Praise
“Once again, Patti Callahan Henry proves that she is a magician with words. In her newest novel, she conjures a story that is a lovely mix of so many elements sure to please her universe of readers, a magical mosaic of adventure, suspense, romance, mystery, and even a sprinkle of make-believe. Graceful in its telling and so very wise in its insights, The Story She Left Behind is a book that will capture your heart, lift your spirits, and delight your soul."
William Kent Krueger
NYT bestselling author of This Tender Land and The Cork O’Connor Series
"The spectacular Patti Callahan Henry is at the height of her literary powers
with The Story She Left Behind. Bronwyn's story, steeped in
secrets and an unsolved family mystery is emotional and atmospheric. The
author paints the dual settings, languid South Carolina in America and the haunting Lake District of England with color and veracity. This mother daughter story is one for the ages."
Adriana Trigiani
bestselling author of The Good Left Undone
"The Story She Left Behind is an intriguing novel that reminds us that the power of love and the power of words are one and the same. Patti Callahan Henry introduces us to a missing mother, her grieving daughter and their entwined, unforgettable journeys. Inspired by an unsolved literary mystery, and layered with magical storytelling it is both real and imaginative—in the way of all great fiction. Not to be missed!"
Ariel Lawhon
New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and The Frozen River
Pre-Order
Hardcover
.png){kind=logo}
Book Summary
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 langauge. 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.
About the Author
A New York Times Bestselling Author
Podcast Host and Co-creator of
Friends & Fiction
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels.
She’s also a podcast host, and one of those podcasts explores the background of her novel, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. Her latest novel, Once Upon a Wardrobe, released last October, explores the stories in C. S. Lewis's life that we might see hidden in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Surviving Savannah, a historical novel exploring the true and lost to time shipwreck of the S. S. Pulaski was released last year.
She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti was also a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.
A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama, with her husband, Pat Henry.
Her newest novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, is set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey and is available now with Simon & Schuster Atria.
She’s spent countless hours, and yet not nearly enough hours, wondering and reading and talking about C. S. Lewis, Joy Davidman, and their life together.
For more detailed info about Patti or speaking inquiries, please visit our SPEAKING page.