Lisa Wingate is a former journalist, inspirational speaker, and New York Times Bestselling author of thirty novels. Her work has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Booklovers Reviewer’s Choice Award. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others as recipients of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, “Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller.” Lisa believes that stories can change the world!
Lisa was inspired to become a writer by a first-grade teacher who said she expected to see Lisa’s name in a magazine one day. Lisa also entertained childhood dreams of being an Olympic gymnast and winning the National Finals Rodeo but was stalled by a mental block against backflips on the balance beam and by parents who stubbornly refused to finance a rodeo career. She was lucky enough to marry into a big family of Southern tall tale tellers who would inspire any lover of story. Of all the things she treasures about being a writer, she enjoys connecting with people, both real and imaginary, the most. More information about her novels can be found at www.lisawingate.com.
My inspirations for writing…
When not disguised as an author, I am the mother of two sons. I wanted girls. I got boys. I never dreamed that boys could be so wonderful. But that is another story.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write. I started writing books before I started school, and I never quit writing. I had a very special first-grade teacher in Peasley School in Northboro , Massachusetts , who recognized a little ability and a lot of desire in a shy transfer student. Mrs. Krackhardt wrote on my report card that she expected to see my name in the pages of a magazine one day, and I suddenly felt incredibly special. She started reading my stories to the class, and I was hooked. I quickly discovered the joy of having an audience, and set out on many, many writing projects.Even though I always dreamed of becoming a writer, I didn’t begin pursuing the goal in earnest until after college, marriage, a career as a journalist and technical writer, and then the birth of my oldest son (ordered girl, got boy, fell in love with boy).
My grandmother came to stay with me when the baby was small, and together we decided to plant flowerbeds in front of my house. One day, when the baby was fussy, we had to go inside rather than finishing the flowerbed. Grandma bundled the baby and sat down in the chair with him, and soon he was quietly drifting off to sleep. As the afternoon sun streamed in the window, Grandma leaned back, closed her eyes, and began telling me the story of her life, and her flowerbeds, and the lessons she learned there. That story, “Time for Tending Roses,” eventually became the inspiration for my first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, which was published by New American Library (Penguin Putnam) in June, 2001.
These days–several years, several books, two family relocations, one boy (ordered girl, got boy again, boy is wonderful again), and thousands of words after my grandmother told me the story of her rose garden, Tending Roses is one of several books inspired by life and written during stolen mommy moments between homework, dirty laundry, farm animals, football games, family meals, and book-related talks and events of all kinds with readers, moms, grandmothers, sisters, and friends all around the globe. Who knew all of that would come from one quiet afternoon with Grandma and an unfinished flowerbed?
Of all of the books, Tending Roses remains my sentimental favorite, because of the real-life connection with my grandmother, but I have loved and treasured the moments spent in the “world” of each book. Each story begins with an inspiration from life, and after that, the writing is a journey of discovery. I never know where the story will go, or how it will end, or who the characters will become, until the last words are written, though as a writer and as a person, my heart always goes to happy endings. So many of today’s sound bites are sensational, and awful, and when you take in all of those things, it is easy to lose faith in the world and in the goodness of people. I want to create books that are not only entertaining, but life affirming. I think we are all called to add something good to the world, to inspire and uplift, to add our colors to the canvas. I have met so many people who have wonderful ways of doing that. I admire them. I want to be like them. I love to write about them. Stories can change the world!
Before We Were Yours
Mary Ellen Quinn
113.17 (May 1, 2017): p60.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Before We Were Yours. By Lisa Wingate. June 2017.352p. Ballantine, $26 (9780425284681).
