The Lies They Told: Sneak Peek

by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Be one of the first to read this sneak preview sample edition!



In rural 1930s Virginia, a young immigrant mother fights for her dignity and those she loves against America’s rising eugenics movement – when widespread support for policies of prejudice drove imprisonment and forced sterilizations based on class, race, disability, education, and country of origin – in this tragic and uplifting novel of social injustice, survival, and hope for readers of Susan Meissner, Kristin Hannah, and Christina Baker Kline.

When Lena Conti—a young, unwed mother—sees immigrant families being forcibly separated on Ellis Island, she vows not to let the officers take her two-year old daughter. But the inspection process is more rigorous than she imagined, and she is separated from her mother and teenage brother, who are labeled burdens to society, denied entry, and deported back to Germany. Now, alone but determined to give her daughter a better life after years of living in poverty and near starvation, she finds herself facing a future unlike anything she had envisioned.

Silas Wolfe, a widowed family relative, reluctantly brings Lena and her daughter to his weathered cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to care for his home and children. Though the hills around Wolfe Hollow remind Lena of her homeland, she struggles to adjust. Worse, she is stunned to learn the children in her care have been taught to hide when the sheriff comes around. As Lena meets their neighbors, she realizes the community is vibrant and tight knit, but also senses growing unease. The State of Virginia is scheming to paint them as ignorant, immoral, and backwards so they can evict them from their land, seize children from parents, and deal with those possessing “inferior genes.”

After a social worker from the Eugenics Office accuses Lena of promiscuity and feeblemindedness, her own worst fears come true. Sent to the Virginia State Colony for the Feebleminded and Epileptics, Lena face impossible choices in hopes of reuniting with her daughter—and protecting the people, and the land, she has grown to love.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Book Club

75 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 8, 2025

About the author

Ellen Marie Wiseman is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for writing novels based on real historical injustices, including THE LIES THEY TOLD, THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR, WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND, THE PLUM TREE , COAL RIVER, THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN, and THE LOST GIRLS OF WILLOWBROOK, which was an Indie Next selection, an Amazon Editor's Pick and the B&N “Our Monthly Pick.” Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in northern New York, Ellen is a first-generation German American who discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in New York State. Since then, her novels have been published worldwide, translated into more than twenty languages, and sold nearly two million copies in the United States alone. They have also been named to "best of" lists by Reading Group Choices, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, The Historical Novel Society, Great Group Reads, and more. A mother of two and grandmother to six, Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her Husband.

Reviews

[Wendy Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I’ve been living under a rock. I had no clue; I was not familiar with eugenics to the extent portrayed in this book. The injustice and atrocities that occurred were unbelievable. Ella’s strength and perseverance were incredible. She never gave up, she never lost hope. Get your tissues ready.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

German emigre separated from her family upon arriving at Ellis Island. Taken in by distant relative in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia...The generations' owned family property it taken from them by the government...sent to a Woman's Institute for Feebleminded and sterilized due to US policy to support eugenics to develop a smarter, stronger population. :(

[Jo Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A twist on a World War II story that I have never thought of before. An immigrant family was separated on Ellis Island. Part of the family sent back to Germany the other onto the United States. When Lena and her daughter were hired to work for a man in his family, she thought it would be a better life. However, the struggles as a hillbilly family in Virginia were worse than she could imagine. Despite hard work, and unconditional love, the family was still separated by the legal system. The story was engaging, it was sad, and it was very emotional. The author never disappoints and did remarkable job writing the story.

[Britt Baldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - I really had no idea there was such a strong eugenics movement on American soil during this time frame. This book raised SO many questions for me. How was this legal? How did anyone think this was okay? How did they get away with forced sterilization and stealing land? How is involuntary sterilization still legal in 30 US states today? How horrific for those immigrants who came to the US for a better life to be subjected to this. This historical fiction is a very important read, though insanely frustrating and sad , please read it. It was a page turner. There are so many pieces of this book that I could sadly see happening again someday and that is terrifying to me.

[Margie Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is just the first 4 chapters of Ellen Marie Wiseman’s new book, I’ve read enough to know that it’s a book I’m going to purchase and read. I own all of her other books and have enjoyed them immensely. Not only are they entertaining but I always learn so much from reading them. I can’t wait for July 29, 2025 which is the release date set for The Lies They Told so I can get my copy and add it to my home library of favorites!

[S Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a history lesson wrapped in a very well done and moving story. I don’t usually cry reading a book…this one made me cry..several times. It’s amazing that with all my historical fiction reading, I have never read about this subject in this depth. I had no idea America did this to our citizens.
I finished this book but it will be with me for a very long time. Just might be my favorite book I’ve read this year…or ever!!!

[Polly Herod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, the best historical fiction book I’ve read. It lingers with you long after you finish it. I was shocked to learn just how widespread eugenics was in America — it opened my eyes in ways I didn’t expect. Wiseman’s writing is powerful and compelling, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Camille Prisbrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man this book 😭💔🫶🏻 So many emotions. It was one of those books that tears at your heart but you can't stop reading it. So hard to learn about history, even here in America but also this was written so beautifully!! Definitely had a "The Nightingale" type vibe. Very similar emotions as when I read that book. Definitely a 10/10 ❤️❤️

[W. Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, even though it made me cry. I never knew anything about this topic, and being historical fiction I found it sad but very interesting. And a wonderful ending, which I’m sure was fiction

[Lynette Simmons]

This was a very hard read. So unbelievably sad for someone in our time as we have not lived through the 'eugenics' period which was so inhumane.
The author wrote so powerfully about this subject and the research was in-depth. Ellis Island was a terrible place to be trapped in!

[Janet silverberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

HEARTBREAKING!

[Carie Leggett · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 to 4, took a bit for me to get into, felt slow in the beginning.

[Cindy Wasser Hemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I couldn’t put this book down. Completely engaging yet heartbreaking.

[Carmen Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sneak view

Four chapters to whet the appetite. I've enjoyed all the Ellen Marie Wiseman books. Looking forward to reading this one in its entirety.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opening story about eugenics in the U.S. generally and Virginia specifically.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

sneak preview.

Excellent start. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book. Will the immigrants make it to Kentucky