This book was excellent. I read the authors last novel, and enjoyed it, so I was very happy to receive this advanced copy of The Story She Left Behind.

The writing was beautiful, and the characters were excellently written. Historical fiction at its best! (And not about WW2, which is a breath of fresh air). There is a bit of romance, but it's not the main storyline at all. It's primarily focused on the mystery. I didn’t want to put this one down, and I highly recommend picking up a copy. This is a 4.5/5 for me!

I really enjoyed this book. The main plot was intriguing and the secondary plot enhanced rather than distracting from the story. This book is about families and grief and love. The mystery is engaging and there is so much more to the sure than just the mystery. I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Nick for providing me an early release in exchange for fair and honest review

The Story She Left Behind is a deeply human narrative about the physical and emotional journey of finding your way home. Through themes of grief, memory, and patient, enduring love, it explores multiple generations of mother-daughter bonds, revealing the ways our connections create us. As always, Patti Callahan Henry masterfully combines romance, mystery, suspense, adventure, and a dash of magic to tell a story all readers can find comfort in.

This is an entertaining mystery that kept my attention and interest throughout. At times, the writing was a bit belabored and veered into the melodramatic. I also was not expecting a romance storyline, but it didn’t overwhelm the main theme of the book.

This book has a character type that drives me crazy - the overly precocious child. I have trouble with an eight year old who spouts aphorisms like an adult. Let a child be a child.

Also, the author has a tendency to tell you what something is, then several pages later mention that thing and tell you again what it means. Trust the reader to remember some details.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will be reading more after this. I really enjoyed this, it did take me a little bit to get fully immersed, but once I was I was hooked and sped through the rest. This is a story about a mother‘s disappearance and the daughter who is searching for answers. There is a mysterious element to it that propels you forward, but there is also emotional depth and great characterizations. This was a 4.5 star read for me not quite a five star but close!

The velvety pace of the narrative matches perfectly with the slow unveiling of the plot. Bronwyn Newcastle was a child prodigy. She created her own dictionary of invented words and completed her first novel at age 12. That novel became a modern classic. Her childhood was fraught with she married and became a mother to Clara. However, she abandoned her beloved husband and eight year old Clara after a house fire. Abandoned? Killed herself? No one knows. The dictionary that could, be used to translate the sequel was gone with her. Adult Clara needs to solve the mystery of her mother. Now that she has an eight year old daughter of her own, she is desperate to understand how a mother could abandon the child she demonstrably loved. This is a story of family, love, and generational trauma with healing at its close. Ultimately hopeful…

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

enjoyed the authors last book and this book was just as great. Such a beautiful story with so much feeling.

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

Such a magical book. The vivid language takes you right into the heart of the story
This takes place in SC and England. A story of a missing mother and a missing story . This is a heartwarming tale of love and forgiveness . It’s a book to treasure Definitely a great book for 2025 and must read !!!

I didn't much care for author's previous book but summary of this one was intriguing.
However, it didn't pull me in. Something about this author's style drags for me.

5 lyrical stars

Patti Callahan Henry is on my must-read author list. I adored this latest book of hers. Her writing is lyrical but understandable, and she creates a setting that invites me in.

This one takes us from a gorgeous small coastal town in South Carolina across the ocean to London and then the beautiful Lake District. The book opens with Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, an author and child prodigy who wrote her first book at age 8, fleeing her family in a boat and disappearing.

Clara and her father are left behind in South Carolina and have to put their lives back together. Fans clamor for the sequel to the book Bronwyn wrote, but Bronwyn wrote in her invented language, so Clara and Timothy can’t translate it. Clara was only 8 when her mother left, so she feels that a huge chunk of her heart is missing. As an adult, she finds happiness with art, illustrating books, and teaching children. Now, with an 8-year-old daughter of her own, Clara still wonders what happened to her mother.

Then, a mysterious phone call upends Clara’s life again. A satchel of her mother’s secret language has been found in a library in London. She debates but ultimately heads to London with her daughter Wynnie along, seeking answers about what happened to her mother. In 1950s London, they encounter terrible fog, and the air is black with the burning of cheap coal. Wynnie has fragile lungs, so they have to escape to the countryside. Check out the cover for a taste of the gorgeous setting!

This one has magical elements, imaginary friends, Beatrix Potter, romance, and a mystery to solve. There are family secrets and coincidences everywhere. I fell in love with Clara, but Wynnie really steals the book. She’s adorable and a believer in all the good and magical in life. Inspired by a real-life literary mystery.

Eight year old Clara Harrington’s life is shattered when her mother Bronwyn, former child prodigy and author of an amazing book, disappears. Years later, as the mother of a young g daughter herself, Clara gets news of a discovery in an English library that might hold clues to her mother’s disappearance. Compelled to follow this up, Clara wonders if she is making the right choices. Will she have the courage to follow the clues wherever they take her? With an appealing blend of history and mystery as well as a touch of romance, this story keeps the pages turning. Also worth noting, Henry’s novel was inspired by an actual literary mystery. Readers should enjoy this one.

