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Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Story She Left Behind

In 1927, 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 12 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. By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. One day, a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. At the Jameson family’s retreat, Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.

Week of March 2, 2026

Paperback releases for the week of March 2nd include THE QUEENS OF CRIME by Marie Benedict, a thrilling story of the five greatest female writers of the Golden Age of Mystery and their bid to solve a real-life murder; THE MAID'S SECRET, an intriguing and heartwarming novel from Nita Prose in which a daring art heist on the eve of Molly Gray’s wedding reveals long-buried secrets; THE SOUL OF A WOMAN, Isabel Allende's passionate and inspiring meditation on what it means to be a woman; Patti Callahan Henry's THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND, the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both; and TRAVELING, in which celebrated NPR music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of Joni Mitchell in a lyrical style as fascinating and ethereal as the songs of the artist herself.