Newly engaged Avery Stafford leaves her job as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., to go back home to South Carolina, where she is being groomed to succeed her ailing father, a U.S. senator. At a meet-and-greet at a nursing home, she encounters May, a woman who seems to have some link with Avery's Grandma Judy, now suffering from dementia. The reader learns early on that May was once Rill Foss, one of five siblings snatched from their shanty home on the Mississippi and taken to the Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children's Home Society. The society seems too Dickensian to be true, except that it was, and its black-market adoption practices caused a stir in the mid-twentieth century. Rill's harrowing account of what befell the Foss children and Avery's piecing together (with the help of a possible new love interest) of how Rill and Grandma Judy's stories converge are skillfully blended. Wingate (The Sea Keeper's Daughters, 2015) writes with flair, and her distinctly drawn characters and adept use of the adoption scandal will keep readers turning the pages.--Mary Ellen Quinn
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Quinn, Mary Ellen. "Before We Were Yours." Booklist, 1 May 2017, p. 60. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA495035085&it=r&asid=c53e3491a241e19846df08a2b788bd2b. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495035085
Before We Were Yours
264.16 (Apr. 17, 2017): p34.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Before We Were Yours
Lisa Wingate. Ballantine, $26 (352p) ISBN 9780-425-28468-1
Wingate's tightly written latest (after 2015's The Sea Keeper's Daughters) follows the interwoven story lines of Avery Stafford, a lawyer from a prominent South Carolina family, and Rill Foss, the eldest of five children who were taken from their parents' boat by an unscrupulous children's home in the 1930s. With her father's health ailing, duty-driven Avery is back in present-day Aiken, S.C., to look after him. She's being groomed to step into his senate seat and is engaged to her childhood friend, Elliot, though not particularly excited about either. Though her dad is a virtuous man, his political enemies hope to spin the fact that the family just checked his mother, Judy, into an upscale nursing home while other elder facilities in the state suffer. At an event, Avery encounters elderly May Crandall and becomes fascinated by a photo in her room and a possible connection to Judy. While following a trail that Judy left behind, Avery joins forces with single dad Trent Turner, with whom she feels a spark. This story line is seamlessly interwoven with that of the abuse and separation that the Foss siblings suffer at the hands of the Tennessee Children's Home Society, a real-life orphanage that profited from essentially kidnapping children from poor families and placing them with prominent people. Twelve-year-old Rill bears the guilt of not having been able to protect her siblings while also trying her best to get them home. Wingate is a compelling storyteller, steeping her narrative with a forward momentum that keeps the reader as engaged and curious as Avery in her quest. The feel-good ending can be seen from miles away, but does nothing to detract from this fantastic novel. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Before We Were Yours." Publishers Weekly, 17 Apr. 2017, p. 34+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA490820739&it=r&asid=72736613c130a7f4a2007138b38eac94. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A490820739
Wingate, Lisa: BEFORE WE WERE YOURS
(Apr. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Wingate, Lisa BEFORE WE WERE YOURS Ballantine (Adult Fiction) $26.00 6, 6 ISBN: 978-0-425-28468-1
Avery Stafford, a lawyer, descendant of two prominent Southern families and daughter of a distinguished senator, discovers a family secret that alters her perspective on heritage.Wingate (Sisters, 2016, etc.) shifts the story in her latest novel between present and past as Avery uncovers evidence that her Grandma Judy was a victim of the Tennessee Children's Home Society and is related to a woman Avery and her father meet when he visits a nursing home. Although Avery is living at home to help her parents through her father's cancer treatment, she is also being groomed for her own political career. Readers learn that investigating her family's past is not part of Avery's scripted existence, but Wingate's attempts to make her seem torn about this are never fully developed, and descriptions of her chemistry with a man she meets as she's searching are also unconvincing. Sections describing the real-life orphanage director Georgia Tann, who stole poor children, mistreated them, and placed them for adoption with wealthy clients--including Joan Crawford and June Allyson--are more vivid, as are passages about Grandma Judy and her siblings. Wingate's fans and readers who enjoy family dramas will find enough to entertain them, and book clubs may enjoy dissecting the relationship and historical issues in the book. Wingate sheds light on a shameful true story of child exploitation but is less successful in engaging readers in her fictional characters' lives.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Wingate, Lisa: BEFORE WE WERE YOURS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA487668670&it=r&asid=a21c697a54d61b97f53d1685e6f93b84. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668670
The Sea Keeper's Daughters
Kate Campos
112.2 (Sept. 15, 2015): p28.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
The Sea Keeper's Daughters. By Lisa Wingate. Sept. 2015. 400p. Tyndale, $19.99 (9781414388274); paper, $14.99 (9781414386904).
If restaurant ownership has taught Whitney Monroe anything, it is ferocity even amid threats from corrupt local officials set on driving her out of town. With her current investments at risk, she returns to the Excelsior, a crumbling hotel that holds her grandmother's treasures from an era of wealth and propriety. While digging through these objects, Whitney unwittingly stumbles into a gripping family mystery. As she reads through a series of old letters and contemplates an intriguing necklace, Whitney struggles against her need for quick money and becomes determined to preserve, at any cost, the belongings and story she has found. Set in North Carolina's picturesque Outer Banks, Wingate's (The Story Keeper, 2014) tale of a dark family history becomes an intriguing patchwork of mystery and drama. Readers will feel revitalized as they journey with Whitney through her past as she grows more connected to her heritage and discovers who she really is. --Kate Campos
Campos, Kate
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Campos, Kate. "The Sea Keeper's Daughters." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2015, p. 28. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA430801035&it=r&asid=71ab452251bda22510c0c3cd696221f3. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A430801035
The Sea Keeper's Daughters
262.25 (June 22, 2015): p127.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
The Sea Keeper's Daughters
Lisa Wingate. Tyndale, $19.99 (322p) ISBN 978-1-4143-8827-4
Wingate (The Story Keeper; The Prayer Box) will deepen her large fan base with this novel that blends modern Roanoke Island and Roosevelt's Federal Writers' Project. Whitney Monroe's Michigan new restaurant, Bella Tazza, is under fire from a scoundrel who will do anything to keep it from opening a second location. But when she learns her stepfather is ill, she heads to the Outer Banks' Roanoke Island and the Excelsior, the hotel her mother left her. The Excelsior may contain heirlooms Whitney can sell to finance her restaurants, though she'd like to sell the building if she can get her stepfather out of the third floor. Whitney finds more than she bargains for when she discovers letters from her grandmother Ziltha's sister, a writer for the 1930s Writers' Project, not to mention the dashing Mark Strahan. Whitney must find a way to balance the stresses in her life, but the biggest problem is her inability to trust. Wingate has woven myriad strands in this tale, which links to her previous books and brings readers a wonderful tale of history, mystery, romance, forgiveness, and restoration. Agent: Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Sea Keeper's Daughters." Publishers Weekly, 22 June 2015, p. 127+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA419411646&it=r&asid=5fc55f3100ce8894eba32ffdc9e691ef. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A419411646
The Story Keeper
Shelley Mosley
111.1 (Sept. 1, 2014): p47.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
The Story Keeper. By Lisa Wingate. Sept. 2014.400p. Tyndale, $19.99 (9781414388267); paper, $14.99 (9781414386898).
