The Story She Left Behind
Family stories of our ancestors, if they are recorded in a book, may provide wonderful holiday discussions in some families. The recordings and discussions of these ancestors’ lives and relationships can also help family members discover previously unknown parts of their family’s past. There are many families that get involved in this type of reflection and research.
Woven together with a family member’s present life, these stories may not only provide answers but may also create questions about the past, present and the future. Are there personality traits generationally handed down? Are there stories some family members do not wish to share? Do these missing “chapters “ create mysteries?
And when a great author, like Patti-Callahan Henry, does the weaving, the stories draw her readers into the reality she creates. This is exactly what Patti has so beautifully done in The Stories She Left Behind. Her characters come to life in their conversations, thoughts and experiences. What are the secrets they keep? Readers will keep turning the pages to learn these answers. I encourage you to not wait another minute to read The Stories She Left Behind. Audio and print versions are both ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!!

I loved Patti Callahan Henry’s other novels so was excited to receive this one as an arc. She does not disappoint. Her ability to build characters through words is simply wonderful. The Story She Left Behind is about loss, love and the stories we tell and share about these things. It’s about legacy and family and the ties that bind us even through loss. Her words created a beautiful picture of the world of her book. And to realize this is somewhat based on a real woman’s life just added to the wonder. I will always recommend this novel!

Overall, this was just OK for me. I liked the central mystery element of the book, but I found the pacing overall to be a little off. I'll still read Patti Callahan Henry's books, but this was not my favorite.

** I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Patti Callahan Henry has such a beautiful gift. Her writing transplanted me right to the places throughout the book. I am so grateful for the gift of getting to read her books.

There were a few things in this book I didn’t love, but they did go along with the storyline. I loved the ending and how everything came together.

Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. I was so honored to be chosen, and all thoughts are my own!

This book transported me to another world! A world of mystery, hidden stories with a secret language! I loved the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a famous author and the connections made while her daughter was in search for the key to another book. The characters are lovely and I felt all of their emotions in times of struggle and in joy. The writing is so beautiful, perfectly describing the atmospheric setting. The storyline was inspired by the mysterious disappearance of a female author who was never found.

The Story She Left Behind is a historical novel inspired by the life of Barbara Newhall Follett, a child prodigy who published a book at the age of twelve before she disappeared mysteriously at the age of 25.

In 1952 Clara Harrington is still dealing with the disappearance of her mother, who vanished in 1927 when Clara was 8 years old. Her mother was an author who made her own language and sometimes wrote in code. When Clara gets a surprising call from London with news that a satchel of her mother's has been found there, she travels with her young daughter Wynnie to uncover the mystery. They arrive just as the deadly London smog of 1952 begins. The end up traveling with a satchel of Clara's mother out to the countryside along with Charlie Jameson, the man who discovered this satchel in his father's effects. Slowly Clara begins to uncover little pieces of the mystery of her mother's life and disappearance as she and her daughter find mysteries, connections, and delight in the Cumbria countryside.

I wanted to read this novel because I have loved every single book I've read by Patti Callahan Henry. The subject matter of The Story She Left Behind was especially intriguing, with the literary mystery at the center of the story.

This was such a beautifully told story. I highlighted a sentence or passage every few pages in my eBook! This is a very moving book, with passages like:

"She disappeared twenty-five years ago when I was eight years old, and still my mother appears to me every day. It might be in a turn of phrase I use, or in the song of the rising tide behind our house, in my daughter’s creative energy as she gathers moss for a fairy house, or in the clues and messages my mother taught me to look for in the natural world. She seems to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. She is absence, she is presence, and she is mystery. Because of that pervasive energy, I created something in my life that was mine alone. My art was just that— my private place, my passion, my refuge from the larger world that no one else could touch." (eBook location 92).

I don't want to say too much about the plot because there are so many small twists leading to some big twists ... I will just encourage anyone who loves historical fiction, who enjoys literary mysteries, to read this novel. You are certain to enjoy it!

"The Story She Left Behind" tells the story of Clara and her quest to find out more about the disappearance of her famous mother and her secret language.

I really enjoyed the commentary on how women were (mis)treated if they were different than society expected them to be. I personally also really liked reading about Clara's career as a children's book illustrator and thought it complimented the storyline well.

However, ultimately the story was too whimsical and cozy for my personal taste. There were several deeper issues that were almost glossed over due to the magical feeling of the beautiful prose. So while the words were well written, I was left feeling detached from the story. I think there were a lot of missed opportunities to explore and bring light to serious and important issues.

While I tend to prefer less of a magical feel to books, readers who love cozy and whimsical tales will love this one! It is a well written and fleshed out novel that many readers will adore.

