Once You Were Mine

A Novel

De: Elizabeth Langston

Narrado por: Austenne Grey

A genealogy search reveals heartrending connections between friends as it brings to light one woman’s traumatic past as a teenage mother in the 1960s.

In a quiet North Carolina town in 1968, a seventeen-year-old girl’s life is forever changed when a summer romance leads to an unplanned pregnancy. She is sent to an abusive “maternity home,” where she is shamed and deceived into signing adoption papers.

In the present day, Allison Garrett volunteers as a “search angel,” using DNA tests to help strangers locate lost relatives. But the family tree she finds most compelling is that of her own mother, who was abandoned as a baby. As Allison puts the pieces together, they reveal much more than her mother’s origins—and threaten to create further divisions in her tight-knit community.

When a family is separated by devastating circumstances, is it possible for them to heal the pain of the past and make up for lost time?

©2025 by Elizabeth Langston. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“I enjoyed the twists and turns in the plot…Recommended reading.”—Historical Novels Review

“Told with heartfelt compassion from the poignant beginning to a wonderfully uplifting ending, Once You Were Mine is an insightful story of family and the courage it takes to embrace the tenuous nature of expectations when belief is challenged.”—Shelley Noble, New York Times bestselling author of The Colony Club

“Quietly powerful and tenderly written, Once You Were Mine reveals the messy painful aftermath of long ago choices and buried family secrets. Langston offers hope without being sappy and leaves readers believing that it’s never too late for a second chance.”—Alix Rickloff, author of The Last Light Over Oslo

Looooong

I feel that the book hit a lull at the end and started to drag. The ending lacked luster like I was desiring !!!!

Realistic portrayal of giving your child up for adoption in the late 60s

I really enjoyed the narrator on this was lovable and realistic. Her determination to make her life work out while her family worked instead for their own best interests was shocking yet believable especially taken into account this time period.

The realism

Once You Were Mine by Elizabeth Langston is a historical fiction.

Once You Were Mine is a historical fiction novel that is told from different perspectives and in the past and present. When Molly goes to help her ailing grandmother, she meets Galen, and their relationship leads to an unexpected pregnancy. Unwed mothers were still ostracized in the 1960s, and like many unwed women, Molly was sent to a home for unwed mothers, where she is made to sign relinquishing papers. Part of the book follows her life, and her search for her baby.

Allison Garrett has used ancestry and dna to help families reunite with their birth families. When she does her DNA with her best friend, she never anticipates the information that will come out. The book is well written.

This story definitely hits home for me. My mother was forced to go to an unwed mother’s home in the 70s where she was made to relinquish my brother. Her story in some ways parallels portions of this story. The author did a great job bringing this story to life. I liked the realism of Allison and the way she uses her skills as a search angel. The book evokes questions, making you think what would you do? And the author brings real feelings and concerns to life. My mother created a group for people looking for their birth families and this book hits many of the topics and concerns expressed by both sides.

The narrator is easy to listen to. She easily draws you in and holds your attention.