For The Someday Book

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman, Kensington Books, 2014, 328 pp.

I am a little behind (alright, a LOT behind) in writing reviews of books I’ve read. Consequently, I can share that this is the first of three books that fall into the category of light summer reading. All were hand-me-downs, all were read in under 24 hours, all were “chick lit” in every stereotypical way, none were exceptionally good, all were just what I needed for escape.

What She Left Behind is a novel inspired by the Willard Suitcase Project, a collection of patient suitcases from the Willard Asylum for the Insane in New York, which operated from the mid-nineteenth century until 1995. When the asylum closed, an attic room was discovered full of suitcases with personal items patients brought with them. They have been preserved in a museum, and photographer Jon Crispin has been assembling an exhibit of photographs of their contents. I had seen articles about the project, and recognized the story line immediately.

Wiseman’s fictionalized account interweaves the story of Isabelle “Izzy” Stone, a teen in foster care whose mother was committed for murdering her father, and Clara Cartwright, a woman committed to Willard at the age of 18 in 1929. Izzy becomes involved with the suitcase project and discovers Clara’s belongings. She reads Clara’s journal and discovers that she appears to be as normal as Izzy herself. lntrigued, Izzy tries to discover what happened to Clara at Willard. Izzy’s research into Clara’s story helps her come to terms with her own. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters, we hear Clara’s story as it unfolds. It is a tale of horror and injustice, with details about the history of cruelty in our historic mistreatment of those labeled mentally ill. However, I found Clara’s character so clearly fictional and two-dimensional, that I was able to read through more easily that I perhaps should have.

Clara, Izzy and the other characters in the story are not especially complex or deep. They act in expected ways without much beyond stereotypes. The story has some good twists and turns, but it is not unpredictable or packed with breathtaking turns of phrase. It’s just a good story, entertaining and emotional and interesting. The setting at Willard adds an interesting dimension. This book won’t change your life, but you’ll enjoy the time you spend with it. That’s just what good summer reading is all about.