Cecily Larson is a survivor. Surrendered to an orphanage at age 4, she fully believes her mother will return for her. She continues to hold onto that hope even after being sold to a traveling circus. Cecily’s search for love, belonging, and family span an entire lifetime. Now, at age 94 and recovering from a nasty fall, her entire life is about to unravel as the results of a DNA test reveal long hidden secrets.

This book grabbed me from the first page and tightened its grip on my heart as Cecily’s story unfolded. It’s full of heartbreak, hope, and remarkable resilience. Part historical fiction, part family drama, and part love story; The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson is a testament to the remarkable strength that moves us forward when circumstances conspire to derail us. Bravo to Ellen Baker for this beautiful book.

This book will be released on February 20, 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

*4.5 stars rounded up*

Have you ever taken a DNA test that changed your life?

Cecily Larson has had many names, & we get to know them all as we go on a journey with her from 1924 (when she was four years old) to 2015 - we also get to learn about her family, her secrets, & the many ways that life can be bittersweet.

Cecily has been all over the United States - when she was four years old in Chicago her mother “temporarily” gave up custody of her & never came back (even though she said she would). After three years in a children’s home, Cecily was sold to the circus to be part of a trick riding show - she spent the next eight years of her life riding the rails across America & mostly loving her life with horses, but the first time she fell in love had many unintended consequences. She involuntarily spent time in a home for “wayward” girls, ended up in a sanatorium, & eventually settled in Minnesota where she’s residing in 2015 when she unknowingly takes a DNA test with her daughter, granddaughter, & great-grandson, & many truths come to light…

I found myself taking copious notes as I read this book as there was SO MUCH happening across the timelines & in various family member’s lives (love & war & divorce & pregnancies with complicated results & medical issues & death & addiction & dark historical events in America, the list goes on) but somehow I didn’t ever have trouble following the many threads of this poignant tapestry of a life, which is a credit to the author’s talent. I loved getting to see the life that Cecily carved out for herself in Minnesota after the years of hardship & injustice that she endured in her youth, & the way that the DNA test impacted so many lives was a superb example of the Butterfly Effect - the chain of events that led to everything after, bad things that led to good, was definitely food for thought. I also loved all the many different ways that horses were included in this story, & the mentions of my home state of Iowa were fun to see. I would’ve liked a few more answers about certain things, but I guess life is like that sometimes: we don’t get to know everything.

Thank you to NetGalley & Mariner for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this wonderful book.

The book immediately drew me in with insights into Cecily Larson’s early life. I especially enjoyed the focus on her circus life. The story skillfully navigates between various timelines, and the characters, genuinely endearing, made me feel as if I knew them. The storyline’s twists and turns were delightful, compelling me to eagerly turn each page for more. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy a good multiple perspective family story.

What a whirlwind of a book. This story capitaviated me from the very first pages. I think this book had such a strong female presence and how they all supported each other. Cecily wasn't probably dealt one of the worse hands in her life however she never stopped loving was such a strong story. My only thing is I wish they would have tried to say what happened to Grace as I feel she was the turn around moment in the story. I cannot recommend this book enough.

The book was good. It was a little slow getting into it but overall I enjoyed it. I would recommend this to my friends

The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker is a beautiful story about a woman with a complex history. Cecily was an orphan who was adopted by the circus and faces many trials that affect the course of her life. Now at 95 years old, after an accident lands her in the hospital, her family secretly sends her DNA in for a family tree project, and this act sends their lives into a tailspin.

I loved this book. The story was well written, traveling between Cecily’s past and present and multiple perspectives. The characters were well written although some were very frustrating at times, even characters you liked. I was a bit thrown when new character perspectives were added at the beginning of part two; I felt it was a bit discordant but grew to enjoy reading that perspective as well. I would give this book 4.5 stars for that reason.

Thank you Net Galley and the publishers for access to an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Mariner Books for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review that will appear on Goodreads.

