Half a million copies sold! The breakout novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind weaves together riveting stories of past and present, exploring the strength of women in two different times as they face adversity in two very different ways. Go inside the horrifying walls of a 1920s New York asylum as a wrongly imprisoned woman fights for … York asylum as a wrongly imprisoned woman fights for what is most important to her—and meet the young woman confronting the pain and mystery of her own family’s mental illness two generations later.
Ten years ago, Izzy Stone’s mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother’s apparent insanity, Izzy, now seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy’s help in cataloging items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.
Young flapper and suffragette Clara Cartwright is caught between her overbearing parents and her desire to be a modern woman. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, instead finding love with an Italian Immigrant, Clara’s father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash of 1929, he can no longer afford her care—and Clara is committed to the public asylum.
Even as Izzy deals with the challenges of yet another new beginning, Clara’s story keeps drawing her into the past. If Clara was never really mentally ill, could something else explain her own mother’s violent act? Piecing together Clara’s fate compels Izzy to re-examine her own choices—with shocking and unexpected results.
“Screams with authenticity, depth, and understanding.”
—The New York Journal of Books
“A real page turner…will appeal to all readers of fiction.”
—The Historical Novels Review
“Amazing…A great read!”
—The San Francisco Book Review
“Will both haunt and inspire you… a moving, and at times chilling story that totally endears you to her characters.”
—SpaWeek
“A great coming-of-age story.”
—School Library Journal
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I enjoyed this book. It certainly opened my eyes to how women were treated if they questioned anything in that era. It was horribly easy to admit a woman for simply disagreeing and their voices were simply not heard. It was a great story linking the past to the present too. I would highly recommend!!
I never knew, that women were put into mental institutions, and never released just because the males in their lives chose to do so! I learned that this was not uncommon even just perhaps 100 years ago. Women were so powerless at those times.
It is sad that things like this really took place.
The story is very well written. Cruel and twisted actions create and affect the lives of others for years to come. I could not put it down.
I was engrossed in reading this book from the beginning. The author uses period details and descriptions in a natural way, making me feel as if I was there. I could not predict the ending.
Learned about social attitudes at the time concerning a daughter’s duty to her family and the use or misuse of the mental asylum to discipline her.
loved the characters, their never give up attitude.
This was a fascinating and disturbing look at how Things used to be. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The book was good. Recently read another book titled The Key. Story line was very similar – unjust forced mental facility confinement ending with a peaceful uplifting reunion of characters in the end.
Caning and a quick read when I was on vacation
This book opened my eyes as to how unfair parents can be to their children if their plans for their children get challenged and how heartless and egocentric their decisions are .
This is a book meant to be read.. It shows the reader .., that pure love never gives up.. and makes parties involved, to perservere…
A book to finish.. For sure!! Couln’t put it down..
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Julanda Hugo
In the process of spinning the story, the author also provides a riveting accounting of mental health institutions in the early 1900’s in the U.S. Excellent novel that is unpredictable, impressively realistic and undoubtedly engaging.
I enjoyed the book from cover to cover. It was very interesting and a very good read. I would highly recommend it
Told in two time periods. A teenage girl wrongfully imprisoned in a mental asylum for loving a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in the 1930s. Contrasting with modern girl in today’s times tasked with cataloging suitcases left behind in the attic of the asylum. Very well written. I cried at several points. Well worth reading
Good reading. I recommend
I love this Author. Anything she writes is exceptional.
Loved the perspectives. A little heart wrenching re: mental institutions. Storyline was predictable – guessed much of the plot but still a good solid entertaining read.
A powerful indictment of the abuse of power by mental health personnel in the early part of the 20th century and the lack of rights of women to live their own lives. Paralleling and woven within this tragedy is the heartwarming story of a modern day young woman facing her own struggles.
Excellent Book. Grabs you from the beginning and you can hardly put it down.
This book was informative about how mental patients have been treated.