The Story She Left Behind: A Novel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Brilliant, riveting, so beautifully written, impossible to put down.” —Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.
In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, vanishes off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her disappearance leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more insatiable: her beloved mother.
By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s disappearance, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.
“Graceful in its telling and so very wise in its insights, The Story She Left Behind is a book that will capture your heart, lift your spirits, and delight your soul” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author).
“Brilliant, riveting, so beautifully written, impossible to put down.” —Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.
In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, vanishes off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her disappearance leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more insatiable: her beloved mother.
By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s disappearance, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.
“Graceful in its telling and so very wise in its insights, The Story She Left Behind is a book that will capture your heart, lift your spirits, and delight your soul” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author).
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Community Reviews
Stunning, beautiful, poetic, tragic, poignant, emotional!
The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry is a breathtaking journey through decades of mystery and buried family secrets. The story follows Clara Harrington and her daughter Wynnie as they travel from South Carolina to the lush English countryside, unraveling the truth behind the disappearance of Claraâs mother, a famous author, who vanished 25 years ago.
Henryâs writing is mesmerizing â lyrical and poetic, yet grounded in raw emotion. Every scene feels carefully crafted, weaving past and present together in a way that made me feel deeply connected to Claraâs search for answers. The atmosphere is rich and immersive, and the English countryside setting adds a haunting beauty that mirrors the unfolding mystery.
The characters are beautifully drawn, especially Clara. Her journey is as much about healing and self-discovery as it is about solving the mystery surrounding her mother. Wynnie adds another layer of heart to the story, showcasing the complexities of mother-daughter relationships across generations.
The pacing is gentle but steady, allowing the emotional weight of each revelation to sink in. Henry masterfully balances suspense and sentiment, making every clue and memory feel significant. The twists arenât about shock value but about uncovering long-buried truths, and each piece of the puzzle felt earned.
This book is about grief, forgiveness, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Itâs a poignant reminder that even the most painful truths have the power to set us free.
Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for providing the E-ARC of this beautiful story in exchange for my honest review.
"In my beginning is my end. In my end is my beginning."
"Fate and destiny, they are ours to make. We choose from many fates."
"Dreams are so much more than that. They are visions of the future, they are whispers of our desires, they are hope. We cannot and we must not live without dreams."
"When the sky breaks open; a transformation that changes you into who you are meant to be; into your very essence."
"You're the place that I stand when my feet are sore."
The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry is a breathtaking journey through decades of mystery and buried family secrets. The story follows Clara Harrington and her daughter Wynnie as they travel from South Carolina to the lush English countryside, unraveling the truth behind the disappearance of Claraâs mother, a famous author, who vanished 25 years ago.
Henryâs writing is mesmerizing â lyrical and poetic, yet grounded in raw emotion. Every scene feels carefully crafted, weaving past and present together in a way that made me feel deeply connected to Claraâs search for answers. The atmosphere is rich and immersive, and the English countryside setting adds a haunting beauty that mirrors the unfolding mystery.
The characters are beautifully drawn, especially Clara. Her journey is as much about healing and self-discovery as it is about solving the mystery surrounding her mother. Wynnie adds another layer of heart to the story, showcasing the complexities of mother-daughter relationships across generations.
The pacing is gentle but steady, allowing the emotional weight of each revelation to sink in. Henry masterfully balances suspense and sentiment, making every clue and memory feel significant. The twists arenât about shock value but about uncovering long-buried truths, and each piece of the puzzle felt earned.
This book is about grief, forgiveness, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Itâs a poignant reminder that even the most painful truths have the power to set us free.
Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for providing the E-ARC of this beautiful story in exchange for my honest review.
"In my beginning is my end. In my end is my beginning."
"Fate and destiny, they are ours to make. We choose from many fates."
"Dreams are so much more than that. They are visions of the future, they are whispers of our desires, they are hope. We cannot and we must not live without dreams."
"When the sky breaks open; a transformation that changes you into who you are meant to be; into your very essence."
"You're the place that I stand when my feet are sore."
Enchanting and beautifully written. BCH’s prose is almost lyrical—each line feels intentional and artful. I’m already planning to reread it just to highlight and annotate all the stunning passages that have stayed with me. Book #45 in 2025
Patti's storytelling is magnificent. She brings the scenery and characters to life while keeping you engaged right from the beginning.
“A lost novel written in a secret language was bait for anyone who loved a good mystery…My mother’s history is a blank book…written in disappearing ink…an amalgam of who and what the world deemed Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham to be: a missing genius, a literary mystery, or a cocktail party anecdote. But for me, she was only one thing: my mother.”
“The lost words of my mother and the translation of her sequel were never going to answer the questions at the heart of me. The answer was in me—who I am in the world, who I love, and how I forgive and live and create. A pile of pages had never the answer. The way this place and these people feel is what I yearn for when I yearn. They are what I want when I want. They are what I attempt to create when I create…This wild world holds more than you can see…Invisible, not imaginary…The eternal mystery–how do we believe in make-believe?”
The Story She Left Behind is “an intention of love to the only place she’d ever believed, understood or heard her–the unseen places where imagination lived and beat a drum for her attention, and her character [who] waited for a new story…tales that sustain us and brought my family to the right moment and place. Stories are made of unseen things, of imagination, of old tales and edges of lakes.”
“The novel is about the invisible world and fairies and fantasy…But also, it's about finding home. It's about knowing where you belong and then doing something about that truth. It's about that sometimes awful and sometimes wonderful journey that can take you in wrong directions, but then being willing to begin again and find your way."
"To new stories…To our stories…All mystery. All beauty." Patti Callahan Henry’s The Story She Left Behind is “an object of wonder, a miraculum.”
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