The Lies They Told

Gripping, raw, thought provoking, emotion evoking, heart breaking, and hard to put down! With her book, The Lies They Told, Ellen Marie Wiseman tackles sad and horrific time in American history. This work of historical fiction tackles the immigrant experience during the 1930’s, poverty, prejudice, the Eugenics program, forced sterilizations, seizure of land, and loss to name a few. Let me tell you, it can be difficult to read with tears in your eyes and that is what I did at various times in this book.

Lena Conti, a young unwed mother from Germany has crossed the ocean and entered the United States through Ellis Island where she and her mother and brother are examined and only Lena and her baby are allowed to stay. Silas Wolfe, a widowed father, who was expecting Lena’s mother, begrudgingly agrees to take on Lena and her baby to his cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to care for his two children and his home.

I thought the author did a tremendous job of depicting both time and place in this book. She vividly described the cabin and mountains while introducing reader to Silas and his children. I felt for Lena and all that she went through. I could imagine her fear of leaving Germany in search of a better life in a new country. Her shock at being subjected to a very through exam only to be separated from her brother and mother. Imagine being a young woman in a new country with a young child, with nowhere to go, no money and facing starvation and prejudice. Luckily, she was taken in by Silas but the culture shock of being in a cabin, having to learn how to adapt to living with his family and learning how to care for his household. Just when I thought thing were going to be fine and Lena begins to meet and enjoy her neighbors, a woman from the State of Virginia’s Eugenics Office stops pays them a visit……

Oh, how this book pulled on my heartstrings. I rooted for all the characters in this book. Bonnie, one of Silas’s children stole every scene she was in. I loved her spunk and tenacity. My heart broke many times while reading this beautifully written book. I went from concern, to happy, to hopeful, to devastated, to angry, to hopeful, to heartbroken and back to hopeful again. This book put me and the characters through the ringer.

The author did a great job with her research and showing the plight of poor, rural, and down on their luck individuals. She showed how those who lived in the mountains had a strong sense of community and depicted their ways of supporting each other. She also showed how those in power abused it and took advantage of poor people who they viewed as uneducated, lacking in morals, unable to care for their children, their land, and. themselves.

Ellen Marie Wiseman has delivered another gripping and moving historical fiction book. She continues to wow me with her wonderful writing.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing 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.