Wiseman has yet to disappoint. Her beautifully woven historical fiction is always well done. I was completely unaware of the issues that arose in this book. But as we learn, America wasn't all it was cracked up to be and promised to those giving their all and struggling to get here. The land of the free... I really enjoyed the characters, the story, and the ending. Big thank you to Kensington for allowing an early edition.

Oh My Goodness!
I was totally absorbed in this novel from the very first page to the last word!
It is an amazing story that I will soon not forget.

Taking place in the 1930"s-Lena and her young daughter Ella arrive to Ellis Island from Germany for a better life.
They came as a family of four, but her mother and brother are sent back and hence Lena goes to a distant cousin's home in the mountains of Virginia.
He is not expecting her.
The wish is that both she and Ella can stay and take on a caretaker role for this family. Can Lena learn this culture and do her job as expected?

This is the time in our history when anybody that is classified as "feeble-minded, or slow" can be taken away and sterilized. They were often placed in long term facilities and prisons to live until their demise.

People that reside in the hills are farmers and "simple" as the Eugenic's committee called them.
How can Lena and the folks in the mountains live and stay safe? Will they be able to remain on their farmland?
Has Lena regretted leaving her homeland for "freedom"? Is this freedom?

This is an intense, emotional, well written, historical fiction journey that I loved!


Thank you to @NetGalley and @Kensington Publishing for this wonderful ARC and allowing me to provide my own review.

Magdalena Conti is a young, unwed mother, immigrating to the United States with her mother and brother in the 1930s. After surviving the crossing in steerage, they arrive at Ellis Island. Lena is separated from her mother and brother, and clings tightly to her young daughter. Her mother and brother are labeled a burden to the United States and deported to Germany. Lena is reluctantly taken in by her distant cousin, Silas Wolfe. Silas has had his own heartbreak and has two children he needs help raising. The children have been taught to hide when anyone arrives at the house. Authorities in Virginia are trying to clear out families from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Government officials and business are working with the Eugenics Office to label the mountain people as feeble minded and immoral and use this as an excuse to break up families. When Lena falls into the clutches of the Eugenics Office, she faces an unbelievable "choice".

Ellen Marie Wiseman has taken a little known, dark chapter of American history and turned it into a heartbreaking novel. You want the best for these characters and yet, nothing is easily resolved. No short cuts are taken in the narrative and the dynamics between the characters feels like they could be your own family.

I have already recommended this title to multiple people and cannot wait for its release.

Ellen Marie Weissman has again written a superb novel shining light on a dark time in American history. The setting is the mountains of Virginia ( what is now part of Shenandoah National Park) 1928 and the people that lived there. The author has done impeccable research . It is written so beautifully and her descriptions are so realistic that you feel like you are right there. The first half of the book was a little slow, but the second half of the book was riveting; I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I found it amazing that something like this could happen and is still happening in so many states in America.. Eugenics is not new; and is not new to America. The characters are very realistic and what happened to them is extremely heartbreaking.

This book showed me a piece of history that I never knew happened and makes me want to read more about it. I received an advanced copy and oh my heart! What a truly tragic time. This book is so well written I couldn’t put it down! It should be a mandatory read in schools. It’s so sad and frightening that things like this may still be happening. I highly recommend this book.

Lena is a young, single mother immigrant who is separated from her mother and brother at Ellis Island and moves to West Virginia with Silas Wolfe to help care for his two children and his home. Lena quickly learns that the children have been taught to hide when the sheriff or strangers arrive at their mountain farm, but she doesn't fully understand why. As the months pass, she begins to learn how the government plans to seize Silas's land and the land of his neighbors. In the process, children are deemed feebleminded and taken from their parents. The fear is real and Lena, Silas and their neighbors are always on edge. While this book really exposes the American eugenics campaign with some tough story lines, it is also an educational read in understanding how people were treated in the past, and still are being treated today.

Ellen Marie Wiseman has the uncanny ability to bring you back in time to see the horrors and injustices brought upon women throughout history. This book was equal parts heartbreaking as well as heartwarming.

When Lena and her family depart Germany to America in hopes for a better future, the life they seek remains out of reach. Her mother and brother are immediately deported back to Germany so Lena embarks on her own with her baby Ella. Taken in by distant relatives, she forms a strong attachment with the children she is caring for but they are in danger from the state whose goal is to take their land by any means necessary.

You will feel rage and helplessness at the trials Lena endured and the unfairness of it all is infuriating. This was an unsettling look into some of the awful things the oppressed have experienced. Yet, we see strength, determination and most of all love win in the end.

