The Lost Girls of Willowbrook: A Heartbreaking Novel of Survival Based on True History

By Ellen Marie Wiseman

Book Overview

Instant New York Times Bestseller

Girl, Interrupted meets American Horror Story in 1970s Staten Island, as the New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Collector blends fact, fiction, and the urban legend of Cropsey for a haunting story about a young woman mistakenly imprisoned at Willowbrook State School - the real state-run institution that Geraldo Rivera would later expose for its horrifying abuses.

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Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary--awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears--seemed to need more protection from the world.

Six years after Rosemary's death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage's stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn't die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing.

Sage knows little about Willowbrook. It's always been a place shrouded by rumor and mystery. A place local parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could imagined . . .

"A heartbreaking yet insightful read, this novel will open one's eyes to the evil in this world." --New York Journal of Books

"Unvarnished, painful and startlingly clear." --Bookreporter.com

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1496715888
• ISBN13: 9781496715883
• Release Date: August 2022
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Thrilling and Heartbreaking

This book is so good! I devoured it in less than 48 hours. Thrilling, heartbreaking, enraging.

Excellant Wonderful

This book is "Girl Interrupted" mixed with "One Flew Over the Coco's Nest" It will keep you reading and devouring this well written novel. I just finished this book. It has twists and turns heart felt pain and sorrow for a young lady named Sage. She wants to find her twin sister. It sets her world into a spiral she may never get out of trying to find her. I would suggest this to anyone. Read this and see how her fight and strength drags her through the roughest life she could ever imagine, Well written, well done. I loved it.