What She Left Behind: A Haunting and Heartbreaking Story of 1920s Historical Fiction

Excellent read. Surprise ending was great!

"What She Left Behind" reminded me of being in high school and reading "Flowers in The Attic". A real nail biter of a book, that is hard to put down. Fortunately, I was only fifteen when I read "Flowers In The Attic", and it was a grand experience for a young person like myself who had not read that many novels yet. At 45, I can appreciate the page turning aspects of a book like "What She Left Behind", but must also point out that it is hardly elevated literature. In no way am I trying to sound snobby. I finished this book in less than a week, which is unusual for me. It is indeed a compelling read, and hard to put down. It flows along nicely, and never gets off track. This author has a flare for writing suspenseful chapters. I admired the subject matter of the book very much, and always appreciate even the slightest bit of light being shed on anything that has to do with mental illness. So I indeed recommend this book. Having said that, I must confess that there are issues here that may be problematic for some. I will not go so far as to say this book is amateurish, but will say that it probably would appeal more to a younger female audience than any other. Both of the main characters are young females. One of them has her story portrayed in the 1930's, and the other the 1990's. This formula is starting to get tiresome at this point, as it seems nearly every other book I read has two separate stories taking place with decades in between them. Orphan Train, The Pieces We Keep, Water For Elephants, Sarah's Key, Those Who Save Us, to name a few. Often times one of the stories will be great but not the other, which is confounding to me, as a good story does not need to be anchored with a happy ending that takes place fifty years later, at least not to me. Clara, the main character from the 1930's has a big problem. She's been wrongfully committed to an asylum. This nightmarish experience is riveting, and at times gasp inducing. I was on the edge of my seat and sincerely experienced the "cringe" factor on numerous occasions while reading about her experience in such a God awful place. How authentic of a story this is I couldn't say. I know that the portrayal of asylums through most of the twentieth century are not usually ones that will make you think about butterflies resting on newly opened daffodils. This story does not break any new ground in that I believe most of us have had numerous encounters with reading or viewing a story about someone being trapped in an asylum against their will. Still, it is compelling to read about if for no other reason than to help purge our own fears about such a horror happening to us. The nature of what seemingly occurred at one time in these places, is truly unfathomable to me, but then, so is what happened during the Holocaust. Though sometimes certain subjects can become redundant, I believe that these Evil's that human beings are capable of need not be forgotten, as I'm a true believer that we are in fact doomed to repeat such atrocities if we don't keep reminding ourselves. Though Clara's story is not written in the most skillful fashion, it is written in a manner that keeps your interest, and stirs your emotions. Meanwhile the story of Izzy in 1995 is not quite as interesting, nor is the connection between her and Clara. However, a different set of life circumstances is pondered during Izzy's story, albeit not particularly original either. Izzy has grown up in foster care trying to survive with the knowledge that her Mom killed her Dad when she was a young girl. She wrestles with knowing that her Mom is committed to a psychiatric facility, and subsequently lives fearful of mental illness, what might cause it, and if she eventually may fall victim to it. This had the potential to be explored much further than it was, and I believe is a relatable fear to many people, but the author steers away and instead focuses too much on Izzy's experience with trying to fit in at a new school and make new friends, and the crush that she has on a boy that is in a relationship with a "mean girl". Again, the author's talent for writing suspenseful scenes is on full display, and in fact a scene where a group of kids who get together at night and scope out an abandoned asylum will have you hard pressed to stop reading. For me wanting to keep reading is first and foremost as to if a book is good. This book is good. The other elements, writing style, language use, etc..I can ignore if I feel like I'm learning something, and I'm being entertained. I feel that a letter grade or star grade is not possible for this novel. For me it deserves and A for storytelling, and C for not rising above the many cliche's contained in these two characters stories.

This is another deep and heartbreaking story by Ellen Marie Wiseman. The story is told in chapters about Clara in the 1920's and Izzy in the 1990's. Clara falls in love and becomes pregnant.. Her rich parents want her to marry the son of a rich friend. Clara refuses and fights with her father, who has her admitted to a home for "Nervous Adults". Later she is transferred to Willard Asylum. Izzy's mother shoots her father and goes to prison. Izzy is in foster care. She ends up in the home of Peg, a museum curator and her husband, Harry. The museum gets permission to study the left over luggage from former patients of the now closed, Willard. The story will break your heart so many times. Izzy learns about Clara thru a diary found in Clara's trunk left at Willard. A sad story with a surprising ending. Like all of Ms. Wiseman's books it is hard to put down and is very thought provoking. You can't go wrong with this author. Be sure to read the Author's Notes with questions and answers at the end of the book. As with all her books these leave more insight into the subject matter. They always make me want to know more and thus, I dig deeper into the subject. To me this is the sign of a really good book.

I enjoyed this book very much. Although there were many sad parts I still loved the storyline. I would and have recommended this book to many people.

What she left behind is the story of two young girls struggling with family problems, mental issues, regret, and finding love. Izzy is a foster child, who has been bounced from place to place ever since the age of seven, when her mother shot her father and was locked away in prison. Clara is a young woman who lived over half a century earlier, and was locked away in an asylum when her patents didn't approve of the life choices she was making. When Izzy's foster parents began exploring the now closed Willard asylum, as part of their work at a local museum, the two girls stories begin to work their way toward each other. This book was okay. I liked the idea of the two different stories, and looking at institutionalism from the perspective of one experiencing it, as well as someone who has lost a loved one to it. It seems obvious, to me, that the author did a good job researching asylums and mental health care in the early 1900s. The scenes at Willard were disturbing, yet mostly believable. Izzy's segments were harder to read. They felt very teeny bopper, to me. It did not feel like an authentic youth voice, but more of an adult writing what she THINKS a youth would be like. It just didn't ring true for me. Overall, I found the writing to be inconsistent. Sometimes it was pretty darn good, but a lot of the time I found it cheesy, sophmoric, and hard to get into. The author seemed to struggle mostly with dialogue, both inner and spoken. In the end, an interesting story and a quick read. The clichéd writing bugged at times, but other moments touched me and brought me to tears. Worth a try.

Amazingly well written book. Captured and mesmerized me from the first page. I couldn't wait to find out what came next. I loved the concept of toggling back and forth from one woman's story to the other. Such a an engaging concept. This story engaged my mind, my heart and my soul. Loved, loved, loved it. Took a while to get to this book, but was sooooo worth it.

I couldn’t put this book down, it was a real page turner! Beautifully written and full of emotion, sadness and moments of joy. It illustrated the total horror of Mental institutions and the lack of understanding around mental health and man’s cruelty towards their fellow human beings.

The anxiety levels what happened to Clara is kind of an adrenaline rush. I just loved reading this book and yes definitely would pass on to my book club!!

Very interesting to me as I had training in this field only in Canada and had not experienced many of these dreadful happenings or conditions although the care and cleanliness of patients was paramount.I do realize this was written fictionally and the comparison of two time periods in these institutions was done well.it makes me wonder just how much progress we have made in the pressing problem of mental illness- no institutions but addicted and living in the streets?? The ending in the story was a surprise!

This story captivated me, and one of those that has you reflecting back on it well after having completed it. It was well written, and a very good story. I have sought more books from Ellen Marie Wiseman since finishing this, and even though it changes from past to present throughout the book, it is easy to follow. Recommended.