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

Clara Elizabeth Cartwright is the novel’s other protagonist, serving as a mirror and foil to Izzy. For instance, the two women are from different socioeconomic classes, but they are both abused by their fathers. Her narrative begins in 1929, when she is 18. Clara is “pretty enough to be a movie star” and wealthy (79): the “daughter of the lone heiress of the Bridge Bros. Clothing Emporium and the owner of Swift Bank” (84). Free-spirited and rebellious, she loves dancing the “Charleston and the tango” at the Cotton Club (14), where she meets her boyfriend, Bruno. Her goals in life initially revolve around him: “There [is] nothing she wanted more than to share her life and make a family with Bruno” (21). At the time the novel begins, Clara is pregnant with Bruno’s child, but her father, Henry, disapproves of the match because Bruno is an immigrant and working-class. When she refuses to marry the man Henry has selected for her, he claims that she has a mental illness and has her committed first to the Long Island Home for Nervous Invalids and then to Willard State Asylum.

This catalyzes Clara’s character arc. Clara is initially naive regarding how mental health institutions treat patients: She “never imagine[s] people dying at Willard. She only picture[s] them getting help and being sent home. Why would an insane asylum need a cemetery?” (85). However, Clara soon learns that Defining Female Autonomy as Mental Illness is a way for society to dispose of women deemed problematic. Clara experiences this firsthand when her father convinces her doctor that Bruno is a delusion. This is a defining feature of her existence while at Willard; as she says, “[N]o one ever listens to me. It’s the story of my life” (309). Clara’s abuse by the Willard staff also reflects the novel’s interest in Institutional Control of Women’s Bodies—a theme that culminates in her doctor’s theft of her infant daughter.

Throughout her ordeal, Clara remains resourceful and determined. She is able to send one letter to Bruno, who comes to rescue her but dies during their escape attempt. She mourns his loss but holds on to the hope that someday she will be reunited with their daughter, another example of bonds between women serving as a source of strength. When Izzy arranges this reunion, Clara says, “I knew this day would come. It’s the only thing that kept me going all those years” (307). At the end of the novel, Clara’s daughter, Susan, invites Clara to live with her instead of in a nursing home. Clara is thus vindicated after years of suffering and, like Izzy, finds a home and family.

Joyce is Izzy’s biological mother. She killed her husband (who remains unnamed) when she discovered that he was molesting their daughter, Izzy, who was seven at the time. Following the murder, Joyce was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. However, she wouldn’t subject Izzy to a physical exam, which would have proven that Joyce was protecting her daughter. Joyce was therefore incarcerated at Bedford State Prison, writing letters to Izzy that Izzy doesn’t read until Joyce is in a coma and dying. Joyce’s coma is one of several parallels between her story and Clara’s (who is at one point placed in an insulin-induced coma), highlighting the continuity of systemic misogyny across eras.

Peg, Izzy’s foster mother, reminds Izzy “of a sixties hippie” with her “free-flowing mess of wild curls” (5). Peg works as a museum curator and supports Izzy’s journey to learn more about Clara and find her daughter. She also takes Izzy to see her biological mother in prison and emotionally supports Izzy when Joyce dies. Harry, Izzy’s foster father, is the “art director of the state museum” (6). Like Peg, he is supportive of Izzy’s interest in history and considerate of all she has endured. Peg and Harry adopt Izzy when she turns 18. Though they are static, secondary characters, they provide an example of a loving, functional family, making them key to Izzy’s character growth and serving as a foil and counterweight to the various abusive dynamics the novel depicts.

Ethan is Izzy’s romantic interest, her attraction to him signaled by the shining imagery used to describe his physical appearance: His “light blue eyes [are] nearly silver, his hair the purplish black of a raven” (32). This becomes a source of conflict for Izzy, as at the beginning of the novel, he is dating Shannon, who is jealous of Izzy because Ethan is kind to her. Ethan works for his father, Peter, who is a photographer, on projects for Peg’s museum.