The Story She Left Behind is about a daughter, Clara, whose beloved Mother went missing when she was only 8 years old. When she receives a call that her mother left behind her secret language addressed to her and only her, she travels across the ocean in the 1950’s with her daughter, Wynnie, to finally solve the mystery of her missing mother.



The first half of the book had a very strong start but I felt like after that it slowed down a lot, and I wasn’t invested in the romance aspect of the book. I loved the historical aspects and the beautiful descriptions and overall it was a pretty quick read.



Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

Love of stories oozes out of every word Patti Callahan Henry writes and because of that, I'll read everything she writes. The Story She Left Behind is romantic and ethereal. There's tension but even then, there's warmth.

A pleasant read but thinking back a few weeks, I don't remember the story much. The stand out part was the London fog, but I might have been remembering the scenes in The Crown for that.

The weight of secrets, the power of forgiveness and intergenerational connections.....this story has it all. Eighteen books strong and Patti Callahan Henry still writes amazing stories!!

📖Set against the backdrop of the Great Smog of 1952 in London and the serene Lake District, the
story follows Clara Harrington, an illustrator and single mother, who sets out on a quest to uncover the truth about her mother, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham—a celebrated author who vanished under mysterious circumstances in 1927. Bronwyn's enduring legacy includes a revolutionary book composed in an invented language. Clara's journey is ignited by the discovery of a dictionary that may hold the key to unraveling the secrets of her mother's enigmatic work and disappearance.

📖Upon arriving in London, Clara Harrington and her asthmatic daughter, Wynnie, face immediate danger from the smog, forcing them to flee. This disaster intensifies Clara's quest and also serves as a metaphor for the hidden truths surrounding her mother's mysterious disappearance.

📖I deeply admire how Patti Callahan Henry was able to intertwine Clara’s emotional journey with Bronwyn’s mysterious legacy, creating a beautifully layered narrative. The interplay between past and present, especially through the symbolism of the invented language and the dictionary, stood out to me as a remarkable storytelling choice.

🎧Narrators Julia Whelan (@justjuliawhelan -
favorite narrator) and Theo Solomon (@theo_solomon - new favorite narrator) together deliver a compelling listening experience, skillfully navigating the alternating points of view and a range of accents, both American and British.

Julia Whelan vividly conveys Clara Harrington's emotional journey, imbuing her portrayal with authenticity and depth. Meanwhile, Theo Solomon brings Charlie Jameson to life with effortless charm, perfectly complementing Whelan's performance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

The Story She Left Behind is a family mystery/drama with a sprinkle of romance. After her mother's disappearance, our main character, Clara, goes on a quest from South Carolina to London, hoping to discover more about what caused her abandonment.

What worked for me is how this book explores the pressure American women in the early 1900s faced to be the perfect wives and mothers. What did not work was the whimsical nature of the novel. While the writing was lyrical and beautiful, some heavier themes and issues (abandonment, grief, loneliness, etc.) were not fully explored. They seemed to get lost in the whimsical mystery.

3.5 stars! I did not always enjoy the story's sequence, but I really enjoyed the writing, and the mystery paid off in the end.

So many twists and turns - a secret language, a missing mother, and a daughter and granddaughter determined to translate a book. I will hold this one close to me for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

Patti Callahan Henry has become one of my go-to authors, and I couldn’t wait to read her latest novel. It checked many of my boxes – historical fiction, a bit of romance, a mystery, family secrets, art (both painting and writing), the British countryside, and connections to Beatrix Potter.

I appreciated the way so many themes were threaded into the novel: the mother-daughter relationships, the hints of magical realism, the connections to nature, the importance of language, the passion to be creative, concepts of memories, grief, abandonment, and trust.

What a beautifully written story with many sentences and paragraphs that had me marveling at the expressive and unique word choices. If you enjoy family dynamics, a literary mystery, and a sweet romance, you will want to read this story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦; 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦."

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗦𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗 completely charmed me. Inspired by the true story of a children's book author who disappeared never to be heard from again, Patti Callahan Henry combines mystery, family drama, romance and magical realism in a beautiful way. The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Julia Whelan and Theo Solomon, and left me with a huge smile on my face. It's hopeful and uplifting and who couldn't use that type of book right now?

4.5 stars

Thanks to Atria Books and Simon and Schuster Audio for the copies to review.

This book was utterly captivating, extraordinarily written and magical. It had all the elements of a great story; mystery, love, loss, hope and forgiveness. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

This was my first book by Patti Callahan Henry, and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Thank you, Net Galley and Atria Books, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Also Thank you to Patti Callahan Henry for such a brilliant story!

This saga about a missing woman, an original language, and the daughter searching for answers swept me up and captivated me.

