The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

4/5 Stars

The Book of Lost Friends is not the first book I have read by Lisa Wingate, and it will not be the last. She has a way of crafting stories and making the characters come alive. Reading her books is an immersive experience where one really feels and feels deeply.

The novel flips between two storylines over 100 years apart: one in 1875 over a decade after the Emancipation Proclamation and the other in 1987 Louisiana. The reader begins with no understanding of how the two juxtaposing storylines will intertwine, but Lisa Wingate beautifully pulls the stories together perfectly. Hannie, an 18-year-old former slave, was separated from her family before slavery ended. Still living on the plantation where she was previously a slave, Hannie gets tied up in an adventure of sorts with the slaveowner’s daughters. Through a series of unpredictable and crazy events, Hannie ends up searching for her missing family. Fast forward to 1987 and we see Benny, an eager, first-year teacher in a tough school situation. She is eagerly trying to make an impact in the lives of children that many in society view as mediocre and unlikely to amount to anything. She has the brilliant idea for a school project, and it is through this project that the lives of Hannie and Benny intersect.

So as not to give away the entire storyline, I will not divulge any more details. I will say though that this is a great historical fiction read. Wingate did her research, and I learned a lot about how former slaves sought their long-lost relatives. I found it especially fascinating that Lisa Wingate included actual newspaper ads searching for relatives of former slaves. It was incredibly interesting and at the same time heartbreaking to think about, but it is important to teach and remember our history as a nation lest we repeat it.

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