A glimpse of the past, but also an eye-opener for the world of today.

Travel back in time to the crazy, and sometimes even cruel days of Ellis Island. This immigration inspection and processing station now serves as a museum, but from 1892 to 1954, it was the busiest station in the United States, processing nearly 12 million immigrants. It is located in New York Harbor, within New Jersey and New York. Nineteen-year-old Magdalena (Lena) arrived here on May 31st, 1928, along with her two-year-old daughter, Ella, her mother, Mutti, and her brother, Enzo. Unfortunately, a miscommunication and misunderstanding forced her bother and mother to be immediately deported, and Lena was on her own to meet their sponsor, Silas, a distant cousin from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Upon arrival, Lena was treated with disrespect, indifference, and cruelty from both the Ellis Island workers, as well as the community at large. With the exception of a friendly nun, everyone was rude to her and expressed their desire to see her deported and on her way back to Germany. Her cousin, Silas, had moments of kindness, but didn’t hide his disappointment in losing Mutti’s homemaking skills, and Enzo’s manual labor.
Lena must fight for her dignity, as well as for those she loves, and against the eugenics movement of the time period. Eugenics is a discredited belief that in order to preserve the genetic quality of the United States, as well as other countries, those considered inferior should be prohibited from reproducing, while promoting and encouraging those considered to be superior. Although we still live with the aftereffects of its legacy today, thankfully this belief has largely been put to rest.

Ellen Marie Wiseman created unforgettable characters that tug on your heart strings. Lena and Ella will stay with you for times to come. Silas and his children, though gruff at first, eventually reveal hearts of compassion. Wiseman created impactful events and situations that keep you hungry to find out more. This powerful story portrays one the darkest times in our history, and much can be learned from it. It leaves us with a deeper understanding, appreciation and empathy for the immigrants of today. It is poignant, and a must read for those unfamiliar with this time period and the struggles immigrants faced then, as well as the difficulties they still face today. It is a real eye-opener!

I have read other books written by Ellen Marie Wiseman. And I have loved everyone. This is an extremely emotional historical read! I cannot even begin to describe the emotions that it unleashed in me. I lost a lot of sleep reading this one because it was very hard to put down. It’s a devastating story about the.Eugenics program that was implemented in the early 1900s in the United States. The United States was the first country to implement forced sterilization programs. Alan puts a lot of research into her stories. I learned things that I wish I hadn’t. But that being said this is another book that will be kept on my keeper shelf.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Lena Conti comes to America hoping for a better life for her and her daughter. A relative has promised her family work and a place to stay in the Virginia hill country. When she arrives, she finds out that the sheriff is trying to take the children away because he deems them "feebleminded," which they are not. It's a sad chapter in our country's history when Eugenics was used as a reason to forcibly sterilize many women.

Suspenseful historical fiction at its finest. This was heartfelt and touching. I shed some tears along the way but in the end, I loved every minute of it. I highly recommend this book to historical fiction fans.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

Review will be shared @coffee.break.book.review shortly.

In 1929, Lena Conti, along with her two-year-old daughter Ella, her mother, and her younger brother, made the long journey from Germany to the United States seeking a better life. Upon their arrival in America, they were surprised to learn of the inspections required of third-class and steerage passengers to ensure that no undesirable individuals would enter the country. Lena soon finds herself alone with her child and travels with Silas Wolfe, a distant cousin, to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Silas, who recently lost his wife, needs help with his two children, and agrees to let Lena, who is unmarried, and Ella stay with them. When his children Bonnie and John Henry hide every time a stranger comes on the property, it becomes evident to Lena that the family is at risk of losing their home as part of a large government land-grab, and an effort to rid the area of the feebleminded, immoral, inbred mountain people.

Ellen Marie Wiseman has written about human resilience in the most heart-wrenching situations. In The Lies They Told, she shines a light on America's eugenics movement, where "pseudoscientists" sought to breed the perfect human race through efforts that included institutionalizing those deemed unfit and practices such as forced sterilizations of women considered unsuitable to have children. While I was aware of this shameful episode in American history, the plight of Wiseman's characters broke my heart. I was overwhelmed with emotion throughout this well-researched book. Don't miss it.

The Lies They Told
By Ellen Marie Wiseman
Release Date: 7.29.25

Thank you, @kensingtonbooks for an e-ARC of The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman!

This novel ripped out my heart and stomped on it.

A historical fiction novel set in the 1930's. Our main character Lena Conti is traveling in grueling conditions from Germany to America with her 2 year old daughter, 14 year old brother, and elderly grandmother in hopes of a better life. Wiseman paints the horrendous picture of the travels that many made in the bowels of the ship, the inspection process at Ellis Island, the rejection to the country, displacement from officials having claimed homes and land, family members being taken, and forced sterilization.

