
The Story She Left Behind
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Julia Whelan
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Theo Solomon
About this listen
“Brilliant, riveting, so beautifully written, impossible to put down.” —Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.
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 language. 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.
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- By: Patti Callahan Henry
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Like most mothers, Amy Reynolds has anticipated the moment when her son brings home his first serious girlfriend. But when he does, she’s shocked to meet the girl’s father. He is none other than Nick Lowry – the college boyfriend who captivated her heart and soul and then, without a word of explanation or warning, disappeared. She still remembers what she felt for Nick…and she still wonders what took him away from her.
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SAD
- By Placeholder on 01-07-11
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The Art of Keeping Secrets
- A Novel
- By: Patti Callahan Henry
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger, Shannon McManus
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Since a solo plane crash killed her husband two years ago, Annabelle Murphy has found solace in raising her two children. Just when she thinks the grief is behind her, she receives news that the wreckage of the plane has been discovered - and that her husband did not die alone. He was with another woman. Suddenly Annabelle is forced to question everything she once held true.
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This story was excellent start to finish.
- By Damon T. on 04-25-25
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A Map to Paradise
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation. Then one early morning Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore.
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Not my favorite from my favorite author.
- By Ginger on 03-28-25
By: Susan Meissner
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Where the River Runs
- By: Patti Callahan Henry
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Meridy Dresden was once a free-spirited, fun-loving girl. All that changed when the boy she loved was killed in a tragic fire. Since then, she alone has carried the burden of a terrible secret. Years later, married to a wonderful man and mother of a teenage son, she is shocked to learn that a childhood friend is being blamed for that long-ago fire. Fearful but determined, Meridy returns to the South Carolina Lowcountry and summons the courage to make a decision that may destroy her well-ordered life, her family’s reputation, her contented marriage, and everything she’s worked so hard to protect....
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Disappointed
- By Cheri H. Freeh on 06-10-18
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Surviving Savannah
- By: Patti Callahan
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Catherine Taber, Patti Callahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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When Savannah history Professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking. Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of 11 who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family.
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Leave history as it is. Can't be changed.
- By Placeholder on 04-30-21
By: Patti Callahan
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The Idea of Love
- A Novel
- By: Patti Callahan Henry
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Ella's life has been completely upended. She's young, beautiful, and deeply in love - until her husband dies in a tragic sailing accident while trying save her. Or so she'll have everyone believe. Screenwriter Hunter needs a hit, but crippling writers' block and a serious lack of motivation are getting him nowhere. He's on the look-out for a love story. It doesn't matter who it belongs to.
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Finding your truth in the lies you tell...
- By Jennifer on 07-13-15
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The Perfect Love Song
- By: Patti Callahan Henry
- Narrated by: Liz Hill, Mitchell Stevenson
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Brothers Jimmy and Jack Sullivan live a nomadic life doing what they love: touring with their band, The Unknown Souls. But Jack’s recent engagement to Kara has everyone looking forward to a Christmas destination wedding in Ireland. Unlike his brother, Jimmy never expected to fall in love. But he feels a sense of peace and happiness whenever he’s around Kara’s best friend, Charlotte - which has him wondering what he’s missing. Over Thanksgiving, Jimmy and Charlotte write a song while sitting together on the back porch.
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Preachy story
- By Debora on 11-03-21
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Becoming Mrs. Lewis
- The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis
- By: Patti Callahan
- Narrated by: Patti Callahan, Lauren Woodward, Full Cast
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis - known as Jack - she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.
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Narrator is TERRIBLE
- By Karen S on 10-11-18
By: Patti Callahan
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Coming Up for Air
- By: Patti Callahan Henry
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Ellie Calvin is caught in a dying marriage, and she knows this. With her beloved daughter away at college and a growing gap between her and her husband - between her reality and the woman she wants to be - she doesn’t quite seem to fit into her own life. But everything changes after her controlling mother, Lillian, passes away. Ellie’s world turns upside down when she sees her ex-boyfriend, Hutch, at her mother’s funeral and learns that he is in charge of a documentary that involved Lillian before her death. He wants answers to questions that Ellie’s not sure she can face....
