Based on the literary mystery and disappearance of a woman Barbara Newhall Follet, this poetic novel captured my attention and imagination.

As a child prodigy, Bronwyn wrote a book at the age of 12. Years later, she vanishes, leaving her family and life behind. 25 years later, her daughter Clara receives a call from Britain stating that there's lost papers of her mother's. Clara sets off with her & year old daughter to retrieve them.

This book has beautiful imagery, & immersive world building. There are multiple POVs, it was medium paced, with unexpected twists that lead the story instead of standing alone, and beautiful prose that flows easily and brings the characters alive.

At times it felt the author overdid the descriptions and the plot wasn’t moving fast enough, but I still appreciated how it painted a vivid picture in my mind. The story was wrapped up nicely and I didn’t have any unanswered questions.

Patti Callahan Henry is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! I love the setting of this tale, which is 1950's era London.
Clara is a young divorced mother who has spent the majority of her childhood wondering if her mother is alive or dead. If she is alive, why would she leave her? Her mother was/is a child prodigy who wrote and published a popular children's book with it's own language of words that her mother created. She disappeared when Clara was just eight years old.
About twenty years later, Clara receives the news that her mother's leather satchel has been found, she dares to hope that just possibly is her mother still alive? London and the surrounding countryside is a character unto itself in this story. I think you will be just as enchanted as I am with this story. I loved it!

I really enjoy reading Patti Callahan Henry's books. She doesn't just write, she paints pictures with words. Her stories immerse you in the landscape and the feelings it evokes. After reading this one, I'm ready to book a trip to the Lake District to experience it firsthand.

Based on true events, The Story She Left Behind tells the tale of Clara Harrington, whose mother disappeared without a trace from their home in South Carolina when Clara was only eight years old. Now an adult with her own little girl. Clara has spent her life trying to come to terms with the mystery of her mother. Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham was a child prodigy who wrote a bestselling book and invented a language when she was just a child. Out of the blue, Clara receives a phone call from a stranger in London. He claims to have a letter addressed to her from Bronwyn, along with a dictionary of the language she created. Clara and her daughter Wynnie set off across the ocean to try to piece together the mystery of her vanishing mother.

I truly enjoyed The Story She Left Behind! Patti Callahan Henry has the most gorgeous writing style. The characters and setting were written to perfection. I’ve added the Lake District to a list of places I want to visit someday. I also loved the historical references to the Great Smog and Beatrix Potter. I did feel that the story meandered and moved a little slowly for my liking at times, but the ending was lovely.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 - I enjoyed this book more than her last one! I really liked the mystery elements to this one. Did feel like it was a bit slow at times. Wynnie was such an adorable charecter!

Patti Callahan Henry never falls to give us a beautiful historical fiction with mystery and magical realism sprinkled throughout, and The Story She Left Behind is no exception. This was an absolutely breathtaking novel of love and loss, of motherhood and what it means, of the power of language. This book seems to transcend genres - is it historical fiction.. yes. Magical realism? Of course. But its also a mystery, a sprinkle of literary, and at moments a thriller. I loved every moment of this novel and it has easily become one of my favorites.

Beautifully written, The Story She Left Behind is excellent historical fiction - the story is captivating and flows. Rich in well researched historical detail, this story fully captivated me and I finished it over a weekend, because I didn’t want to put it down.

This is one readers will continue to think about.

One of my favorites of the year, it’s a definite recommendation from me 🙂




Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the DRC

I knew a Patti Callahan Henry Book would not disappoint, but this was incredible! Beautiful and heartbreaking. I didn't want it to end!

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and Patty Callahan Henry for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of The Story She Left Behind.
This is a beautifully written historical fiction story about a famous children’s book, a lost mother and a daughter’s search for them both. I love books about books, a secret hidden language and the desire to make sense of a life that only gives us pieces of the puzzle and we need to find out more for our world to become whole.
The characters are well developed and likable. The plot is evenly paced with lots to solve along the way. Some are easy logistics while others continue to create stumbling blocks without answers creating additional trouble for the characters.
I enjoyed the study and creation of languages. There are many references to Latin and Gaelic - I read these slowly and thought about their possible origins and meaning.
There are many great quotes which i won’t spoil who said them but want to share their impact . “The version I wrote is not what I would write today.” We certainly see things differently as we age and gain experience. Another one I love - “ Fear and shame are powerful forces that keep us from those we love.” So true!
I thoroughly enjoyed this journey and will think about it often. I would love to travel to this setting- peaceful, relaxing and beautiful.

4.25⭐️. A beautiful story!

Clara’s mother disappeared without a trace when she was 8 years old. Fast forward to 25 years later when a caller from England claims to have papers belonging to her mother. That call begins Clara’s journey from the coast of South Carolina to foggy London to the lush English countryside.

This book is fiction but is based on historical events (read the author’s note at the end). It has mystery, romance and often reads like a fairytale. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric and will immediately pull you in.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Another wonderful journey written by Patti Callahan Henry.

Clara and Wynnie will have your heart as they travel to London in search of finding answers about the mother Clara lost over 25 years ago.

Cue Charlie, who will also steal your heart along with his family as they help in that search.

The twists that unfolded were fun to read, just seeing how they were going to play out made it a quick and delightful read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Every scene is beautifully described in detail and imagery. Great storyline and I appreciated how Patti wove in the events of the Great Smog. Well written and charming characters.

A great story that combines family dynamics/upheaval, historical events and mystery. I couldn't wait to get the answers to the questions the beginning of the book gives.