My heart was racing at every chapter. Even though you can guess is coming, it doesn't make it any easier to read. Know that these are based on real happenings in our country and are still legal to an extent in some states. I was invested in these families and wanted them to overcome their circumstances.

#theliestheytold #ellenmariewiseman

Shocking, just shocking what was done to people in the name of preserving the race. A frightening look at deciding who is deemed fit and who is unfit. Concentrates on Immigrants and the Mountain People of the Blue Ridge Area during the 1920’s. All new information to me and very disturbing.

Ellen Marie Wiseman does an excellent job humanizing Immigrants legally coming to Ellis Island and all that can go wrong. Loved Lena and her baby daughter, Ella. They are forcefully separated from her Mother and Brother. The treatment people received I was completely unaware of, so harsh and cruel.

Next, Lena goes to live with a relative, Silas and his children in Northern Virginia. Here life is difficult as well. Eugenics programs were started in the United States at this time and decided people were not fit enough to be parents in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Children were taken to go to “Better and More Suitable Families”, many of the people were deemed Feebleminded and sent to Facilities where Forced Sterilizations Occurred. Many were not let out of these places. Completely Unbelievable, but true.

Although, all this was upsetting and sad, the story still had hope and goodness to it. The Ending really was Uplifting.

Thank you NetGalley for a Copy of this Book. I always leave Reviews of Books I Read.

This book will send you on a roller coaster of emotions. There were times I felt like crying, other times I felt like screaming at the injustice and other times my heart would swell with happiness. The author’s notes at the end of the book are simply terrifying. It is so hard to believe that this all happened in the US.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heartbreaking story about a German family who immigrates to the US in the 1930's. They were trying to have the better life, but it didn't quite work out that way. The cruelty of the immigration process from the moment they hit Ellis Island was devastating. Two are sent back to Germany because the son who speaks little English is considered "feebleminded", and the mother was very seasick from the horrible sea crossing in steerage. That leaves only the daughter and her child to go to the farm where a distant relative has agreed to take them in. It's a rough time for everyone in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains. This story covers a lot of ugliness, including stealing land from the people to create a large national park, eugenics, stealing children from their parents who are not deemed fit to raise them, involuntary sterilization, incarceration in wards for the feebleminded under horrible conditions, and a complete lack of human respect. Not exactly “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It's a very dark period of American history and it made for a gut-wrenching read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

After enduring a brutal journey from Germany to Ellis Island, bound for Virginia farm, Lena and her 2 year old, Ella, along with Lens’s mother and brother are subject to more harsh treatment. Separated from her family at Ellis Island, Lena’s mother and brother are sent back to Germany, but she is reunited with Ella. She finally ends up on her cousin’s, Silas, Virginia farm. She and her daughter are unexpected, while Silas has his own set of problems. This story was heart wrenching and I felt the powerlessness, injustice and targeting the characters experienced. The writing flowed well and did a pretty good job of creating authentic prose for that time period. Would recommend. Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for giving me the opportunity to read this unpublished copy.

Powerful, Heart-Wrenching, and Unforgettable

The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman is a deeply moving historical novel that sheds light on the horrors of the 1930s eugenics movement in Virginia. Lena, a young immigrant mother, is a fiercely compelling character whose fight to protect her daughter had me turning pages with my heart in my throat.

Wiseman captures the injustice and heartbreak of this dark chapter in history with emotional depth and unflinching honesty. Though painful at times, the story is also filled with strength, resilience, and hope.

If you love historical fiction that tackles social issues and features strong female leads, this is one you won’t forget!

This book took hold of my attention and did not let up until the last page was turned. It had me in a death grip. I could not look away from the horror unfolding beneath my eyes. My stomach churned, my mind could not be stilled, and it is impossible not to see the similarities between the 1930s and what is occurring in today's world. Ellen Marie Wiseman has a way of taking your hand and leading you into the story. You become the characters. Their pain is your pain, their tears are your tears, their agony is yours. I have felt this way with every single one of her books and if you have not read them, I highly suggest that you do. Wiseman writing brings the pages to live, a full-on motion picture moving before your eyes. This book is in my top reads of the year. It is phenomenal!