This book is about too many things at once. The cover makes you believe it is about a circus, which there is that. I really enjoyed the historical fiction aspects of the travelling circus and how everything worked. Yay.
But this book is also about abandonment - whether deliberate or forced, and the tragedy of the trauma this causes. Every major character in the book has parental abandonment, spousal abandonment, or has been forced to give up a child - or a combo!
This book is also about DNA and the secrets a DNA kit can uncover - and a giant advertisement for Ancestry.com. Of course this part was interesting as the technology of the DNA kits improves over the years. I recently saw a story of a group of people who found out they were all siblings - more than 200 of them - because of a sperm donor! Whoa!
This book, for me, has too many characters. I loved the beginning and enjoyed the end, but the middle was a slog for me as I tried to figure out who we were talking about. Because of the number of characters, there were that many side stories too - and many unnecessary to the main storyline.
Gosh and I felt bad for Liz who, while going through a cancer diagnosis has to also deal with discovering what the DNA test reveals and learning of family secrets long held...and a mother more interested in the DNA results. Eek.
I still think patrons on a whole will love it but for me, I wouldn't reach for it and might forget about it by the time I am through my next book, sadly. Great premise but it just lost me in the middle. A 'like' and not much more.
3*

The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books egalley for the opportunity to read this ARC ebook.

4 star read
Historical fiction of an entertaining family drama centered around Cecily Larson and her will to survive the ups and downs of her life.

I really enjoyed this book by Ellen Baker and was captivated from the very first page. It’s a bittersweet story that pulls at your heart strings. DNA plays a huge role in this family drama. Also touching upon injustice, eugenics, resilience, love, family and secrets and secrets and more secrets.
Definitely a page-turner.

I love family dramas. I love stories that weave through time and make us laugh and cry and cheer all throughout the course of one book. That book was The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson. This book puts us into the shoes of Cecily and the various generations of her family who are looking to find the truth about their matriarch. This was so full of heart and family and definitely a few triggers along the way - but I loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

This was such a touching story but I couldn't feel the emotions 100%... Could be me, but I did expect more from such a poignant tale. The circus life was entrancing and I couldn't stop imagining the scenes. Overall, A very nice effort and I can't wait to read more
3.5 Stars

have never read this author before, and now I plan to read more of her books. I saw a review and asked for an ARC, and I certainly was not disappointed. I was not sure where this book was headed, but I figured it out by the middle.
As a parent of an adopted child, I found this book heartbreaking, yet satisfying. There are many timelines that eventually coalesce into a final family reunion.
Beginning with 4 year old orphan Cecily, in 1923, then forward in time to Cecily in her 90's in 2015 we learn her history. We follow her into the 1930's as a circus performer, then as a 19 year old in a TB sanitarium.
Her daughter, a widow and her divorced granddaughter and her grandson all live in a small Minnesota town. The mystery begins win.the grandson decides to do a DNA science project.
We the jump to another family, Kate a widow and recovering alcoholic, is picked up by her sister Lana and driven to visit their mother in North Carolina. We slowly learn all of their backstories, none of them very happy ones. Lana has dark skin, and when she was born her father took one look at her and abandoned the family.
(Interestingly, this is a topic that comes up in my feed a lot, where fathers are suspicious and ask for paternity tests. Secrets always arise because a parent or grandparent had
affairs.)
Lana them to get DNA tests because she never understood what happened. I think you can see where the stories begin to intersect.
There are many themes in this book, orphans, abandonment, adoption, baby selling, eugenics, cancer and of course, secrets. I laughed, I cried, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book, which I read in one day.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my EARC. This is my honest opinion, and I highly recommend this book.

During the Depression, Cecily is "surrendered" to an orphanage by her mother with the promise she'll be back. However before she can get back Cecily is sold to the guy who owns the circus and she grows up performing until she becomes close with a roustabout and falls in love. However he is worried because of the color of his skin that they are both in danger and he leaves the circus and her behind. She finds herself alone again and pregnant at 15 and her journey for family, security and love continues. Fastforward and Cecily has fallen and broken her hip and her daughter and grandaughter are taking care of her. Her great grandson is working on a DNA project and to surprise her they take a sample without her knowing and send it off. The secrets held so closely in the past come rushing forward. This touches the heart in similar ways to This Tenderland and left me in tears at the beautiful story of pain and suffering but most of all of the powerful effect of love and kindness. Loved it!

Thank you to Mariner Books for the ARC! #NetGalley #TheHiddenLifeof CecilyLarson

THIS.. THIS BOOK. THIS IS WHY I READ.
I think this one is being marketed as if Water for Elephants and the Glass Castle had a love child. For once, it isn’t wrong. I love both of those books equally for different reasons, and this book of Cecil’s life that reads a bit like the Notebook, was just the most captivating tale of bravery and growing up without a family.

This book had me up late at night, choked up at points and stopping to pause and reflect more often than anticipated. This book is amazing, a beautiful story of lineage and loss, and what it means to grow up in America in fraught times.

