In 1927 when Clara Harrington was eight years old, her mother Bronwyn, a renowned author, disappeared. Twenty-five years later, Clara, who is now a mother and illustrator, receives a phone call from a man named Charlie Jameson in London who has found a letter addressed to her and a dictionary of her mother’s created language in his late father’s library. Clara and her daughter, Wynnie, embark on a journey across the sea, arriving in London to a terrible smog that drives them to Charlie’s mother’s home in the countryside as they try to unravel the mystery behind her mother’s disappearance and connection to the Jameson family.

This was an incredible novel, tying together historical fiction and literary mystery for a compelling read! I appreciated the author’s note at the end explaining the inspiration behind the book, the true story of child-prodigy author Barbara Newhall Follet. The book is extensively researched, and the author creatively ties history, such as the Great Smog of London of December 1952, into a beautifully crafted fictional story. Overall, I loved this book, and I think it will appeal to a wide range of readers!

MEMORABLE QUOTE: “I believe we’ve all wondered about living different lives, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love the one we have. We are given one finite life, and the alternates fade when we don’t choose them. But…that doesn’t mean we don’t wonder.”

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for my gifted physical ARC + e-ARC, as well as a finished copy of the novel!

Absolutely beautiful! In true Patti Callahan Henry format, The Story She Left Behind is a love letter to literatire. It's lyrical and poetic. I could see myself on the coast of South Carolina and in the Lake District of England. Clara was a daughter searching for answers to her mother's mysterious disappearance, all while trying to be a present mother to her sweet little girl, Wynni. With the help of newfound British friend, Charlie, Clara and Wynni unlock the mystical language Clara's mother was well known for writing about years prior. But with this discovery, what else they discover gives them the best surprise of all!

This is the first book I have read by the author. I have to admit it took a while to get into it. Once I did I started enjoying it. I loved Wynnie. I thought she was adorable. I look forward to read more books b y this author.. I'm grateful that netgalley and the publishers let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

Trigger Warnings: Graphic: Abandonment, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Mental illness

This is my first book by Patti Callahan Henry and it won't be my last. I went into this book blind and I loved the story, the characters and the setting.

I intended to read this book with my eyes but I heard Julia Whelan (an incredible audiobook narrator) told the story, I know I had to listen to it. I love this sub genre of literary mystery where I was so invested in the story, characters and plot that the mystery is more than a 'who-done-it.' I am so impressed with the way the author can write such a compelling story along with emotional depth and characters that I don't want to leave. I want to learn more about this time period so I can read more books like this. If I would have been reading the physical copy, I would have highlighted or underlines so many lines in this book. Lastly, the way Callahan Henry writes settings is beyond me and I felt like I was actually there!

Read this book if you like:
-women's fiction
-literary mystery
-books about books
-some romance
-dual timelines
-mother/daughter stories
-historical fiction books

The Story She Left Behind follows a mother and daughter to England in the 1950s when someone finds documents belonging to the grandmother that went missing in the 1920s. This novel is a historical mystery filled with magic and whimsy and strong themes of family relationships. I enjoyed this even more than The Secret Book of Flora Lee and look forward to future novels by Patti Callahan Henry.

I received an ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another delightful novel from Patti Callahan Henry! This book follows Clara on a journey to unravel the mysteries of her mother's life.

Clara's mother, Bronwyn was a child prodigy author of a beloved children's book and disappeared when Clara turned 8, leaving her with the highly anticipated sequel written in a private language Clara cant read. When Clara's mother's dictionary of her secret language shows up in a private library in London over 20 years later, Clara takes her own daughter Winnie to chase down the mystery of what happened to her mother.

This is a beautiful novel with a mystery at its center and themes of motherhood, autonomy and resilience, and the struggles of being different than others around you. I loved the part of the story that dealt with the great smog in London, it brought excitement and drama and revealed more of Clara and Charlies characters. I also liked the themes of love and finding love that emerged.

What a beautiful book! Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham was a child prodigy who created her own language and published a wildly popular, mystical novel when she was 12 years old. Bronwyn, disappeared 25 years ago, when her daughter Clara was 8 years old. Now divorced and mother to an 8 year old daughter of her own, Clara Harrington is an artist and has recently been named a Caldecott Medal winner. When she receives a phone call from England from a man named Charles Jameson who found some of Bronwyn’s papers in his recently deceased father’s study, Clara and her daughter Winnie rush to London, Clara hoping to learn something of her mother’s fate. When London is enveloped in a toxic smog, Clara and Winnie end up in the Lake District at Charlie’s family’s home, where Clara and Winnie feel like everything is familiar. Enchanting and mystical, The Story She Left Behind is a rich, poetic story of love, belonging, and imagination.

