The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“It smelled of filth, it smelled of disease and it smelled of death. The sound, the smell, the sights of it is something that is branded on my soul.” “That sound, the mournful wail that the kids were making is the soundtrack of my nightmares,” Rivera said through tears. “

Sage always believed that her twin sister, Rosemary, died from pneumonia. But after hearing her stepfather, Alan talking about Rosemary and how she had gone missing from Willowbrook State School, Sage set out to find her twin. Sage knows little about Willowbrook, a place shrouded by rumors and mystery, but she is determined to help find her sister.

Upon arriving at Willowbrook, Sage is mistaken for her twin sister, Rosemary. No one believes her when she tells them who she is and why she is there. Sage finds herself trapped, drugged, mistreated and in danger. Will she ever learn what happened to her sister? Will she ever get out of Willowbrook? Will anyone believe her when she tells them that she is not Rosemary but Sage?

**In 1965, Willowbrook State School was the biggest stat run institution in the United States. Designed to hold 4,000 at that time it held 6,000. Robert Kennedy described it as a ‘snake pit’ and Geraldo Rivera did an exposé showing the horrors, mistreatment and abuses of Willowbrook.

Ellen Marie Wiseman uses Willowbrook as the setting for her heartbreaking and sad tale. It was evident that she did a tremendous amount of research in preparing to write this book. This book grabbed my attention from the very first page and had me glued to the pages wanting to know if Sage would learn the truth, would she ever be free, and would justice be served?

I enjoyed how the author used historical facts about Willowbrook in the writing of this book. I found this book to be captivating, well written and heartbreaking. It is very sad and shocking to think about how those institutionalized were treated.

This is a powerful book that is not an easy read. Yet, it was gripping and had me swiping those pages.

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Thank you to Kensington Books, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.