Our next Book Group meeting will be on Wednesday, January 28 from 7-9pm. Our meetings are held via Zoom.

Please join us here:
https://zoom.us/j/144736833

Selection:
The Book of Lost Friends, by Lisa Wingate

Summary:
“From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a dramatic historical novel: the story of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post–Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives.

Bestselling author Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as newly freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold away.

Louisiana, 1875: In the tumultuous era of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Hannie, a freed slave; Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now destitute plantation; and Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s Creole half sister. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following roads rife with vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of stolen inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and siblings before slavery’s end, the pilgrimage west reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope.

Louisiana, 1987: For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt—until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, is suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled live oaks and run-down plantation homes lie the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything.”

The UUCG Book Group chooses books across various genres, with an eye toward what will provide substantial topics for discussion. When possible, we try to choose titles that are available at the Gwinnett County Public Library so that everyone can have access to the book. We have found that some of our favorite books have been those that have wide appeal.

All are welcome to join the discussion!

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Upcoming Selections:

February 2026: Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin

March 2026: Separation of Church and Hate, by John Fugelsang

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