The Story She Left Behind is the second book by Patti Callahan Henry that I’ve read, and it did not disappoint. This historical fiction novel blends mystery and romance with magical, mysterious elements. The characters are richly developed, and the settings are vivid, making it easy to feel immersed in the story. Life is messy, and the emotional struggles of the characters feel incredibly real. The pacing is steady, and the writing is descriptive. A beautifully written, heartfelt read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advance reader copy.

The Secret Book of Flora Lea is a beautifully written story about love, loss, and the power of words. Inspired by a true story, it follows Clara’s journey to uncover the truth about her mother, a once-famous author who mysteriously disappeared. The novel weaves together mystery, history, and emotion, set against the evocative backdrop of 1950s London. Patti Callahan Henry’s writing is immersive, rich in detail, and deeply moving. A heartfelt and captivating read that lingers long after the final page.

This novel is a beautifully woven tale of love, loss, and the secrets that shape our lives. From the very first page, I was captivated by the lyrical prose and deeply human characters, each carrying their own burdens of the past.

The novel masterfully explores the intersection of history and personal identity, drawing readers into a moving narrative that feels both timeless and deeply personal. The emotional depth in this book is breathtaking, and I found myself completely immersed in the protagonist’s journey of discovery and healing. The storytelling is both poignant and evocative, making every twist and revelation all the more powerful.

If you love historical fiction with rich characters and an emotional core that lingers long after the final page, this book is an absolute must-read. Highly recommend!

A story of family, of a mother who seems to have disappeared from her daughter’s life, and the daughter’s need to find her. Ultimately, it is a love story, not necessarily in the romantic sense, overall, but a story of finding answers, and, in the end, the love she’d ultimately left to find.

This story revolves around a book, and the daughter’s hope for answers as to her mother’s disappearance, while also adding so much more. A journey to the place where she seems to feel she might, finally, find her mother.

I haven’t read all of this author’s books, but I’ve read several of her books, and loved them all. This one was no exception.


Pub Date: 18 Mar 2025


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books!

3.5
This is the first book I’ve read by this author. The initial thought that comes to mind is it was… unusual. At times beautiful, frustrating, poetic, cryptic, powerful, and meandering. I went back and forth on what to rate it, settling on 3.5 because of its lack of evenness. But I was invested from start to finish. It was interesting and gave me pause many times to think and ponder the characters and their emotions.

I love all of Patti Callahan Henry's books and this one was no exception. I loved that it was loosely based on a true mystery that has never been solved. This author always brings these characters to life and sucks you completely into the story. The writing is beautiful. I highly recommend giving this one a read if you like historical fiction with a touch of mystery.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was Patti Callahan Henry at her absolute best. While there was a slow start to this book, it was pure magic when all the parts started coming together. I loved Clara and Charlie. This was a book about forgiveness, family, and love. The romance was not the point of this book, but I delighted in it. I just wanted to hug this book to my chest when I finished. Magical.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the Atria Books for this free digital copy for my honest review of this beautiful story.

The writing of Patti Callahan Henry is compelling and kept me reading to find the ending. It was also the flow of her lyrical words that kept this a strong read for me. The invented language didn’t keep my reading as much as PCH’s words themselves.

It is remarkable how the story of Barbara Newhall Follet could spark such imagination in PCH to take the reader on such a fascinating journey into the life of a writer and what motivates them to write including Beatrix Potter in the journey of writing as well.

Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham had a love that would last a lifetime. This love may be criticized by some but it is shared deeply with Timothy Harrington. Clara seeks that love as she searches for her mother for 25 years after Bronwyn feels she needs to abandon her 8 year old daughter and husband because of an accidental home fire that she caused.

The storyline was somewhat predictable and that was the only part that I found unbelievable. I did not feel any strength in the love relationship that Clara encounters and possibly that is because of the love that was lacking her whole life from her mother.

I believe any fan of Patti Callahan Henry would love this adventure. Furthermore, I found the parallel of Once Upon a Wardrobe setting also one that her fans will find intriguing.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster Publlshing for an early copy of The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry

Author Patti Callahan Henry has created the fictional world of writing prodigy Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham in order to introduce readers to real-life Barbara Newhall Follett. In 1927 Follett created her own language as a child of twelve and had a book published;; in 1939 she disappeared and her vanishing remains a mystery today.

In The Story She Left Behind, Fordham's daughter, Clara, is contacted by a man in London who claims to have a satchel with Fordham's papers inside. Clara and her eight-year-old daughter, Wynnie, embark on a trip across the Atlantic in order to try to solve the puzzle of what has happened to Bronwyn. What follows is an intriguing and masterful narrative of ordinary people doing their very best to shine some light on past events. In her endeavor, Clara will come to understand true love along with the overwhelming harm that guilt can have on a person.

Readers will not want to put The Story She Left Behind aside until the very last page. With beautiful descriptive passages of both Bluffton, South Carolina and the Lake District of England, Patti Callahan Henry's latest novel never disappoints with its strong characters , literary references and unbreakable bonds of family.