What She Left Behind: A Haunting and Heartbreaking Story of 1920s Historical Fiction

“Within minutes of setting foot on the grounds of the shuttered Willard State Asylum, seventeen-year-old Isabelle Stone knew it was a mistake.”

This is the opening line of the novel, and it establishes the protagonist, Izzy, and an important setting, Willard. Becoming involved in the Willard suitcase project turns out not to be a mistake in the end, as Izzy’s character grows through her efforts to find a Willard patient’s daughter; a Willard suitcase gives her motivation and a sense of purpose. Nevertheless, her trepidation serves as important characterization, establishing her reluctance to face traumatic realities directly.

“Heat rose in shimmery vapors from the sunbaked earth and cicadas buzzed in the long grass near the woods, a droning, live thermometer that grew higher pitched and more insistent with every rising degree.”

This description of New York uses a metaphor that compares cicadas to a thermometer. The increasing sound of the cicadas is an auditory representation of the heat increasing, which creates an oppressive atmosphere in keeping with the novel’s interest in literal and figurative imprisonment.

“These suitcases are just as important as an archeological dig or a set of old paintings. These people never had the chance to tell their stories outside of the confines of a mental hospital.”

Peg is excited about the Willard suitcase project because it gives a voice to the formerly voiceless, which Peg here defends as a legitimate object of research. As a museum curator, she is characterized by her interest in history, and Peg and Izzy bond over learning about history and caring about people who were oppressed.