Reading.is.your.destiny

🌿💞🌟FIVE STAR AUDIOBOOK REVIEW🌟💞🌿

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🥰Thank you so much to @simon.audio and @atriabooks for the gifted audiobook and E-ARC!

📖Title: The Story She Left Behind
✍️Author: Patti Callahan Henry
📅Pub Date: March 18, 2025
⏳Audiobook Length: 12hrs, 26mins
🗣️Audiobook Narrators: Julia Whelan & Theo Solomon

🌟This book surprised me in the best way! I knew that Patti Callahan Henry was an author beloved by many and remember hearing people sing her praises after her previous release, The Secret Book of Flora Lea! So when I saw she had a new release, I couldn’t wait to read it! And with a cover like this, how could I resist?

💞I quickly fell in love with these characters. Clara is raising her young daughter, Wynnie, alone in 1952 and while her and her daughter have a wonderful bond with each other, Clara has never gotten over her own mother leaving her mysteriously when she was only 8 years old in 1927. Clara has no idea if her mother is dead or alive or why she left in the first place.

🌿This book is part mystery, part romance, part adventure, and part family drama! It truly combined all of those parts to form a full and beautiful story of family, love, and hope! My heart raced during the tense travel scenes, my heart swooned during the romance scenes (truly sweet & adorable), and the mystery kept me invested the whole time. The pacing was just right in my opinion as well!

🌟I can’t think of one thing I would change in this book! If you’re a Kristin Hannah fan, this is definitely for you! Patti’s storytelling felt similar to Kristin’s in the best way!

🎧The audiobook was perfectly produced! It was co-narrated by Julia Whelan (enough said) and Theo Solomon (whom I also love) and they completely blew it out of the water! I never wanted to stop listening to them and they gave these characters such depth and life!

📃Make sure to add The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry to your TBR today!