Book Review: ‘The Story She Left Behind: A Novel’ By Patti Callahan Henry

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The book is in stores on Tuesday, March 18th from Atria. Click on the link to buy a copy. https://amzn.to/4i4OoY8

In 1927, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, age 30, vanished from her home in South Carolina, leaving behind a husband and a 12-year-old daughter, Clara. She had written a clever children’s book, with an invented language, that became very successful and left behind a sequel, that was never published. We jump to 1952 and Clara, who has an 8-year-old daughter, Wynnie, who is asthmatic, receives a phone call from a man named Charles Jameson, who lives in London, who claims to have found a satchel in his father’s library, filled with writings from her mother. She goes to London, with Wynnie and it’s during the outbreak of the Great Smog, and takes off to stay at the home of Charles’ mother, where the situation isn’t so bad. They love it there and it’s where Clara must find the courage to read through her mother’s papers and try and figure out her language and why she left. She may also find love. Another great novel from author Henry, who never disappoints. Inspired by a true mystery, this book shines with vivid details and a story you will not want to put down.