Clara Harrington's mother Bronwyn went missing 25 years ago. Bronwyn was a child prodigy who wrote an invented language and a bestselling book as a child, and the world has been clamoring for a sequel ever since. When Clara is contacted by a man in England saying he has something that belonged to her mother, she is curious enough to travel across the Atlantic with her own daughter in search of answers.

Henry's writing is lyrical and beautiful, and the story slowly unspools across the pages. Clara faces multiple obstacles along her search, from the Great Smog to a stolen bag to asthma flares for her daughter. These problems added urgency to the story and held me captivated.

My only gripe was that Clara's 8 year old daughter speaks more like a teenager than a child, but I suppose we should be thinking this is normal for their family, that perhaps she is a prodigy just like her grandmother. Regardless, that took me out of the story a time or two and led to the 4 star rating instead of 5!

Thank you to Atria for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s life is upended when her famous mother, Bronwyn Fordham—author of a bestselling novel written in a made-up language—vanishes without a trace. Decades later, in 1952, Clara is a mother herself when a stranger contacts her about a possible clue to Bronwyn’s disappearance. Clara journeys to England with her daughter, facing danger, secrets, and buried truths. Set against the backdrop of the Great Smog, this lyrical novel explores grief, identity, and the enduring power of story.

5 stars!

I LOVED this book!!! What a beautifully written story, set in both Bluffton, South Carolina and the Lake District, England. Clara has such an interesting tale to tell about the mysterious disappearance of her child prodigy author mother Bronwyn, her creatively found language, and the empty place in Clara's life that her mother left behind. When Clara gets a call from London that papers belonging to her mother have been found, a true adventure begins and the twists and turns had me gripped!

As the reader, you want so much for Clara and you feel every labored breath she takes on this journey. The descriptions of their surroundings - the air, the sky, the ground, the water - are an ode to nature, to space and to quiet. There is a calm peacefulness as the story ebbs and flows between solving a lifelong mystery and taking time alone to ruminate on new information and relationships. This change in pacing requires the reader to slow down and imagine being in Clara's shoes.

I can't say enough good things about this book. What a pleasure!

Thank you Patti, Atria and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a gifted copy of this book.

5stars!
I have to really think it through when I rate books the spectacular 5 stars.
First, special thank you to Atria Books via Netgalley for the complimentary copy in exchange of my honest review.
The Story She Left Behind follows Clara's journey on finding her long lost mother who was believed to be dead after she walked out of their lives. Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham was an adoring and wonderful mother to Clara. She was a genius who wrote her first novel at the age of 12. Renowned author the world's best children's adventure book. Bronwyn has written a sequel to the book but in her own made-up language that no one can understand. Twenty-five years after, Clara is now ready to receive her award as an illustrator and is raising her brilliant daughter Winnie which she named after her long-lost mother. She received a phone call from a man named Charlie who lives in London telling her that a note addressed to Clara with a strict instruction that it will be only handed to her and can never be mailed via post was found in his recently deceased father's library together with a satchel full of handwritten words like a dictionary of some sort. Clara knew that these words were the lost language her mom has made, and she must retrieve these items not just to finally able to translate the sequel but grasping of what she thought was parts of her mom left for her.

There are really books that made you feel lucky to have the chance to read and this is one of them. Beautiful writing all over, with equally smooth story line. If you have the habit of annotating a book, this is a perfect specimen because the poetic lines, emotional delivery and passionate narratives are raised to the roof! I cannot put it down. I was totally captivated from start to finish. The description of Cumbria, England's Lake District was so vivid that I can almost smell and taste it. The romance between Charlie and Clara was subtle and deep in a perfect way. I have always been intrigued of what Windermere looks like in reality because of the beautiful things I have read about it. This book, paired with Talyor Swift's song The Lakes are like a rainfall of words that gives justice to poetry. I almost want Bronwyn's language to be real because there are really times when the language available around is not enough to describe what humans actually feel. The ending was satisfying and has left me to my imagination of violet-filled meadows long after the last page has been flipped closed.
The Secret Book of Flora Lea and Surviving Savannah are two of my favorite works of Patti Callahan Henry. I feel that today, The Story She Left Behind has surpassed those two. I have heard that Julia Whelan is narrating the audio version, and I cannot wait for a chance to listen to that. I know it will be spectacular!
I highly recommend this read!

Captivating and SO original! The prose is nothing short of magical. I found myself rereading passages to savor the beautiful language. Henry is at the ABSOLUTE top of her game! Book lovers of all stripes will revel in this gorgeous story filled with romance, mystery, and unforgettable characters.

—Dianna Rostad USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of You Belong Here Now