The Lies They Told

De: Ellen Marie Wiseman

Narrado por: Elisabeth Rodgers

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 listeners 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.

©2025 Ellen Marie Wiseman (P)2025 Recorded Books

The narrators awesome variations

The story started slow but ended do be patient. The narrator did a great job of defining each character.

Historical fiction that you can't put down!

Ellen Marie Wiseman is a master! Historical fiction can be a bore, but she makes it so interesting, you can't put her books down!

This novel should be a required reading in US classrooms!!

Absolutely incredible writing and IMPORTANT story. I’m embarrassed to admit I knew nothing of the eugenics crusade in America, but now I know how it’s still impacting us today. I hardly ever cry during books, but this one got me. I’ll be recommending this to anyone and everyone!!

Best of 2025

Excellent story wonderful characters. A story line I knew nothing about. Couldn’t put it down. My 2025 favorite

Excellent narration

It was a very good story highlighting a dark period of American history. The narration was so good including the singing !

Horrible part of our history

I can't decide which exclamation to use to start my review! I had absolutely no idea that this was such a huge part of American history. I've heard various references to eugenics, but never considered how widely it was spread across the US. Beginning with Ellis Island and extending into communities across the country. it was used by politicians as a tool for control of people and confiscation of land. Forced sterilization of children and destruction of entire families was rampant and widely accepted as necessary for the greater good of our country. This novel is fiction, but contains true events, real people, and the atrocities described did actually happen to many people. Definitely worth reading, even if just for the knowledge of this dark, sad part of our history.

A story with grit and emotion

Thank you Ellen Marie Wiseman for telling a story that is historical and current at the same time. Eugenics is a topic that has been ignored. I learned a lot of American history that influenced other countries in the 20s and 30s. While Magdalena Conti was a fictional character, her story brought to life a time in American history that should not be forgotten. While there was a happy ending, it came with a cost that I will not forget. Well done Ellen!

Everyone deserves happiness🩵

Hard story to listen to but necessary! What a history lesson! Have we learned anything?

Love her books!

Easy to listen to, catches your attention right off the bat, and keeps your attention until the last word. Looking forward to the next book!

So good

Wow. This book was so good. I have never read a book about the eugenics movement nor have I really learned too much about this.

This book opened my eyes to it and what people went through during this time. I’ve always heard about stuff like this happening in other countries but never knew about it in America.

This book was so memorable and emotional. I loved the characters in the book as well.

In this particular book the author talks about the process immigrants went through when coming to Ellis Island. This is something I also have never really explored. And also very saddened by.

The research that went into this book was outstanding and I’m so intrigued to learn more and read more by her.

It blows my mind about sterilization based on disability race education and more. And the authors note is a must!