**Thank you to Mariner Books for this free digital review copy.**

Cecily Larson is a young girl abandoned at an orphanage in Chicago, and later sold to a circus and trained to perform as a bareback rider. Incredibly naive, Cecily nevertheless makes her way in this new life, for better or for worse.

Years into the future, we find Cecily at 95, as well as the three generations after her, living in Minnesota and with no clue as to Cecily's past. She has kept many things (both that she did and that were done to her) a secret, but those secrets begin to be revealed when teenage Caden does a school project with the family's DNA.

The various timelines and settings of this novel had me wondering how everything was going to come together, but when it did, I cried tears of joy. The despicable practices of doctors toward those deemed "feebleminded" for such "crimes" as having sex with Black men and being raped were horrifically sad, as was the way Cecily was taken advantage of by the circus—those who supposedly took her in from the orphanage but really just used her naiveté to make money for themselves and then left her high and dry when she could no longer serve her purpose.

There is a lot to consider in this book about family and secrets and what it truly means to be a parent or to be a child—is it DNA or love or some combination? There are decisions made that affect future generations, and everything could be changed with just one different choice. Is it better to keep a painful truth from someone, or to let them know, even though it will hurt them? And is it selfish to hide one's past in favor of a better future? I was on the edge of my seat reading this story and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next (sad as some of it was).

I loved this book. I was a little hesitant to read it because I don’t like books with the circus (I’m odd I know :) ). But the plot, the multiple points of view and multiple dual timelines had me hooked.

Spanning about 90 years in the life of Cecile Larson, this book is an intriguing, beautifully written tale of love, abandonment, family, adoption, racism, the price of keeping secrets, and the triumph of family. Lots of characters are in this novel and while at times it’s difficult to keep track of the key players, there is a purpose and often a lesson to be learned from each.

At the height of the depression, when Cecily is only four, her widowed mother has an opportunity to live a better live- but only if she gives up her daughter. Cecily is brought to an orphanage, with her mother’s promise to come back. Her mother does not return. At age seven, Cecily is sold to the owner of a circus because she shows skill at balancing her body while walking on a bannister. At the circus she becomes the “ little sister” of the current bareback riding female star. Cecily feels love for the first time, as she achieves circus stardom.

As the years go by Cecily become attached to a young African American roustabout, Lucky. They forge a strong bond at a time when interracial relationships are prohibited by law. Cecily is blind to the potential disaster but Lucky, older and more savvy to racial inequalities, understands that being with Cecily is inviting disaster.

In alternating chapters , we meet Cecily who is now 94 years old, and living in rural Minnesota with her daughter, granddaughter and great grandson. A school science project is proposed by the young man’s teacher. Four living generations of Larsons are to take DNA tests to compare the genetic findings/ changes over their lifetimes. Cecily is not consulted, but is tricked into giving a sample, by a well intentioned friend while in the hospital after a fall,m

Concurrently, and in a third thread, a family in North Carolina undergoes DNA testing. Something seems odd as two sisters are very unlike in physical appearance.

Despite the constantly changing points of view, and the sometimes confusing cast of characters ( I had to backtrack a few times) what emerges is a beautifully told, descriptively written, passionate and immersive story. I loved the depth of each character and felt their presence. I also enjoyed reading about the ins and outs of a traveling circus.

While the outcome seems preordained, the road to that end is a powerful and interesting journey. Five stars for a piece of historical fiction at its best. Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published soon, February 20, 2024. If you enjoy historical fiction and beautifully drawn characters this book is for you!

What a delightful novel! From the first page to the last, I was entranced. The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson explores family, love, abandonment, fate, secrets, adoption, race, ethics, DNA, and of course, the circus. The characters are both flawed and loveable, the plot is well paced, and there are a few lovely surprises. Fans of both historical fiction and present day women's fiction will enjoy this one.

Thank you for the ARC and the early opportunity to read and review this novel. Review will be shared on/near the pub date on bookstagram.

There is something about the time period of traveling circuses that always draws me in. I know others disagree, but I am also a big fan of stories with dual timelines and a "common thread" mystery. Because Cecily is in her 90s in the present 2015 timeline, we get a great run through of a period of contemporary history too often overlooked in historical fiction. I also am usually not swayed by this, but I thought it was an excellent cover too!

I was really excited to read this one especially after reading the synopsis. The story is told in the past and present time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect to Cecily and felt more interested in Molly and Liz’s story . The book does touch on some heavy topics but i felt the first 60/70 % just moved way too slow for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Interesting book about family dynamics and DNA. Not as much about the circus as I expected but it was enjoyable to read and interesting.