The Story She Left Behind
A Novel
Patti Callahan Henry
- **INSTANT
- NEW
- YORK
- TIMES
- BESTSELLERIndie
- Next
- April
- 2025
- Pick
- •
- LibraryReads
- March
- 2025
- Pick“Brilliant,
- riveting,
- so
- beautifully
- written,
- impossible
- to
- put
- down.”
- —Louise
- Penny,
- #1
- New
- York
- Times
- bestselling
- authorInspired
- 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,
- disappears
- 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
- departure
- 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
- beautiful
- 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
- vanishing,
- 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.Told
- in
- Patti
- Callahan
- Henry’s
- lyrical,
- enchanting
- prose,
- The
- Story
- She
- Left
- Behind
- is
- a
- captivating
- novel
- of
- mystery
- and
- family
- legacy
- that
- captures
- the
- profound
- longing
- for
- a
- mother
- and
- the
- evergreen
- allure
- of secrets.
