What She Left Behind

“What She Left Behind screams with authenticity, depth, and understanding.”
—The New York Journal of Books

“Wiseman does an excellent job of conveying the horrifying methods employed to cure the mentally ill…What She Left Behind is a real page turner and will appeal to all readers of fiction, though the subject matter is not for the faint of heart.”
—The Historical Novels Review

“This amazing book tells the stories of two women divided by many decades, both facing overwhelming odds. The stories are told in alternating chapters, but these stories, despite their great differences, have similarities and are destined to come together. A great read!”
—The San Francisco Book Review

“Here’s a little book that’s full of fear. Just as the night monsters in Mayhem rouse an atavistic terror that we moderns can’t seem to shake, so does the symbolism in Ellen Marie Wiseman’s, What She Left Behind. This time, it’s the insane asylum, the lunatic bin and all the other politically incorrect names for the creepy facilities that housed the poor patients of another era.”
—The Toronto Star

“Finding out how both Izzy and Clara’s stories unfold and eventually connect will both haunt and inspire you…Wiseman paints a moving, and at times chilling story that totally endears you to her characters. What She Left Behind evocatively portrays that what it takes, sometimes, to know and understand oneself, is to understand fully somebody else.”
—SpaWeek

“Wiseman deftly alternates between Claire and Izzy, teasing out their stories and ending each chapter at just the right point to maintain a thriving sense of mystery and suspense…a valuable addition to most schools and public libraries.”
—VOYA Magazine

“Give this to students interested in history, psychology, and a great coming-of-age story.”
—School Library Journal

Ellen Marie Wiseman is the New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction novels including The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind, The Plum Tree, Coal River, and The Life She Was Given. The latter was a Great Group Reads selection of the Women’s National Book Association and National Reading Group Month.

Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a small town in Northern New York, she is a first-generation German American. Ellen discovered her passion for reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in New York State.

Her novels have been translated into eighteen languages and published worldwide. A mother of two, Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and dogs.

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