At first, Ethan assists Shannon in her pranks, such as gluing menstrual products on Izzy’s locker. He forgives Shannon for her actions because of the trauma she has endured at home; he is “naive enough to make excuses for Shannon’s mean school pranks” (205). Despite causing problems in the moment, this naivete suggests his underlying goodness—his desire to see the best in people—as well as his compatibility with Izzy, whom the novel characterizes similarly. Ultimately, Ethan changes his mind about Shannon after she orchestrates Izzy being locked in Willard’s morgue vault. He says he “can’t date someone who enjoys hurting other people” and publicly breaks up with Shannon (211). Then, he patiently courts Izzy. Wiseman implies that they start dating before Ethan returns for Izzy’s birthday party on the last page.

Alexandra, who goes by Alex, is another Lakeshore High School student. She has “black hair,” as well as a “perfect figure, perfect makeup, perfect clothes” (37). Alex was a friend of Shannon’s until Alex revealed that Shannon’s father was abusing Shannon, provoking a confrontation that resulted in Shannon’s hospitalization and her father’s departure. Shannon stopped talking to Alex after this. Alex is kind to Izzy when Shannon’s current friends bully Izzy, though she at one point plays an unwitting role in their cruelty: Alex also “love[s] ghosts and seances and all that shit” (183), so she convinces Izzy to break into Willard, where Shannon’s friends imprison her. However, Alex comes back for Izzy, and they remain close friends. Alex thus facilitates Izzy’s character development by providing her with a source of support.

Shannon Mackenzie is Ethan’s girlfriend at the beginning of the novel and an antagonist in Izzy’s storyline. She is blonde, “cool and pretty and amused, the kind of girl, Izzy knew, she herself would never be” (32). Like Izzy, Shannon was sexually abused by her father, though Shannon’s mother initially tolerated this behavior. When confronted about the abuse, Shannon’s father left. The trauma Shannon endured at home turned her into a bully at school and makes her a foil for Izzy, who retains her compassion despite what she has experienced. Shannon torments Izzy in particular because she sees Ethan being nice to her; this bullying, as well as her cheating, eventually causes Ethan to break up with her. Within the context of the novel’s exploration of systemic misogyny, Shannon serves as a cautionary tale. As Izzy thinks, “Just because Shannon’s father was a monster didn’t mean Shannon had to be one” (126).

Several other students play significant, though minor, roles in Izzy’s storyline. Josh is the school’s “star linebacker.” He and Shannon dated when they were younger, and he still has a crush on Shannon. However, Josh flirts with Izzy at the beach party, possibly as part of the plan to get her to go to Willard, as he is one of the people who lock Izzy in the morgue vault at Shannon’s request. Dave is the other person who pushes Izzy into the vault. He is dating Crystal, who always does Shannon’s bidding and leads the seance at Willard, which is part of the plan to lock Izzy in the vault. During the seance, Shannon’s friend, Luke, resists holding hands with Josh due to fear of being perceived as gay; coupled with his actions toward Izzy, this suggests parallels between misogyny and antigay bias. Like Shannon, these students are all static characters, but they lack her complexity of motivation, functioning instead as flat villains.

Susan is a retired schoolteacher and Clara’s daughter: Susan is the name that Dr. Roach gives Clara’s daughter after he steals her, whereas Clara named her daughter Beatrice Elizabeth Moretti. Susan, as an older adult, is “tall and slender, with ebony eyes and a stylish bob of silver hair […] the split image of Clara, but with dark eyes and light caramel skin” (296). Though a secondary, static character, Susan is significant in that her life has been shaped by the legacy of her mother’s hospitalization, underscoring the enduring effects of trauma. Roach told her that her mother was a patient at Willard but said she died in childbirth; fearing that mental illness ran in her genes, Susan never married or had children. The idea of Susan also serves as an important motivation for Clara, making her determined to survive her stay at Willard. At the end of the novel, Izzy reunites Susan and Clara, and Susan invites Clara to move into her home.