The Lies They Told, by Ellen Marie Wiseman, takes place from 1928 to about 1950. Lena is 19 years old and is on a ship coming to the USA. She is with her mother and younger brother. They are coming from Germany to make a better life. She also has her two year old daughter Ella. When they get to Ellis Island they are in for a big shock. Instead of being welcomed and sent on their way they are examined and questioned then determined if they are "qualified" to enter the states. When Lena is accepted with her daughter, her mother and brother are rejected for being determined, Too "old and weak" and her brother for determined "feebleminded" of course none of this is true but the creeps who tested them decided to deport her family. Heartbroken, Lena is sent on her way with her toddler daughter. she is met by Silas a distant cousin who has come to pick her up. He is furious when told the other family members have been sent back to Germany.
He takes Lena and Ella back home to Virginia where Lena is to live and take care of Silas's two children Bonnie and Jack. Lena is told by the kids and Silas to hide when "authorities" come around. there have been family members in the hills who are taken away because they are determined feebleminded, backwards. and many other cruel untrue names. During this time in history there is the horrors of "Eugenics' where people such as sheriffs, social workers who take people away to have them put in institutions, sterilize them. remove children from families. Silas"s remaining family are also in danger of ignorant authorities who may take family members take their homes even. As in many of Ellen marie Wiseman she writes of subjects that really did happen in the USA. In the 1920 and 30s Eugenics reared it's ugly head breaking up family members with the excuse to "improve" humans by removing who whey felt were Unworthy, unclean, Imbeciles and many other cruel disgusting names. Once again a reminder that throughout history some human behavior can be despicable. Don't want to give spoilers but this book had me outraged by this time in history. I would give this book a 4.5. I received a copy from NetGalley.

A land of freedom. Lena Conti, her two-year-old daughter Ella, her brother Enzo, and her mother have finally made it to America in the 1930s. Lena will soon realize that America isn't all she had imagined it to be. According to Enzo's inspection, he is unfit to remain in the United States. Lena's mother and Enzo will be sent back to Germany. To save her daughter Ella, Lena must make it alone and burdened in America. Having fled poverty and hunger in Germany, she is determined to provide a better life for her daughter. An uncle, Silas Wolfe, takes Lena and Ellla into his home in the Virginia mountains. Due to the death of Silas's wife, he needs help caring for his two children. It is with reluctance that he agrees to take Lena in. At Wolfe Hollow, Lena is shocked by the amount of food stored up. It is not long before Lena realizes there is something wrong. Every time the sheriff comes around, the children are taught to hide. It has been decided by the government that mountain people are idiots, immoral, and backward. They intend to turn their land into a state park via eminent domain. For the sake of Eugenics, they are stealing the children away from their parents. There is a fateful day when the sheriff appears with other government officials. Their plan is to take Bonnie, John Henry, and Ella against their will. Lena is placed in a sanatoriam for imbeciles. What chance does Lena have of escaping the sanatoriam and reuniting with her children? How does Silas react when he discovers that his entire family has been taken? As the book progresses, there is both sadness and redemption.

"The Lies They Told" is an incredibly poignant story that captures the struggles of its protagonist, Lena, as she arrives at Ellis Island as an unmarried young woman with her daughter. From the outset, she faces the harsh realities that accompany the immigrant experience in America. Lena is taken in by a relative, Silas Wolfe, a widower in need of help with his two kids. Despite the numerous obstacles she encounters, Lena begins to forge a connection with the kids and starts to care for them.
Her life changes erraticly when she becomes involved in the ruthless world of eugenics. The emotional weight of the narrative affected me immensely . A great read! Look forward to more by this author.

Not a fan of this novel. At first it was the struggles of a young woman coming to America through Ellis Island. Then it became a story about rural life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Finally the story segues into an exposé on the Eugenics movement. While some aspects were eye opening and informative, overall I struggled to get through this. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

🌸𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗢𝗟𝗗🌸
𝔥𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩 𝔣𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫
🗓️𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟸𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻
🤩𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: 𝟝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤! ★★★★★

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...In rural 1930s Virginia, a young immigrant mother fights for those she loves against America’s rising eugenics movement

🌻𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢...I adore this author! @ellenmariewiseman can weave a story that teaches while also makes you feel so much! 🙌I was enraged, hopeful, flabbergasted & emotional all at the same time! 😳🩷 Her stories always cover topics that are long forgotten. I knew absolutely nothing about this Eugenics program (aka more like a heinous cult) and this wasn’t all that long ago & in my hometown of America!!! 🇺🇸 Flabbergasted!! This setting was just right up the road from me too so I could picture everything so vividly. I was broken for this family & all they endured. The title is the lies they are told & geez, telling young women they are getting their appendix removed but actually sterilizing them because their “stock” might not be what certain leaders think it should be. This wouldve been done to me back then because these country folk talk country-like(as I do🤠)…it didn’t mean they were “feeble minded” that is just how they communicated back then. There is SO much more to this story though so yall must read it when it comes out! And this cover is giving me all the feels! 🌸🌼🌷

This book by Ellen Marie Wiseman is one of the best books I have read. She is a great author. Her books stir emotions in the reader and are hard to put down.

It is a story of a woman’s plan for a better life in the United States which are shattered by a group of people who believe in eugenics. They believe that many immigrants and poor people were feeble minded and needed to be locked away and sterilized so as not to reproduce more feeble minded people. Lena’s daughter was taken from her forcefully and Lena was locked away in a mental institution. In order to be allowed to leave the institution she had to allow the doctor to sterilize her first. The rest of the book is about Lena trying to find her family and her lost daughter.