Wonderful read - 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley for the early e-reader arc.

Clara's mother magically disappears off the coast of South Carolina her world is turned upside town. Clara misses her mother so much and wants to find out what really happened to her moth. As she grows up her thoughts about her mother never disappear and one day she comes upon a man that might have some answers to her questions.

Oh no, here I go, I am going to be that person. I am going to have an unpopular opinion let's just chalk this one up as another unpopular opinion but this book did not work for me. It started off so strong and was clouded in a mystery I couldn't wait to get the bottom of, like most Patti Callahan Henry books. I know with her I have to be a patient reader as she slowly but surely reaveals the intricacies of her great story telling. Sadly her writing style for this book seemed to morph into fairy tale land. She could have grown a garden with all the flowery language. I about wanted to roll my eyes with all the "beautiful" language and "secret language". This was like eating a bowl of froot loops, drinking a dr pepper and licking a blow pop.
Outside of the impossibly dramatic wording, the actual plot was frustrating/dumb.
Clara's mother, a child prodigy author, left(or died) when Clara was 8 years old after a house fire. Fast foward 25 years, Clara is all grown up and has her own daughter Wynn. She receives a phone call from Charlie in England who has found her mother's satchel with a letter for Clara and her "Secret Language Dictionary".
Everything started strong and I was loving the mystery and the strong mother daughter bond present amidst the generations. However once the story shifted to England, it felt like we slipped into a majestical world, and I wasn't lovin it. The story began to drag on....rather slowly. THEN.
The big reveal at the end had me incredibly frustrated. I don't like to do spoilers so I will block it out, but....if you want to know......
spoiler: <spoiler>. You are telling me, that a mother would LEAVE her 8 year old child because she thought she would be sent away to an insane asylum? You would rather your child think you DEAD?? No mother would do that. It was ludicrous and on top of that Clara and her father were like, "Okay we forgive you." Im sorry but NO. I understand forgiveness, but they shrugged it off and moved on like she had just gone missing for an hour...25 years? The torture this did to poor Clara. I hated it. The ending was such a big ball of cheese..</spoiler>

For an author that really likes to dig deep into a book and expose relationships, I thought this was very shallow. She spent too much time on this majestical fantasy world and language. The conclusion left me angry and frustrated. But just like how I love my Steaks cooked crispy well done, i love hot humid days I also did not like this book.

Thank you Net Galley and Patti Callahan Henry for allowing me to review this advanced copy of The Story She Left Behind. I was not influenced or paid for this review.

Even though I adored a previous book by Henry - Once Upon a Wardrobe- I was disappointed with this one. The storyline was what intrigued me but it moved too slow for my taste. I felt there was a lot of repetition and too many unnecessary details. I would have loved if the author did a dual timeline and included the mother’s past experiences instead of the extra details in the daughter’s present timeline. I think I would had been more sympathetic to the reasoning of the mother’s vanishing. Henry does write beautifully though, this book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars. This is a story of finding what is lost, finding oneself, finding where you belong in life. Sadly, this book fell a bit short for me. It took me a while to realize why, but I didn’t feel much of a connection with the characters. I wish that the author had included a bit more of the relationship between Clara and her mother before her mother‘s disappearance. Knowing that Clara lost her mother at a young age was sad, but I think I would’ve been more emotionally vested in her story had I known the kind of relationship they had before the disappearance. Instead, we are given a very brief chapter from her mother, Bronwyn’s, point of view before embarking on a journey with Clara, now an adult, to London. There, along with Clara’s daughter Wynnie, we join Clara in trying to discover the secret to her mother’s disappearance. It was a slow moving journey, in my opinion. I felt like it took a while to get going. I enjoyed the parts where Clara and Charlie had conversations about things, but the rest felt like a lot of descriptions that weren’t always necessary. Much of the story took part in the 1950’s, but there wasn’t enough detail to remind me of that and I kept reading as if it took place in modern day.
Overall, it was an ok read for me , but left me wanting more.
Thank you to Atria Books who gifted an ARC of this book via Netgalley to me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed Henry's latest novel, The Story She Left Behind. This was a beautiful story about family, sacrifice, and forgiveness. I really loved the historical aspects of this book, and I was absolutely fascinated by the character Bronwyn's story (based on a real life author that also disappeared). It took me a little while to feel really invested in the story, but about halfway through the book I found it difficult to put down! Some of the dialogue between the characters felt unnatural at times and the sentence structure didn't always seem to flow. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I'm so glad I got the chance to read it early! Thank you to the author, Atria books, and NetGalley of the advanced copy!

Patti Callahan Henry crafts another masterfully written novel. Fans will love it and new readers will become fans- it is a winner!

The Story She Left Behind is such a beautiful story from Patti Callahan Henry. The story focuses on Clara Harrington. Clara was abandoned by her mother when she was 8. Her mother was a child prodigy author whom had written her own language. Clara knows her disappearance isn't all that it seems. It's now 1952, Clara is divorced with an 8 year old daughter named Wynnie. Clara receives a phone call from a man named Charlie Jameson in London claiming he has her mother's lost language. Clara is skeptical as she should be, but Charlie divulges information that would be impossible to know without truly having the language itself and the adventure ensues from here.

This is story telling at it's finest. Reading this book was like a cozy hug that I didn't know I needed. Nobody can tell a story quite like Patti can. I absolutely adored The Secret Book of Flora Lea and was anxiously awaiting her next release. The Story She Left Behind stepped in and filled that void. Please pick this book up as soon as you are able! 5 stars for this beautiful novel!