The Story She Left Behind

by Patti Callahan Henery

(March 18, 2025; Atria)

Interview by Anna Roins

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of seventeen novels, including her newest, THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND. 

Inspired by an actual 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 twelve. Her departure leaves behind a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter and the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something deeper and more for her beautiful mother.

By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her 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. There, 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.

AUTHORLINK: Patti, hello! Welcome to Authorlink. We really enjoyed your latest work, THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND. A trick to writing historical fiction, you once said, was, ‘Not showing you that I know so much more than you do, right, and there are so many interesting things I find while doing the research…if it doesn’t touch the keystone…it has to go…’ (Barnes & Noble, 7 June 2023). Would you kindly expand on this? 

CALLAHAN HENRY: I love research. I love falling down rabbit holes and discovering fascinating details that bring the past to life. I love finding the one fact or note that takes the story you think you know and flips it on its head. But as a writer, I’ve learned that just because something is interesting doesn’t mean it belongs in the book. If a detail doesn’t support the cornerstone of the story, the very heart of the story, what it is really about, then it has to go, no matter how much I love it. Historical fiction should feel immersive, not like a history lesson. My job is to weave research so seamlessly into the narrative that the reader experiences the time and place without feeling like they’re being given a lecture. It’s a delicate balance, but one I love working to achieve.

AUTHORLINK: And you do it beautifully! Like readers, authors don’t always stick to a single genre. We note you released your first work of historical fiction inspired by the life of Joy Davidman in 2018 (writing as Patti Callahan). What made you want to change genre?


CALLAHAN HENRY: Joy herself seemed to call out to me!  I didn’t wake up one day and say, I think I’ll write historical fiction now. But when I stumbled upon Joy Davidman’s life, I couldn’t look away. Her story demanded to be told, and I had to follow it. It was a shift, certainly, but at its core, storytelling is storytelling—whether it’s contemporary or historical. What I love most about historical fiction is the way the past informs the present, how these women’s lives still echo in ours today. That first historical novel, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, opened a door for me, and I’ve never looked back.

AUTHORLINK: How much of THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND is true?

CALLAHAN HENRY: Like many of my novels, this book is inspired by a true story, but it is very much a work of fiction. Barbara Newhall Follett’s life—the brilliant child prodigy who disappeared without a trace—was the spark, but from there, I let my imagination take over. I asked, What if? What if a woman disappeared but left behind more than just unanswered questions? What if she left a story that could help those searching for her but that story was written in a language no one could translate? Truth and fiction blur in this novel, but that’s what I love about storytelling—it allows us to explore the mysteries of the past in ways that facts alone cannot.

AUTHORLINK: Where does your love of fairy tales come from? 

CALLAHAN HENRY: Fairy tales were my first love as a reader, those stories filled with hidden truths, dark forests, and impossible magic. What fascinates me about fairy tales is how they endure—how they evolve with each telling, how they carry both wonder and warning. My novels often have an element of the mythic, a sense that stories shape us in ways we don’t always understand. In The Story She Left Behind, the idea of disappearing into a fairy-tale world—of slipping between what is real and what is imagined—plays a huge role.

AUTHORLINK: Your writing career began with your debut novel ‘Losing the Moon’, in 2004, marking the start of your career in fiction. You have since authored eighteen additional novels, including, ‘The Secret Book of Flora Lea’ (2023), ‘Surviving Savannah’ (2021), and ‘Becoming Mrs. Lewis‘ (2018). Your books have also been translated into numerous languages. Your work in historical fiction is notable for its in-depth exploration of lesser-known stories and figures. How hard is it to keep up the standard?

CALLAHAN HENRY: Every book is a new challenge. I don’t think so much about “Am I keeping the standard?” as I wonder, “Am I so curious about this subject that I’m willing to spend the next years of my life with it?” Each time I sit down to write, I feel like I’m starting all over again, learning how to craft a story from scratch. But that’s also what keeps it exciting. Readers deserve a story I care about deeply, one that is well-researched, and hopefully beautifully told. It’s not about competing with my past work; it’s about honoring each story as its own living, breathing thing.

