Before We Were Yours: Chapter 17 Summary & Analysis

Avery enjoys her free time on the beach but begins to worry that Trent has changed his mind about showing her the other files later in the day. Avery starts walking towards his house to see if he’s home, but he calls her and says he’s at her house. Avery goes back to meet him and then they set off for Trent’s cottage together. While they walk, Trent talks about his life—he moved to Edisto from New York so Jonah could be close to family after his mother died. Avery says she’s sorry about his wife’s death, but Trent explains that they weren’t married; he only found out Jonah was his after his mother died. Avery is surprised by Trent’s openness because people from her “world” would never openly talk about these things, and she wonders if she’s getting too used to maintaining appearances.

Trent leads Avery up the path to his grandfather’s former office. Trent becomes somber as they get closer to the office and says he wishes his grandfather were still alive to tell him what to do. Avery says she understands and that she feels a lot of guilt over nosing around in Judy’s past, but asserts that she thinks discovering the truth is what matters. Trent jokes that talking like that will hurt Avery in the political world, which sets Avery on edge as she explains that her family values public service. Trent says that means she won’t like what she’s about to learn about the Tennessee Children’s Home Society—it was well-respected and Georgia Tann, who ran it, worked with very powerful people, but the TCHS was corrupt and sold kidnapped children. Trent hands Avery an article about it that he printed for her.

Avery says that nothing shocks her after being a federal prosecutor for so long, but she is nonetheless unsettled by the article as she reads it. The article says that Tann may be responsible for up to 500 deaths and that many of the kids she put up for adoption weren’t orphans; in fact, they were kidnapped and any paperwork identifying them would mysteriously disappear. Avery also reads about the allegations of abuse in Tann’s orphanages and how many kids were brokered to Hollywood celebrities and other prominent families. Avery expresses her horror and then remembers that she has family from Tennessee and wonders if they had anything to do with Tann’s crimes. Specifically, Avery worries that Judy was working with Trent’s grandfather to “right the family wrongs.”

Trent asks Avery if she’s sure she wants to go through more files. Avery tells him that the truth always comes out and it’s her opinion that it’s better to know what the truth is ahead of time. Trent shares his fear that he’ll find out his grandfather was one of the kids from the TCHS, especially because his adoptive father was on the Memphis police force. Avery sees a mirror of her own fears in Trent’s eyes as she wonders if they “carry the guilt” from the actions of past generations. Trent opens the office door and they walk in. On the walls are bulletin boards full of pictures dating back to the 1940s. Looking at the faces in the pictures, Avery wonders what their stories are.

Avery notices a picture of four blond women on the beach—one of them is Judy and all of them are wearing dragonfly bracelets. Avery reaches for the photo and Trent helps her get it. When he takes out the thumbtack, a smaller photo falls to the ground. Avery picks it up and realizes it’s the same photo from May Crandall’s room.