New York editor Jennia Beth Gibbs begins her dream job at the legendary Vida House Publishers. Mr. Vida himself has eschewed many of the modern ways of the industry, including electronic submissions, and has one of the few actual slush piles in the business. In fact, his towering stack of nearly rejected manuscripts is referred to as "Slush Mountain." One day one of these yellowed submissions mysteriously appears on Jen's desk. She has no idea who has left it there, or who wrote it, and finds the story fascinating, if frustratingly unfinished. Overwhelmed by curiosity, Jen is determined to find the author as well as the ending to the manuscript. She's come to care for the main character, Sarra, a Melungeon girl in Appalachia who's treated as though she's a slave even though the Civil War is long over, and is anxious to learn what happens to her. Wingate (The Prayer Box, 2013) is, quite simply, a master storyteller. Her story-within-a-story, penned with a fine, expressive style, will captivate writers and nonwriters alike. --Shelley Mosley
YA/M: The misadventures and perils of the teenage Sarra will grab the attention of YA readers. SM.
Mosley, Shelley
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Mosley, Shelley. "The Story Keeper." Booklist, 1 Sept. 2014, p. 47. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA382808443&it=r&asid=5908d76db023c3d277f77d36abac5bb8. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A382808443
BEFORE WE WERE YOURS Is One of the Year’s Best Books
06/06/2017 10:50 pm ET
Photo courtesy of Ballantine Books
Cover of BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate
Book Review - Jackie K Cooper
BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate
It is almost a cliché to say a book is “lovingly written” but that phrase applies clearly to Lisa Wingate’s latest novel BEFORE WE WERE YOURS. This story about children taken from their parents through kidnapping or subterfuge and then placed for adoption, for a price, clearly pours out of Wingate’s heart. The plot is based on actual incidents and are a shameful indictment of a set of people who preyed upon the vulnerability of children and/or their parents.
The book is written from two viewpoints, The first takes place in the present and centers on Avery Stafford. She is the daughter of a politician and has been raised to be obedient to the family’s needs and wishes. Her father is embroiled in a re-election campaign and so she has headed home to South Carolina to work with him. She is also there to be groomed as his successor.
While there she meets a woman named May Crandall, an elderly lady who somehow has a link to Avery’s grandmother Judy. Her curiosity is piqued so she asks her grandmother about the relationship. Judy however is suffering from Alzheimer’s and can’t respond clearly to the questions. Therefore Avery decides to look into her grandmother’s past and when she does secrets become unlocked. They lead to a murky situation concerning orphans and their adoptive parents.
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The other viewpoint belongs to a twelve year old girl named Rill. The time is 1939 and the place is Memphis, Tennessee. Rill lives in a boat on the river and helps take care of her four younger siblings. Her parents do the best they can for their children but life is hard. When Rill’s mother and father are at the hospital awaiting the birth of a new baby, Rill and her sisters and brother are gathered up by the “authorities” and taken to an orphanage of sorts.
The book has alternate chapters telling the two stories - one of a woman looking into a mysterious past, and the other of a child looking ahead to an uncertain future. They are interwoven beautifully and create a drama that is both bleak and optimistic. Avery is a woman finding her roots while Rill is a girl afraid of losing hers.
It is a rarity for an author to create a book with two central stories told side by side and not have one overshadow the other. That is certainly not the case here as Avery’s journey is every bit as compelling as Rill’s. They take place in two different worlds but the bond between the two women and the characteristics they both share, evolve naturally as the pages accumulate.
Lisa Wingate has the talent to present this brutal tale tenderly. She is able to get readers into the heads of both Avery and Rill and make their goals crystal clear. Avery is a woman searching for the truth and Rill is a girl trying to keep her family intact. Finding where these two stories intersect makes for the excitement of the book.
It is impossible not to get swept up in this near perfect novel. It invades your heart from the very first pages and stays there long after the book is finished. Few novelists could strike the balance this story requires but Wingate does it with assurance.
There are a lot of books that will catch your eye this summer, some from our best storytellers. Make sure this one is on your radar. It should not be missed.
BEFORE WE WERE YOURS is published by Ballantine books. It contains 352 pages and sells for $26.00.
Jackie K Cooper - www.jackiekcooper.com