Lena, a Life

De: Donna Foley Mabry

Narrado por: Eileen Smith

The stories shared with me about Lena, my husband’s mother, were extraordinary. I heard many of them over the years, tales told to me by her son and his father, accounts that were often shocking, sometimes heart-wrenching, and always fascinating.

However, I only met my mother-in-law Lena one time. She was visiting Detroit and wanted to know her only granddaughter, who was almost three at the time.

I invited her over. When my husband was told his mother was coming to visit, he arranged to be elsewhere.

She'd been described to me as beautiful in her youth, but she looked like any ordinary grandmother. I took that as a testament to the wild life she'd led.

She brought a quilt she’d made for my daughter–every stitch by hand. Melanie still has it, and since Lena's death, there’s a ghost story attached.

Lena burned her candle at both ends, lived her life the way she chose, and left it all too soon.

Her second son did not attend the funeral.

©2024 Donna Foley Mabry (P)2024 Donna Foley Mabry

Story of a brave, adventurous young woman who ran off and joined the circus in the early 1900s!

I just finished listening to the audiobook for LENA by Donna Foley Mabry on audible. I love reading, but with my busy work schedule, sometimes I love to listen to audiobooks in between work meetings, running errands, driving, and also on walks. I listened to Lena at 1.7 speed, which was the perfect pace for me.

I highly recommend giving this story a read (Amazon) or a listen! Like all of Foley-Mabry’s books, it’s a page Turner, an easy read, and you won’t be able to put it down! I always enjoy how she writes in the first person… And you get into the mindset of the historical figure Lena.

Lena is based on the author’s mother-in-law. I love that Foley-Mabry continually uses her unmatched talent as an author to pay tribute to the women in her life. What immediately captivated me about Lena’s life, was her sense of independence from the time she was very young back in the early 1900’s.

As a teenager, she literally runs off and joins the circus! And this is based on a true story! Her time in the circus is absolutely fascinating, and I loved that this young woman had a sense of adventure and valued earning her own financial independence. Which was very rare for that era. Lena has no filter and a sense of adventure for life - taking trains and hopping on greyhound buses from one state to the next! She escapes her slow, small town life in rural Tennessee for fast-paced adventures on the road, traveling with the circus! This girl had guts. Especially for that time! She was very brave.

What I loved about this book, is not only is this young woman’s sense of strength and independence early on in life, but you also get a great sense of American history during that time. This includes World War II and the great depression. And you get to hear the narrative through a woman’s perspective.

Again, I highly recommend LENA! Check out LENA on audible or Amazon (paperback or kindle)