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Fun story
- By Paula on 11-29-11
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Wild Swan
- A Story of Florence Nightingale
- By: Patti Callahan
- Narrated by: Cynthia Erivo
- Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
- Original Recording
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In this captivating historical novella narrated by Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo, New York Times best-selling author Patti Callahan Henry celebrates the life of the mother of modern nursing and one of history's greatest heroines: Florence Nightingale. In this poignant story, a young woman has just discovered her divine purpose to become a nurse, and struggles to make that dream a reality. While traveling abroad with her close friend, Selina Bracebridge - another strong woman living an unconventional life - a rare opportunity arises for Florence to practice medicine.
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Florence’s journey to being a nurse
- By Annissa Armstrong on 12-10-20
By: Patti Callahan
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Once upon a Wardrobe
- By: Patti Callahan
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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1950: Margaret Devonshire (Megs) is a 17-year-old student of mathematics and physics at Oxford University. When her beloved eight-year-old brother asks Megs if Narnia is real, logical Megs tells him it’s just a book for children, and certainly not true. Homebound due to his illness, and remaining fixated on his favorite books, George presses her to ask the author of the recently released novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a question: “Where did Narnia come from?”
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A must read!
- By Wendy E. on 11-13-21
By: Patti Callahan
What listeners say about The Story She Left Behind
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- Sarah
- 04-14-25
A warm hug
If you’re looking for a warm hug of a book, this is it. I love the dual narration, and Julia Whelan is the queen as usual!
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- kari kittleson
- 04-01-25
Great historical fiction
Based on many true events! Excellent narration. Loved this story;) Liked the duo for narration
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- Placeholder
- 05-01-25
An Exquisite Story
Listening on Audible, we were transported to the Lake District, into interchange with the wondrous characters, inspired and renewed to live creatively, and fully! Thank you, Patti! Never stop writing, and reminding us of the mysterious beautiful power of forgiveness!!!
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- TB
- 03-21-25
This is the best book I’ve listened to this year. Enjoy!
Loved everything about it. I was captivated within the first ten minutes. I especially loved Winnie.
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- Ohio Customer
- 03-31-25
Stunningly lyrical and beautiful
This is a book I will think about for a long time after finishing. The language was eloquent and lyrical, but the story itself was also captivating. This is a gorgeous story of love, forgiveness, and appreciation of art and nature. It examines what it means to be family and what we do for those we love. The landscape of both South Carolina and Cumbria are characters in the novel and the descriptions make me want to visit both. This was a unique story that wound history with charm and whimsy.
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- Patty
- 04-28-25
Beautiful imagery and use of words.
The thing I love most about this book is how beautifully it represented the relationship between a mother and her only child daughter, as I have a very special relationship with my only child daughter. As a little girl my daughter loved when I read to her the stories of Beatrix Potter. We also share a love of the coastal lands off Georgia and North Carolina—and we love visiting England almost as much. This book was a wonderful mixture of all these things!
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- P. Singer
- 03-30-25
Vivid imagery!
Patti Callahan Henry is a phenomenal author and is so expressive in her writing that you can see everything she talks about in your mind’s eye. Just when I think her books cannot get better she comes out with the next one! Thoroughly engaging and captivating novel! An absolute work of art!
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- Karen
- 03-30-25
Beautiful Cover
WOW! What a beautiful cover and storyline about Clara looking for her mother in London with her daughter Wynnie
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- wojcik
- 04-04-25
The beautiful writing. The story is so unusual, the characters are so well described.
Great story. Definitely at the top of my list of best books. The history in England at the time is woven in to a most unique story of relationships scenery. There’s a bit thrown in about one of the best known children’s authors of the day. The mystery of some characters in the
book is most enjoyable.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-25-25
I loved this story!!
Patty Calahan Henry is one of my absolute favorite writers. She hooks me into the characters she creates and keeps my interest through their dialog and actions until the end. She’s masterful at tying up the loose ends without pandering to the reader. This is a very satisfying read with sprinkles of historical fact!
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