The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman – 304 pages
ARC from Kensington and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman: Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world. Six years after Rosemary’s death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing.
Sage knows little about Willowbrook. It’s always been a place shrouded by rumor and mystery. A place local parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could imagined.
My Review: 4.5 stars
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman is another fabulous work of historical fiction, something this author excels at. What sets this novel apart is that it’s seeped in a dark part of American history about the Willowbrook State School. This school purported to be a state school for “intellectual disabilities” but instead was a place of cruel treatment and neglect.
Wiseman crafted a story of sisters, identical twins called Sage and Rose, that wrapped itself around the atrocities at this school. Sage overhears her stepfather tell a friend that Rose is alive, yet she is also missing from her school. Outraged, Sage, who was told Rose died six years ago, impulsively goes to visit her. What happens next is where the plot takes off into a harrowing journey of falsehoods, pain and suffering.
There was quite a bit of mystery and suspense in this book, and of course, some predictable moments as well. I was totally engrossed in the story yet sickened by the horror of this place.
It also gave me a clearer understanding of why many of these state homes closed, but sadly left the patients nowhere to go. I think book clubs will have a lot to discuss with this one.
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