The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
By Ellen Marie Wiseman
Reviewed by Jessica Colleran
Okay everyone, time for a historical fiction review. I will admit, I've been in a bit of a rut when it comes to this genre, but when I saw this at my local bookstore, I decided to give it a try. I have always been fascinated by the care, or lack thereof, for mental health patients in the past. This book takes place in the 1970s and focuses on the infamous Willowbrook State School located in New York City. The story centers around a young woman, Sage aged 16, who thought her twin sister, Rosemary, died from illness when the girls were twelve years old. Come to find out, her stepfather, Allen, has been hiding a dark secret for many years: her twin sister never died. Rosemary was in fact sent to the Willowbrook State School all those years ago and now she is missing. Determined to find her sister, Sage sets out by herself for the Willowbrook State School.
Summary
Sage Winters lives with her stepfather, Allen, in a tiny, dirty apartment. Her mother has passed away and her biological father hasn't been in the picture since she was a young girl. The only person she could ever really count on was her twin sister, Rosemary. Sage has believed for the past four years that Rosemary died of an illness, but one day, Sage is blindsided with the truth that Rosemary was actually sent away by her mother and Allen to Willowbrook State School. When Sage discovers the truth, she is furious and sets out to find her sister. However, when she arrives at Willowbrook, things take a terrible turn. Sage finds out that her sister has been missing for several days, but nothing was ever said to the authorities. So, when she arrives at Willowbrook, the psychiatrist in charge thinks that she is Rosemary and has wandered back to Willowbrook after her disappearance. Sage fights and argues and tries to convince him that she is in fact Rosemary's twin sister, but the doctors and staff don't believe her and have her immediately admitted back to Willowbrook as a patient. Now Sage has to try and figure out what happened to her sister and escape the horrors of Willowbrook.
What I Liked/Didn't Like
This book was absolutely fascinating in a lot of aspects. I enjoyed the inside look into Willowbrook through the eyes of Sage since she was not meant to be there. I had no idea that Willowbrook existed and was a true horror on the inside. The treatment and care of its patients was deplorable, and the inhabitants were riddled with illnesses and half of them didn't even have clothes to wear. The staff was mean and overworked, and families were kept out; rarely allowed to see their loved ones so that the staff would avoid anyone from the outside bearing witness to the horrors inside Willowbrook's walls. My jaw dropped several times when I thought about the crime and inhumane treatment of all the patients that were unfortunate enough to reside inside Willowbrook. That being said, I did feel that the middle of the book was a bit slow and did not hold my interest as much as the beginning and end did. Some of the things that kept happening to Sage just seemed a bit repetitive. I really liked Sage's character, but everyone else in the book I despised.
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
As sad and unfortunate as this story was, I really did enjoy this book. I learned a lot, and praise those that dedicated their lives to improving the conditions at Willowbrook, and eventually getting it shut down for good. No one should ever have to go through what the patients of Willowbrook did, and it breaks my heart that something this terrible was happening in the United States in the 1970s. If you are a fan of historical fiction, I would definitely give this book a try!!
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