Henry Earl Cartwright is Clara’s father. He is a partial owner of Swift Bank and wants Clara to marry his business partner’s son, who is named James. When Clara refuses to do so, he claims she has a mental illness and has her committed to two different institutions. In particular, Henry maintains that Clara’s boyfriend, Bruno, is a figment of her imagination and that she will never be healthy enough to reenter society. He and his wife, Ruth, die in the Holland Tunnel fire. He is a flat, static antagonist who embodies the abusive nature of patriarchal authority.

Ruth is Clara’s mother and the only heiress of Bridge Bros. Clothing Emporium. As an upper-class woman of the era, she is not involved in her children’s lives: “[C]onversations about discipline and school performance were too taxing on her delicate sensibilities” (12). While Clara’s brother, William, was alive, Ruth was a socialite. After William’s death, Ruth developed an alcohol addiction. She is “prudish” and wears out-of-date clothes and hairstyles, in contrast to her stylish, sexually liberated daughter. Overall, Clara’s parents “care more about money and power than their children” (43).

Bruno is Clara’s boyfriend. He was born in Italy, and his father was a famous shoemaker for the brand Moretti Salvatore. Clara believes Bruno “look[s] like an Adonis” (15). He is lower-class and works as a foreman at the docks, which makes him an unacceptable fiancé in the eyes of Clara’s father: Henry not only separates Bruno and Clara but also ensures that most of Clara’s letters from the Long Island Home never reach Bruno.

Bruno remains devoted to Clara despite Henry’s efforts, ultimately coming to Willard as part of a carpentry crew under the name “Joseph Russo.” However, Clara’s doctor, Roach, soon imprisons Bruno at Willard as a patient. Bruno organizes an escape plan via the lake but dies in the attempt. Though the novel primarily focuses on psychiatry’s history of abusing women, Bruno’s presence serves as a reminder that men, too, were vulnerable—particularly those who were working class or ethnically marginalized.

Nurse Rita Trench is a “tall, heavyset woman with broad shoulders […] Muscle [makes] up the substantial girth of her arms and legs” (90). Her physical description establishes her commanding presence, though that presence has limits: She tries to challenge Roach at times but ultimately has no power to stop him from abusing patients. In this way, Trench is a foil to Nurse May. Trench is strict with Clara about the rules but not as cruel as other Willard staff members. During the Valentine’s Day party, Trench separates “two women trying to dance together” (253), which mirrors Luke’s antigay bias, highlighting its persistence across time.

At the end of the novel, Trench admits that her actions were wrong and feels guilt about the part she played in the abuse at Willard. She is the one who reveals Susan’s identity, as well as the fact that Clara is alive. When Izzy becomes upset that Trench never contacted Susan, Trench argues that it wasn’t her “place to get involved” (294). Nevertheless, Trench meets with many family members of Willard patients and tries to help when people reach out to her about the institution. Trench is one of the novel’s more complex antagonists, her arc showing how largely moral individuals can become complicit in systemic injustices.

Dr. Roach is Clara’s doctor at Willard. He is a “small, wiry man with a precisely trimmed goatee” (87). This small stature merely highlights the enormous power he wields: Roach implements myriad forms of torture, including ice baths, insulin-induced comas, and isolation, often wielding these “treatments” as punishment. He also sexually assaults his patients, cheats on his wife with his nurses, and accepts bribes from Henry’s father, all of which constitute significant abuses of his authority. When there is a flood at Willard, Roach saves himself rather than helping anyone else, including his lover, May. He is a self-serving antagonist who embodies the intersection of misogyny and institutional power.

Nurse May is also antagonistic toward Clara. For instance, she tells other patients about Clara’s pregnancy, which causes them to attack her. May’s relationship with Roach causes her to act superior to Nurse Trench, even though Trench has been at Willard longer. May is a static character whose haughtiness and cruelty render Trench more sympathetic by comparison.