Book Review of
The Story She Left Behind
Lynn's Review
The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry is a historical fiction book published in 2025.
The Story She Left Behind is part historical fiction, part mystery, and part literary fiction. It doesn’t entirely fit into any one of those categories because it has elements of all three.
It is set in 1952. It starts in South Carolina, where Clara, an illustrator, lives with her daughter, Wynnie. A call from England about her mother’s lost language takes Clara and Wynnie to England, where they meet Charlie.
In England, they get stuck in the Great Smog of London in 1952. Because of Wynnie’s asthma, Charlie helps them escape to the English Lake district, where Clara solves the mystery of her mother and her lost language.
This was a five star read for me. It will probably make my list of favorite books of the year. I loved it.
Patti Callahan Henry has become an auto-buy author for me. When she releases a new book, I know I will read it.
I loved that this wasn’t just a straight historical fiction book about the historical London Fog in the 1950s. Patti mixed the Great London Smog with a literary mystery and the English countryside. She also added a little romance.
To me, this book had the best of everything. It has layers to the story and a story within a story. It is also a book about books.
It would be great for people who often don’t love historical fiction because it isn’t straight historical fiction.
I also felt a connection with Wynnie and her asthma. I have had asthma since I was a small child, so I know what it is like not to be able to breathe. I have said many times that I am thankful for modern medicine. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to go through the Great London Smog without modern medicine.
Patti Callahan Henrey used to be a nurse, so she wrote about asthma and did the asthma research well.
If you loved The Secret Book of Flora Lea or Surviving Savannah, I think you will enjoy The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry. If you have never read a Patti Callahan Henry book, this one is a great place to start.