Lena and her family travel to America looking to make a new start in life. When they arrive at Ellis Island, Lena finds her mom and brother are sent back home to Germany while Lena and her daughter Ella are allowed to stay. Lena moves in with her distant relative Silas to help him take care of his home and children, Bonnie and John Henry. Lena makes a home in the mountains of Virginia, while there, she soon learns of the dangers in their community. The government is looking to seize the land of the inhabitants and portray them as unfit and feebleminded, sending them to Eugenics facilities to have them sterilized against their will. All Lena wanted was to seek a better life, but she soon finds herself entwined in a web of lies.

This was such a good read and a look into a horrific part of our history. The whole government scheme of Eugenics, stealing children from their families and deciding who they deem fit to have children is horrifying. You see Lenas struggles to adapt in a new country while forming a bond with her distant relatives. Lenas story is one of survival and a mothers unending love.

Wiseman has written another intense, and at times heartbreaking, well-researched historical novel. This novel is a bit of an emotional roller coaster starting with the terror and confusion of being a new immigrant entering the U.S. through Ellis Island in the early part of the twentieth century. Wiseman does an excellent job depicting the crowds and tension and confusion that her main character Magdalena “Lena” Conti encounters when she first arrives in America with her mother, brother, and daughter. Once Lena has made it past the requirements to enter the country, she takes you along on her journey to fit into a new way of life in a new country. Her depictions of what takes place during Lena’s time in the Blue Ridge Mountain area as the government seized the land to make way for a park to the appalling conditions of a state institution at the time, show Wiseman’s attention to historical detail. Her information on the eugenics movement at the time showed me a part of American history I was unaware of, and I was horrified by some of the details I later looked up. Lena’s story continues past those dark times and comes to a more than satisfying conclusion, leaving the reader with a sense of hope. But getting to that part of the book will take the reader through some chilling representations of what was once done to those who were considered “lesser” humans during a dark time in American history. The Lies They Told will be a great book club read for 2025!

The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman’s is a moving and heart wrenching exploration of the eugenics movement in the 1930’s. This is a story of survival, resilience, and hope told through the eyes of a young immigrant mother named Lena. Her journey reveals the cruelty and prejudice of society during this time. The author exposes the horrors of forced sterilization and the stigmatization of immigrants. This novel also celebrates the unyielding power of a mother’s love. I loved that this author has the ability to balance an emotionally tense topic with historical accuracy, and was able to shed light on this period in history.

I have read all of this author's books, and I have enjoyed every one. While I liked this book, I do feel as though the backstory and details were not fully actualized.