Lena Conti has made it to America. The land of the free or so everyone believes. She has escaped Germany where food is scarce, and times are troubled after the first world war. Her younger brother, mother, and her two-year-old daughter are with her. From the moment they step off the boat and onto Ellis Island they are not met with joy. Fear is injected into their very marrow. Fear of getting deported back to Germany for being feebleminded or sick. They are treated like dirt stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Lena and Ella are allowed to travel to her cousin Silas' farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, her brother and mother are sent back to Germany. Spinning from not knowing what is to become of her family. Lean is thrown into another troubling situation. Silas and his two children are under constant threat of being thrown off his land or worse being sent to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptic and Feebleminded. The people with money and power are calling the shots and they want that land for a new park. They will do anything to get it. Including ripping apart families.

I could go on for days about this book. I do not want to ruin it for you. There are so many horrifying topics that Wiseman weaves into the book. The stealing of land, eugenics, stealing of children, committing people to asylums for no reason except greed, and the list goes on and on. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and my heart is still aching from Lena's journey. Seriously read this book and tell me what you think. Thank you to Ellen Marie Wiseman, Kensington, and Uplit Reads for my gifted copy.

In American history we as a society have done some terrible things in the name of progress. Lena comes to the United States as an immigrant to live with a distant cousin and take care of his children. Eugenics is a theory that people believed could tell them if someone is feebleminded by looking at their features or where they came from. Lena is always afraid that someone will come and take the children and her. She came for the American Dream but will it become a nightmare?

This book is a page-turner. It is emotional and you will feel bad for people getting caught in this system. Prejudice has always been with us. This example will make you think about how people are treated. I highly recommend reading this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #EllenMarieWiseman, and #KensingtonBooks for a copy of this book.
#TheLiesTheyTold

its hard to think of what happened in our history. and not so long ago! its stories we must never forget. because things dont just happen and nor do they just happen in a vacuum. things start it, beliefs continue it. and when the beliefs are so wrong and full of discrimination you are remind over and over how we must protect those around us,especially those most vulnerable. as people who want power always know their targets.
this is the story of Lena and what a story she has to tell us. Lena Conti is a mother who just wants to look after those she loves. she arrives on Ellis Island from Germany with her daughter, mother and brother. they have come for a better life as it couldn't have got much worse back where they came from.
but the start is troubled when only she and her daughter are allowed to stay. the reason why(ugh feels hard to even type it) is because her brother and his seen feeble mindedness. arghhhh how can we even be humans i ask you. well, its what they do and its up to his poor mum to go back with him as hes not an adult. words like this will sting our poor Lena many more times in her future.
her story continues when on Silas farm in the mountains of Virginia. its her job to help around the farm and look after Silas's two children. but Silas isn't happy with the turn of events and she is not who he needs around his farm. is needed labour, he wanted her brother.
life is tough for Lena. not only the work but trying to live amongst SIlas and his mood towards her.
but life settles down. and Lena grows a bond with life and those she cares for there. life even starts to feel dare she think it kind of nice at times.
but then a shock comes when someone from the Eugenics office comes accusing Lena. and it might just be words used that will cause her world to crumble. Lena is taken and what comes next will test everything she has inaide of her.
just wow to this book. wow wow wow. words wont do justice for both how the author has brought us this story and also that time in history. its heartbreaking. and you feel heartbroken whilst reading but i mean that in the best way because its just.so.imcredibly.written.
you are taken in the what you are reading and there is such a sense of injustice, anger and whole other heaps of emotion. the way groups are met with such disgusting behaviours just had me gasping with pain for them. the truths behind how we in history have behaved to others brings tears to my eyes and rage to my heart.
and yet somehow there is also such courage and bravery written in this book.

Wow is all I can say about this novel initially. However thank you Kensington publishing, Netgalley and the author for the ARC opportunity of this beautifully written novel.

Lena has just come to the United States from Germany with the goal of working and living on her distant cousins’ farm. Lena comes with her child, her mother and her brother. When her mother and brother are denied entry into the US, Lena journeys to Virginia alone with her child. Lena arrives at Silas’ home however she realizes quickly that he is not happy, and that the work around his property is not easy. Silas was planning and relying on the assistance of Lena’s brother whom was denied entry into the US. Lena works to help Silas with his children and keep the house up. Despite the hard work she quickly forms it into a routine.

One day a social worker comes to the home and finds Lena to be unfit to be around her child and also Silas’s.children. Lena is placed at the Virginia State Colony for the Feebleminded and Epileptics. The novel is absolutely written so well and is a story of how the US forced sterilizations based on class, race, disability, education, and country of origin. This novel made me sad, mad, and angry for anyone and any family that faced these conditions.