Another Patti Callahan Henry book to love and adore. This was such a cozy novel with mystery, family and friendship. I absolutely loved the author's note at the end and was so interested in the history of this book and these characters.

Title: The Story She Left Behind
By: Patti Callahan Henry
Pub. Date: March 18, 2025

Genre:
Fiction, Womens, Historical, Mystery, Romance

Trigger warnings:
Abandonment, Deceitfulness, Mental Health

Favorite Quotes:
“The internal landscape of the soul needs to belong to oneself before it can be shared with others. Some creations were for the creator and no one else.”

“I have sewed myself into my secrets and there is nothing to do but live stitched into this world of exile.”

“Something being gone doesn’t remove the want of it.”

Summary/Review:
The most original and unique piece of magical fiction I've ever read!

It’s been years since Clara’s mom disappeared off the South Carolina coast, the vanishing had long lasting effects on Clara’s life. Her mother was a woman with a creative mind who wrote a best selling novel at the age of 12 followed by her own language. Patti Callahan Henry has quickly become a must read author for me! Her distinctive writing is original with deeply layered characters, a whimsical plotline woven with history. This type of writing is unique to Henry, a writer with magic infused historical fiction. With themes of loss, love, family, forgiveness and most importantly, hope, The Story She Left Behind is Simply Brilliant!

Thank you to Patti Callahan Henry, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#TheStorySheLeftBehind
#PattiCallahanHenry
#AtriaBooks
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#NetGalley

Henry is one of those authors who consistently writes very unique books. You can’t put a label on the books she writes. This is true of this imaginative story of a mother who leaves behind linguistic clues to a story she wrote many years ago. Thanks to #NetGalley and #TheStorySheLeftBehind for advanced digital.

Pattie Callahan Henry has once again written a beautiful book with a unique storyline. She takes her readers between South Carolina and London as Clara Fordam searches for her mother that simply disappeared one day. A child should never have to deal with a missing parent, but Clara had to since age eight. Clara never lost her love for her mother whose disappearance was known worldwide as she was a child author prodigy who had left readers in a cliff hanger with her only book. When a man in England calls to say he found a satchel with Browyn's name on it, Clara and her daughter go abroad to see if they can solve the mystery of her disappearance.
I loved the family ties of love in this book. Clara's dad never quit loving his wife and Clara deeply loved her own child even more because of missing her mom. The book is a little slow paced, but worth the read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book thanks to NetGalley, but all opinions are my own.

This is a decent historical fiction novel based on a real person and events, mostly in 1952. While I appreciate learning about something I had never heard of before, the great London fog of 1952, this book didn’t “wow” me. The pacing was really slow and I didn’t feel like the characters were ever fully developed.. For instance, I couldn’t get a sense of how Bronwyn was able to publish a novel at age 12 and it seemed like pieces of her childhood story were missing. I did appreciate that the author gave us a fairly detailed account of how she eventually abandoned Clara and disappeared for decades. And it was clear that she wasn’t malicious and that her mental illness played a major role in her decisions. All of this information is pretty well covered in the book’s description and really, not much else happens. The answers to the mystery are slowly revealed and the story is pretty predictable but unfortunately, unrealistic. . Overall, the writing is good and the story is worth reading so I think it deserves a good rating - but nothing stands out either positively or negatively and I think my blah review reflects this.

2.5 Stars

This book mixes historical fiction with a family mystery and has a dual timeline that dragged a bit for me. I love Patti Callahan Henry's style of writing and while her 2023 release The Secret Book of Flora Lea was a book I enjoyed, this one fell a little flat.

I am going to start with what I did like. The author does a great job with the atmospheric descriptions, especially in the earlier timeline. I love how we get to explore the mother-daughter relationships, the secrets families keep and how they can hurt us in the future. I liked that it was inspired by a real-life mystery which added to the intrigue.

What didn't work for me was the slow pace, while the historical sections were interesting the modern take was so slow that it made the pacing uneven. Some of the characters were well-developed and fully fleshed out but others felt two dimensional and were much less compelling. For my tastes, the magical elements were not done very well. I wanted more I think. For the most part, the experience was enjoyable, especially the historical sections. And overall this was an okay read if a bit predictable.

This book weaves a love story with a tale of searching for answers about her mother's disappearance. It follows Clara as she takes a trip to London in search of answers about her mother. While this book does have a romantic relationship, it is so much more than that. You get to see Clara embark on an adventure that she otherwise wouldn't have found herself on. The mystery behind her mother's disappearance definitely keeps you immersed in the story. The storytelling is easy to follow and digestible. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted ARC and finished copy. All opinions are my own.