AUTHORLINK: Wonderful! You came to writing after pursuing a career as a nurse. What has been the most significant adjustment to your writing life?

CALLAHAN HENRY: One of the biggest adjustments was the solitude. As a nurse, my days were filled with people, with constant movement and decision-making. Writing, on the other hand, requires long stretches of quiet—of sitting with the unknown, waiting for the story to take shape. I had to learn how to embrace that silence, to trust that the words would come. But there’s also a deep connection between nursing and writing—both are about understanding people, about empathy, about stories waiting to be told.

AUTHORLINK: Before publishing, describe how writing was and how often you wrote…Was it daily journals or actual novels? 

CALLAHAN HENRY: I was always writing. Journals, horrible poems, half-finished stories scribbled in notebooks. Writing was how I made sense of the world, how I processed emotion and experience. But I didn’t believe I could be a novelist until I sat down and made it a goal in 1998, when I first signed up for a writing class. My first novel wasn’t about proving anything to the world—it was about proving to myself that I could finish a story, that I could take this dream seriously. Once I did that, I couldn’t stop.

AUTHORLINK: And we’re so glad you didn’t! What were your most difficult challenges in becoming published?

CALLAHAN HENRY:  The biggest challenge was the same one every writer faces—believing in yourself when no one else does yet. Before you’re published, you have no external validation, no proof that what you’re doing matters. There were loads of rejections, of course, but I kept going because I couldn’t imagine not writing. People ask how I stayed so disciplined, and I tell them – it’s more about obsession. I also needed to find some patience (not my forte) publishing moves at its own pace, and you can’t rush it. You must keep writing, keep improving, keep reading, keep the faith, continue to learn, and trust that your story will find its way.

AUTHORLINK: Secrets and their consequences are the centerpieces of several of your novels. What fascinates you about the nature of secrets?

CALLAHAN HENRY: Secrets shape us, whether we keep them or expose them. What we choose to hide—and why—reveals so much about who we are and shapes our lives. I’m fascinated by the way secrets ripple through generations, how they hold power over us long after they’re buried. In my novels, secrets are never just plot devices; they can be the heart of the story, the thing that propels my characters toward truth, redemption, or reckoning.

AUHORLINK: That is so interesting. Do you find researching historical women challenging or exciting? Once a woman has become a known figure, is it difficult to shake the mythology surrounding her? 

CALLAHAN HENRY: It’s both a challenge and a thrill. History often remembers women through the lens of their relationships—who they were married to, who they influenced—but I’m always searching for who they really were. What were their dreams, their fears, their private moments of strength? I love peeling back the layers of myth to find the real, complicated, extraordinary woman beneath. As I say when I talk about Joy Davidman in Becoming Mrs. Lewis – “I want you to see her story from behind her eyes, from inside her heart.”

AUTHORLINK: When you are setting out to write your historical fiction, do you focus on the period or the character? 


CALLAHAN HENRY: It’s always the character first. The time period shapes them, of course, but I need to know who they are before I can fully understand when they are. I need to know what they want, why they want it, and the forces that will battle htem to get it. Once I find that heartbeat, I dive into the research, making sure the world around them feels as real and vivid as they do.

AUTHORLINK: Patti, chatting with you about your beautiful work was terrific! Thank you for your time.

 CALLAHAN HENRY: Thank you so very much for having me!

 

About the Author: Patti Callahan Henry is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of several novels, including The Story She Left Behind, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, Surviving Savannah, and Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the recipient of the Christy Award, the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year Award, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year. She is the cohost and cocreator of the popular weekly online live web show and podcast Friends and Fiction. She lives in Alabama and South Carolina with her family. Find out more at PattiCallahanHenry.com.