The Lies They Told, Ellen Marie Wiseman's latest historical novel, tells the story of an Italian-German immigrant seeking the American Dream and facing an American nightmare. Arriving on Ellis Island with her toddler daughter Ella, her German mother, and fourteen-year-old brother Enzo, Magdalena “Lena” Conti quickly finds herself separated from mother and brother by immigration authorities and later learns that her brother Enzo has been rejected for admission and that her mother will be deported with him because he is too young to travel alone. Although a distant relative, Silas Wolfe, had offered her mother and brother jobs, he does not expect Lena and her illegitimate child. Fortunately, in her mother’s and brother’s absence, he agrees to take them in so Lena can care for his two children, Bonnie and Jack Henry. Not knowing where these distant cousins lived, Lena is surprised to find herself distant from civilization on a remote backwoods farm in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Lies They Told is a page-turner difficult to set down. As Lena faces life among the poor, uneducated, but hard-working mountain folk, she must adjust to ways far different from the glamorous American city life she had anticipated. Dangers exist around every corner as plans to open Shenandoah National Park threaten to confiscate the locals’ property, forcing them from home and livelihood, and as the American eugenics movement, very active in Virginia, strives to prevent the birth of what eugenicists regard as feeble-minded, lazy, alcoholic, insane, criminal misfits, destined to be burdens on society.

Filled with lies, disappointments, hardships, and tragedies, but also with interesting local customs, quaint expressions, close families, adjustments, hopes, discoveries, and renewal, The Lies They Told will evoke readers’ full gamut of emotions.
Wiseman’s opening acknowledgements, quotations, and closing notes enhance readers’ knowledge of the novel’s background history, including the real-life characters that appear within its pages and an occasional chronological adjustment to fit the narrative, which spans 1928-1950 although mainly focusing on the earlier years. A few Internet searches will also supplement the reading experience. Discussion questions at the back of the book are a helpful aid for book clubs that will inevitably become admiring readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an eGalley of Ellen Marie Wiseman’s highly recommended new book. Although an historical novel, it contains elements that ring true today.

Book Review

📖📖📖📖📖+
FIVE + BOOKS

Where do I start? I was graciously granted this advanced readers copy of one of my FAVORITE Historical Fiction authors, Ellen Marie Wiseman, from netgalley and the publisher. I love her writing. The research she does is so fascinating to me and I've read every book she's written. To know we live in the same town is CRAZY to me! I just want to invite her over for wine and cheese and ask her a million questions about being an author.

I started this book on Friday night around 10pm. I felt like I couldn't put it down, like I had to know what happened to Lena next. Would she make it to America. Would her family make it? What about her baby, Ella? Would her American cousin welcome her?

It's the 1930s in rural Virginia, and it's the story of hope, love, family, determination, and so much loss. A young mother desperate to provide a better life for her daughter, and a widowed father determined to save his children and his land from the outrageous eugenics policies of that time. As I was reading what was allowed to occur to humans I was blown away. Was this real? Could you be institutionalized for being an unmarried mother? For being what the state deemed as feebleminded? Who gets to make that call? Sterilization? Were families really torn apart for the purpose of securing land. My mouth hung open and I was both shocked and horrified.

The Lies They Told was so eye opening, as all of this author's novels are. The characters were incredibly developed. Each and every one. I could see Lena Conti, her sweet baby Ella strapped to her chest. I will admit I woke my husband up crying when I finished the book late Sunday night. He thought something was really wrong with me and when I told him it was the book, he just stared at me l like I was a lunatic. My heart was bursting for Lena, that's all I can say.

This book will be out in July 2025. Pre-order it. Get to a bookstore. Whatever you have to do. Buy it.

Ellen Marie Wiseman once again takes a terrible part of our history and brings it to life through a character-driven story that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming while being horrific in its reality. Magdalena (Lena) Conti comes to America through Ellis Island in 1928 with her mother and brother to escape the horrors of Germany. Her mother had made arrangements to work for herself and son with a distant relative while Lena, and her infant daughter Ella, joined them with the hopes that she too would be given a place to live and work. The descriptions given of the "unwelcoming" scenes at Ellis Island for those arriving via steerage are frightening to read about, let alone imagine how these immigrants had to have been overwhelmed when expecting a joyous welcome. As her mother and brother are deemed unfit and returned to Germany, Lena and Ella meet Silas Wolfe and hope for his acceptance. What follows is a trip into a different type of hardship of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. While food is more plentiful than Lena has ever seen, the life with Silas and his children, Bonnie and John Henry, is anything but peaceful. Lena encounters the friendship and community of neighbors who help each other out, but at the same time discovers the wickedness of government people who wish to take the land from a people they depict as mentally defective, feebleminded, and unable to care for their families. The story of hope takes a downward turn as Silas and Lena are about to lose everything they hold dear, and their struggles to reunite with the children can only be described as unbelievable in that their story is based on historical facts of unimaginable acts of cruelty. The author brings the story to a gentle ending after such dramatic occurrences in Lena's life. The title is all encompassing of different historically correct parts of the story that leave the reader asking, "how could this have happened in America?" and make it ever so much more important that we never go there again. The Author's Note at the end of the book shows the due diligence of Ms. Wiseman as she explains the American eugenics campaign and the amount of historical research, along with links for the readers to learn more, that has been put into the telling of this story in a way that becomes an education in itself..... whether we want to know about it or not. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #TheLiesTheyTold