At this point, I'm not sure I even read the synopsis when Patti Callahan Henry has a new book. I'm gonna read regardless of the what it is about. I loved this one, though! Here is another phenomenal historical fiction set post World War Two that involves a historical event I knew nothing about, the Great London Smog of 1952. Learning about that event led me down quite a rabbit hole. In this case, it serves as more of a jumping off point to get our main characters to the Lake District where much of the drama of the novel takes place. But, the story actually starts in South Carolina (a setting PCH knows very well!) Our main character, Clara, receives a strange phone call from Charlie (the male lead) referencing her long lost mother's famous book. She ends up going London with her daughter, Wynnie to try to unravel the mystery of her mother's disappearance when she was a girl. They arrive just in time for the deadly fog and Charlie gets them safely out of London to his family home in the country. There both Wynnie and Clara come to life, but are also pulled deeper into the mystery behind Clara's mother. It continues to unfold in surprising and poignant ways. All in all, we are treated to a beautiful historical mystery with a dash of romance and a sprinkle of magic. I nearly rated this 5 stars (4.75 is my rating), but there was one minor aspect I struggled with, however, I think that it still really points to the realities of mental illness and its treatment at the time, so I'm not going to let it be too much of a sticking point for me! Of particular joy to me were the references to Beatrix Potter and her works. In this book, she resided in the same village as many of the secondary characters and they knew her well. I grew up with a love for her work, but I especially always dreamed of living in a cottage like the one in the beginning of "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends." Now my heart is longing to visit Cumbria and see her actual home too!

I was drawn to this based on a real life historical mystery of a famed author genius who disappeared without a trace and the family she left behind.

I can’t tell if I am just not a historical fiction person or the the pacing of the book wasn’t for me. It started strong and then felt really slow for much of the middle.

I am sure many will love this but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy netgalley and Atria Books.

This book was a slow read for me until you got to the part of the story when they flew to England. I really enjoyed the twists & turns that revealed how the families were connected.

THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND by Patti Callahan Henry contained many of the elements in her earlier The Secret Book of Flora Lea, including dual time periods, setting in England, and a sense of a fairy world/fantasy. In this new novel, Henry introduces Clara Harrington, a young, divorced award-winning illustrator, and her mother, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, who was famous for publishing a book as a young child, but who disappeared twenty-five years ago when Clara was eight. Clara has a daughter Wynnie, now also eight, and those two travel to London in 1952, searching for news of Clara's mother because Charlie Jameson has found some of her papers after his father's death. Through another quirk of fate, they end up at Charlie's family home in the Lake District, a beautiful setting that reinforces the other-worldliness of this story even though it is based in part on a real person. There are quite a few coincidences and some repetition, but THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND was a Library Reads selection for March and will appeal to readers looking for a bit of mystery and romance combined with introspection about mother-daughter relationships.

4.5

A fantastic must read! "The Story She Left Behind" was set between coastal region of South Carolina and the lake district in England. Young Clara is the daughter of author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham who wrote a famous book at age 12. Clara's mother disappears off the coast of South Carolina when she is a child with her much anticipated next manuscript. Clara never gives up wanting to know what happened to her mother and her manuscript.
Fast forward, Clara is an adult who is newly divorced with an 8 year old daughter. She has become a famous children's book illustrator. Out of the blue a man from England contacts her that he has some of her moms documents in his recently deceased father's safe. Clara must find out the answers she has been wishing for since her mothers disappearance.

Loved- I loved so many things about this book! I learned about the Great Smog of London and about Beatrix Potter's background. I loved all the Irish history, music and language that was woven throughout the story. I loved how the author delves into strong mother/daughter bonds. The love story was beautifully done.

Dislikes- None!

Overall: Recommend! Buy this gorgeous book for yourself and gift it to a dear friend.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for providing me with an ARC.

I enjoyed The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry. This novel is a blend of mystery, family dynamics, and personal discovery. The story follows Clara Harrington, who embarks on a journey to uncover secrets about her mother, a famous author who disappeared years ago. As Clara delves into her mother’s past, the narrative unfolds with intriguing twists and heartfelt moments.

The book is a light read, making it perfect for readers looking for something captivating but not overly heavy. The characters are well-crafted, and the writing is engaging, pulling you into the mystery without overwhelming you with complexity. It’s a story that’s easy to get lost in, with just the right amount of suspense and emotional depth.

If you’re looking for a book that is both enjoyable and thought-provoking, I would definitely recommend The Story She Left Behind. It’s perfect for a relaxing read with a touch of mystery!

* I received an Evan de readers copy from NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for my honest review