What She Left Behind

By: Ellen Marie Wiseman

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

Ten years ago, Izzy Stone's mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother's apparent insanity, Izzy, now 17, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy's help in cataloguing 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.

Clara Cartwright, 18 years old in 1929, is caught between her overbearing parents and her love for an Italian immigrant. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, Clara's father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash, 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.

©2014 Ellen Marie Wiseman (P)2014 Tantor

Good story. Bad narration.

Great story. The narrator's voice was annoying making the main characters seem helpless rather than strong and determined. Otherwise it was a very engaging story.

Frightening depiction of the state of mental health care a century ago...

Predictable storyline. I was entertained and appalled but nothing new to this story inside a story. Both stories had predictable comfortable outcomes

Forced myself to finish- glad I did

The story itself (although mostly depressing) was interesting but I found the style of writing very annoying at times. I did not care for the narrator and almost quit listening several times. Glad I finished so that I could hear the conclusion which made it worth the frustration.

Wonderful!!

I could not get enough of this book!!! Wonderfully written, I only wish it had never ended. A must read/listen

Excellent story and narration!!!

Loved this book! In the beginning, I could not listen enough. Towards the end, I only listen to short segments because I did not want the book to end. Beautifully written and narrated.