In 1928, 19-year-old Lena arrives in America from Germany with her two-year-old daughter Ella, her mother, and 14-year-old brother, Enzo. But the American dream is shattered at Ellis Island, where only Lena and Ella are permitted to enter. Enzo is cruelly labeled “feeble-minded” and deported, with their mother forced to return with him. Lena, alone and terrified, is met with indifference by her distant cousin Silas—who had expected the help of her mother and brother on his Virginia farm, not a young woman with a child.

Silas, a widower hardened by years of backbreaking mountain life, takes Lena and Ella to his remote cabin deep in a holler in Virginia. There, Lena discovers a harsh, hidden world—one where Silas’s children, Bonnie and Jack Henry, have been trained to disappear when the sheriff comes around. Though her start in America is isolating and grim, Lena slowly adjusts, learning the rhythms of farm life with Bonnie as her guide.

But just as Lena finds her footing, the story takes a devastating turn. Outsiders, nosy neighbors, and a judgmental sheriff deem Silas an “unfit” father. The children, including Ella, are ripped from the home by the state. Lena’s desperate efforts to resist lead to her being committed to “The Colony,” a real-life sanatorium in rural Virginia where the poor—particularly from Appalachian communities—were confined, silenced, and sterilized under the guise of eugenics.

Stripped of her rights and separated from her daughter, Lena endures a forced sterilization in a bid for freedom. Though she eventually returns to find Silas’s home gone and his spirit broken, Lena never gives up hope. She finds refuge with another mountain family, holding tight to the dream of reuniting with her daughter.

For fans of Kelly Rimmer and Kristin Hannah, this unforgettable novel is a must-read. Ellen Marie Wiseman shines a light on a dark and often overlooked chapter of American history—the eugenics movement in Virginia and the stolen children of the Shenandoah Valley. Haunting, powerful, and deeply human, this beautifully written story is sure to be one of 2025’s most talked-about novels.

Ellen Marie Wiseman, the Author of “The Lies They Told” has written a powerful, memorable, heartfelt, emotional and captivating novel. Kudos to Ellen Marie Wiseman for the hours of research in this significant well written Historical Fiction novel. The author vividly captures visit to Ellis Island, Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Virginia State colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded, and the dramatic, complex and complicated characters. The timeline is set around 1930, and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters or events. This novel is based on America’s Eugenics Movement.

This is such a thought-provoking novel that I discussed this with my 18 year old grandson who was visiting. It is unbelievable to think that Eugenics was a movement in America, before it became part of Hitler’s plan of extermination. My grandson couldn’t understand why this subject wasn’t discussed in High School. It is so frightening that this concept exists at all.

Ellen Marie Wiseman sets the stage for this book when the female protagonist, Lena Conti, and her baby daughter, mother and brother arrive to Ellis Island from Germany. The family is excited to be coming to America. A cousin, Silas Wolfe, a widower will be sponsoring Lena’s mother and brother. Unfortunately, Lena witnesses many unfair practices. Both her mother and brother are sent back to Germany, since they didn’t “pass” the qualifications. At Ellis Island there are many discriminating practices used to determine who should be sent back.

Lena convinces Silas Wolfe to take her and her baby with him to the Blue Ridge Mountains where he lives. Silas has a daughter and son that do many chores around their home. Lena is shocked that the daughter and son have to hide from visitors. The lot and home of Silas are valuable to the government, and they would love to see Silas and other neighbors be forced out. The Eugenics Office has been around to check on who is “feebleminded” “unstable” or “immoral” people. Lena and her two cousins are taken away, and tested. She is separated from them and her daughter. Lena is considered to be “feebleminded” and finds herself sent to the Virginia State Colony for the feebleminded. Many women and men are sterilized to prevent passing on these genes.

Ellen Marie Wiseman discusses the tragic consequences and of the Eugenics movement, and discrimination, cruelty, and inhumanity. The author also mentions the importance of dignity, courage, family, friends, love and hope. I highly recommend this significant and important book.