The Lies They Told

By: Ellen Marie Wiseman

Narrated by: 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

It surprised you

Even when you thought you knew what was coming next it surprised you. It’s sad to think that this actually took place in the United States but glad someone is shedding light on it so we can learn …

Historical fiction

Historical fiction at its best! Powerful!

1928: Lena is traveling to the US from Germany for a better life. She’s with her mother, younger brother & her 2-year-old daughter. The first nightmare is at Ellis Island, where they all must prove they won’t be a burden to society. After all that, she meets her sponsor Silas Wolfe, a widowed distant cousin. They travel to his home in the mountains of Virginia, where she meets his two children. Her job is to help him in the home. Cook, clean, take care of his kids - things like that.

Sounds lovely, right? Not so fast!

I don’t want to spoil anything, but this book is a very sad story with a few happy elements. Our country wasn’t showing Lena its best side. Apparently the late 1920’s & 30’s was a very dark time in our history. At least in Virginia.

As is always the case when I read historical fiction, I found myself googling stuff to learn more about it.

Excellent book! Wonderful character development! This is the third book I’ve read by Ellen Marie Wiseman. She does a TON of research, and writes extremely well. Five strong & shining stars.

Everyone should read this book.

History is important, this was never taught in schools and we only hear bad about other countries.

Shocking part of US history

This book was so educational for me. A horrifying glimpse of the eugenics program in the US and something I knew nothing about. I appreciate the author opening this door for me to learn more.

The narrators awesome variations

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