What's Left Unsaid

A Novel

By: Emily Bleeker

Narrated by: Shannon McManus

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

An enthralling novel of secrets, second chances, and confronting the past by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone.

After a series of devastating losses, Chicago journalist Hannah Williamson has landed in Senatobia, Mississippi, to care for her bedridden grandmother and endure grunt work at a small newspaper. But in cleaning out its archives, Hannah discovers a compelling distraction from her life: a series of rejected articles from the 1930s that illuminate a long-hidden mystery.

The articles, penned by a young woman named Evelyn, are haunting accounts of first love, trauma, and surviving a mysterious shooting that left Evelyn paralyzed at the age of fourteen. The articles stir up more questions than answers, and Hannah becomes consumed by what’s left unsaid. Encouraged by Guy Franklin, a local middle school teacher, Hannah’s investigation into Evelyn’s past becomes more personal with each new reveal. For Hannah, as both a journalist and a woman bearing her own emotional wounds, this is a chance to move forward and bring closure to the story of the girl whose secrets are buried in Senatobia.

What Hannah’s about to discover next is that, even after nearly a century, the truth she’s been looking for still has the power to change lives. Especially her own.

©2021 by Emily Bleeker. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Enough with the woke BS

A little over the “white people are bad and inherently privileged and racist” narrative. Would have been a decent story otherwise.

the 100 year old mystery

I sometimes tired of the main character putting herself down. wish she showed more self respect.

Lots of emotional rollercoasters & beautiful understanding about self/family

All the emotions hooked me in but the underlying messages about resolving losses & acceptance of self & personal responsibility made this an excellent listen. Not withstanding the history of racial thinking / activity & how that can actually change throughout life, too. Want to find more of her work, too.

Great Story.

I love the story. it was hard to stop it. worth listen to an very sad.

Too much profanity but good story

I do not like nor do I enjoy so much profanity. The story is great, deals with depression, death, loss, grief, and how life turns a season… around the corner to victory. Sometimes, as the writer in the story reflects my own history with journalism… there are battles but one has to choose which ones to fight. The battle over depression is helped by helping others sometimes because healing is like watching a pot boil… it is slower when counting the minutes or days. Being busy doing something worthwhile does help with getting through a season of grief, loss, disappointment and depression. Good story and I can’t stop listening!

Excellent fun light book

This book was so much fun to read while on vacation it was light intriguing and suspenseful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Not entertainment but an attempt to push author’s skewed viewpoints

The audible narrator did a fantastic job in every way. The author, however, forgot she was writing a story. For the entire book, she droned on and on about the “backwards south” and its inhabitants universal racist backwoods views and lack of tolerance for anything other than wealthy white people. Her one dimensional judgement of this group of people is the exact thing she was speaking AGAINST…..
Being from the South, I was offended at the no so unconscious bias and complete misinformation on her part. The characters, especially the main one, was aggravating and without dignity… She seems to be a tolerable though unethical story writer for this type of “entertainment” novel.

Parallel lives

Family secrets across generations lead a struggling reporter on a search that just might give her back her life. After a disastrous breakup with her longtime boyfriend, Hannah Williamson’s life falls apart. She loses everything - her father dies, she loses her job and friends, and she falls into a deep depression as she struggles to cope with the loss and grief. Moving to Mississippi to help care for her 90-something grandmother, Hannah stumbles upon a 100-year-old mystery as she scans old newspaper records as part of her job at the local newspaper office. Intrigued by the story, she searches for more information drawing others into the drama of finding out what happened to Evelyn. What she finds will change the lives of several people and just might give her the courage to find happiness for herself.

Great narrator!

I listened to this on Audible and the narrator was excellent. It’s sort of a slow burn with a bit too much filling for me at first but it kicked up with a few twists and turns that were unexpected. An enjoyable read.

Slow burn

The story was at first hard to get into but truly helped weave the past and present together. Really enjoyed the narration.