The Life She Was Given: A Moving and Emotional Saga of Family and Resilient Women

The Life She Was Given: A Moving and Emotional Saga of Family and Resilient Women

Before We Were Yours meets Water for Elephants in New York Times bestselling author Ellen Marie Wiseman’s vivid, daring, emotional novel about the devastating power of family secrets—beginning in the poignant, lurid world of a Depression-era traveling circus and coming full circle in the transformative 1950s. On a summer evening in 1931, Lilly Blackwood glimpses circus lights from the grimy window of her attic bedroom. Lilly isn’t allowed to explore the meadows around Blackwood Manor. She’s never even ventured beyond her narrow room. Momma insists it’s for Lilly’s own protection, that people would be afraid if they saw her. But on this unforgettable night, Lilly is taken outside for the first time—and sold to the circus sideshow. More than two decades later, nineteen-year-old Julia Blackwood inherits her parents’ estate. For Julia, home was an unhappy place full of rules and forbidden rooms. She hopes that returning might erase those painful memories. Instead, she becomes immersed in a mystery involving a hidden attic room and photos of circus scenes featuring a striking young girl. At first, The Barlow Brothers’ Circus is just another prison for Lilly. But in this rag-tag, sometimes brutal world, Lilly discovers strength, friendship, and a rare affinity for animals. Thanks to elephants Pepper and JoJo, and their handler, Cole, Lilly is no longer a spectacle but the circus’s biggest attraction . . . until tragedy and cruelty collide. It will fall to Julia to uncover Lilly’s fate and her family’s shocking betrayal, and somehow make Blackwood Manor a place of healing at last. Moving between Julia and Lilly’s stories, Ellen Marie Wiseman portrays two extraordinary, very different women in a novel that is tender, heart wrenching, and hopeful. Praise for Ellen Marie Wiseman “Wiseman shows how humans are capable of great cruelty but also great compassion in this ultimately uplifting, compelling read.” — Shelf Awareness on The Orphan Collector “Ellen Marie Wiseman’s powerful new novel will bring awareness to a whole new audience…Wiseman doesn’t shy away from the truth about conditions at Willowbrook, and some of the descriptions are harrowing to read. The mystery of her twin’s disappearance and Sage’s determination to find the truth keep the pages turning, particularly in the latter stages of the book. Grounded in historical fact, it ends like a fast-paced thriller. A comprehensive author’s note at the end is well worth the read.” — Historical Novel Society on The Lost Girls of Willowbrook “A portrait of Willowbrook State School that is unvarnished, painful and startlingly clear…Bringing the unquiet ghosts of Willowbrook to life is what this book does best, and if it didn’t do anything else, it would be worth your time…credit to Ellen Marie Wiseman for bringing Willowbrook back to the national consciousness.” — Bookreporter.com on The Lost Girls of Willowbrook “Readers will not be able to help making comparisons to the COVID 19 pandemic, and how little has changed since 1918. Wiseman has written a touching tale of loss, survival, and perseverance with some light fantastical elements. Highly recommended for all collections.” — Booklist on The Orphan Collector   “Wiseman’s writing is superb, and her descriptions of life during the Spanish Flu epidemic are chilling. In Pia, Wiseman has created a character that will draw in readers with her courage and resilience. In Bernice, we find the darker side of American attitudes toward immigrants prevalent during the early 1900s. She is truly despicable character, yet horrifyingly beguiling. Well researched and impossible to put down, this is an emotional tug of war played out brilliantly on the pages and in readers’ hearts.” — The Historical Novels Review , EDITOR’S CHOICE for The Orphan Collector   “Wiseman chronicles the devastation the 1918 flu pandemic wrought on a German immigrant family in Philadelphia…Wiseman’s depiction of the horrifying spread of the Spanish flu is eerily reminiscent of the present day and resonates with realistic depictions of suffering, particularly among the poorer immigrant population. Historical fiction fans will appreciate Pia and her pluck and determination to survive.” —Publishers Weekly (Boxed Review) for The Orphan Collector   “Wiseman’s novel raises relevant issues about what it means to be an American and about the forms that anti American sentiment can take in times of crisis…Reading the novel in the time of COVID 19 adds an even greater resonance, and horror, to the description of the fatal spread of that 1918 flu. The pathos inspired by the sheer scale and indiscriminate nature of pandemic death is almost overwhelming, especially given current events.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Orphan Collect or     “The author masterfully conveys empathy for the characters…an emotional roller coaster that was eerily similar to today’s events. I felt Pia’s strength, courage, guilt, and grief come through the pag