It is a heartbreaking and emotional novel which will stick with you for a long time. It is hard to believe such terrible things happened in a civilized country and that they could easily happen again. I highly recommend this book. Everyone should read this one. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an advanced copy of this book.

Wiseman’s latest novel is one that you don’t want to miss. The story follows the journey of Lena, a young mother and immigrant coming to the United States with nothing but the few clothes she can carry, her little girl and a heart full of hope. Upon arrival, the intimidating Silas Wolfe, a distant relation, dashes many of those hopes. Faced with caring for his children in an unfamiliar territory, Lena does not have an easy path forward but she is willing to do whatever it takes to create a better future for her daughter. Over time, Lena finds friends and a family with the mountain folk of Virginia but there is an unimaginable enemy coming for them and all they own. Wiseman brilliantly tells the story of the eugenics movement that was prevalent in the United States in the 1920s. As the authorities are searching for reasons to separate families, take their land, and prevent them from creating new ones, Lena tries to hold on to what she holds dear. This novel offers a heartbreaking look inside a time in our history that is not often spoken about and offers a view into the lives of the everyday people trying to survive it. Brilliantly done, make sure you have plenty of time before you open the cover, you’ll want to read it in one sitting!

Ellen Marie Wiseman's newest novel, The Lies They Told, is an excellent historical fiction based on true attitudes and actions taken against the poverty stricken people of rural Virginia.
Lena has immigrated to America in the 1930's with her mother and younger brother. little family is broken up at Ellis Island where she is looked down on for being pregnant and unwed. Silas , a distant cousin from the Blue Ridge Mountains, is not expecting her. He takes her in as a nanny of sorts for his children. The unfolding events tore my heart out and pulled every emotion from me. The characters are so well written-- good ones and bad ones---I felt as if they were real people.
The book examines the policies of that time period : eugenics; forced sterilization of girls, boys, and women; forced incarceration to asylums, etc.
This book stayed with me for a very long time. There is a happy-ish ending which saved me. A wonderful read.
COMING JULY 29th, 2025
Thank you for sending an advanced reader e-copy at my request. I review books I love for friends and followers. I recommend this book to others who enjoy historical setting with compelling storylines, New Adult Fiction, General Fiction.

4.5⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author Ellen Marie Wiseman and her publisher Kensington. I received an Advanced Reader Copy for the JULY 2025 release of 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑇𝑜𝑙𝑑 in exchange for my honest review.

If you enjoy historical fiction, this is a must read. Immigrant experience in the 1930s. The American dream. While there is hope, there was so much heartache and pain chasing it. I was emotionally connected from the start.

Eugenics and human population. Mind blown. Not a topic I knew much about. This story while difficult was told with beauty and grace, while shedding light on this period of history. So many emotions. This book is about the will to survive and a mother’s unconditional and unending love. This is my third book of this author and I’ve enjoyed them all. If you haven’t gotten a chance to enjoy this author I highly recommend her books.

I think Ellen Marie Wiseman is one of my top favorite authors. This book will break your heart in a million pieces and have you yelling for justice. But there is beauty in the heartache and something to learn on every page. Please preorder this book, you will not be sorry! Beautiful!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

"The Lies They Told" is a profoundly moving and thought-provoking narrative. It follows the journey of Lena, who arrives at Ellis Island as an unmarried young woman accompanied by her two-year-old daughter. Almost immediately, she confronts the harsh realities that immigrants face in their pursuit of a new life in America. Lena is taken in by a distant relative, Silas Wolfe, a widower who requires her assistance in caring for his two children. Although life presents numerous challenges, Lena gradually forms a bond with the children.

However, her existence is soon disrupted as she is thrust into the distressing and brutal world of eugenics, which dramatically alters the course of her life. The emotional depth of the story left me in tears, and I felt a surge of anger as I read. A truly well-crafted book resonates with a wide range of emotions, and this one certainly does. I would rate it a solid 4 stars.

I extend my gratitude to Net Galley and the publisher for providing the ARC for review. This reflects my genuine opinion.

Wonderfully written. This novel introduced the subject of eugenics to me. Born and raised in the mountains, this hit close to home and opened my eyes to so much.
The author did a great job shedding light on a terrifying time in our country. Not only am I intrigued but I am ready to learn more. The author did well with the descriptions of the enviroment and the raw emotions people handled or tried to. The characters, like them or hate them, were well written. The information given was shocking and heartbreaking to read. I will give my children extra hugs after this one.
5 stars for me. Informative, well executed, intriguing, and emotional. Thanks to to publishers for an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Well done, Ellen Marie Wiseman.

Lena's story was heart wrenching. So much unnecessary pain and suffering all because a group of people thought they were better than everybody else. The novel seemed to be well researched and offered us a window into one of the dark periods of time in America's past.