What's Left Unsaid: A Novel

Written by Emily Bleeker

Narrated by Shannon McManus

An enthralling novel of secrets, second chances, and confronting the past by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone.

After a series of devastating losses, Chicago journalist Hannah Williamson has landed in Senatobia, Mississippi, to care for her bedridden grandmother and endure grunt work at a small newspaper. But in cleaning out its archives, Hannah discovers a compelling distraction from her life: a series of rejected articles from the 1930s that illuminate a long-hidden mystery.

The articles, penned by a young woman named Evelyn, are haunting accounts of first love, trauma, and surviving a mysterious shooting that left Evelyn paralyzed at the age of fourteen. The articles stir up more questions than answers, and Hannah becomes consumed by what’s left unsaid. Encouraged by Guy Franklin, a local middle school teacher, Hannah’s investigation into Evelyn’s past becomes more personal with each new reveal. For Hannah, as both a journalist and a woman bearing her own emotional wounds, this is a chance to move forward and bring closure to the story of the girl whose secrets are buried in Senatobia.

What Hannah’s about to discover next is that, even after nearly a century, the truth she’s been looking for still has the power to change lives. Especially her own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713596462

Emily Bleeker

Emily Bleeker is a former educator who learned to love writing while teaching a writers’ workshop. After surviving a battle with a rare form of cancer, she finally found the courage to share her stories, starting with her debut novel, Wreckage, and followed by When I’m Gone (a Wall Street Journal bestseller), Working Fire, and The Waiting Room. Emily currently lives with her family in suburban Chicago. Connect with her or request a Skype visit with your book club at www.emilybleeker.com.

Reviews for What's Left Unsaid

[KMH MEREDITH · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read this book! You won't be sorry. Topics relevant both today and historically. I really enjoyed it! WTG EB!

[geauxgetlit · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to enjoy this one more but it didn’t hold my attention. If your genre preference is contemporary/historical fiction then I would suggest you give it a try for yourself.

[carole888fort · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What’s Left Unsaid by Emily Bleeker is a relationship drama as much as a mystery. Either way, it is a most engrossing read. Hannah’s life as she knows it has imploded in an unexpected fashion. She is a journalist with the Chicago Tribune, that is, before she is summarily released from her position. Because her grandmother has suffered a serious injury, Hannah moves to Senatobia, Mississippi to take care of her while she tries to get her life back together. In order to keep occupied, she gets a job at a small local newspaper. While doing clean-up work in its archives, she finds a series of letters written to the newspaper. The letters from the 1930s had never been published. Piecing the letters together, Hannah detects a story which should see the light of day, no matter how many locals wish to stop the publication. This novel has a varied cast of characters, some you will like more than others but all you will enjoy reading about. What’s Left Unsaid has it all: love, mysteries, secrets and a fascinating ending. This is the first Emily Bleeker book I have read and I look forward to reading more in the future. Highly recommended. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[lorikboyd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book drew me in at the beginning and the next thing I knew I was closing the book. Hannah, is at a crossroad in her life. Dumped by her boyfriend, depressed, rehab, losses her job as a journalist at a big newspaper. What to do? Head south and take care of her beloved Mamaw. She finds a job with a small local newspaper where she comes across a series of letters written in the 1930s. She smells a story and this seems to bring her back to life! Bleeker does a wonderful job of going back and forth between the two settings until marrying them beautifully at the end. There are times when I wanted to smack Hannah and others when I was cheering for her. I loved the characters from Mamaw, endearing and trying to change her Southern attitude in her 90s to the good looking Guy who gets caught up in Hannah’s ideas to adorable Rosie with the inquisitive mind and bright future. Bleeker did a wonderful job of showing the mindset of the South in the 30s…misogyny, racism, small mindedness, class separation, wealth. Well researched. Thanks to Ms. Bleeker, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

[bookanonjeff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Solid Work of Fiction. This is a difficult one. There is *so much* "white people are evil" "racial discussion" through the first 2/3 of the book that at the time it looked like it would be my first *ever* 4* review for this author (and I've reviewed *all* of her prior books, either after publication or, as in this case, as advance reader copies). That noted, it *did* have a couple of moments of calling out the white guilt in ways I've often wanted to scream myself. Between these moments and the back third largely dropping these discussions in favor of more deeply diving into the substance of the tale at hand, the latest 5* review was indeed saved, as the story overall is in fact that strong - particularly that back third, when the various discussions and plot threads are woven together quite remarkably... and explosively. Indeed, while it is not known if the *exact* resolution of everything is real, one could very easily imagine it being so. I read for escapism, and if you're looking for that particular goal in the current environment... maybe wait a few years to read this one. But realize that this one was effectively finished (minus the polishing and publication mechanics) right as the race wars of the summer of 2020 were exploding, which alone provides a degree of context for much of those discussions. Overall a truly strong book for what it is, and still very much recommended.

[grandmacootie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Based on a true story, What’s Left Unsaid is a story about secrets, second chances, learning about the past and trying to change its effects on the present. Trying to get her life back on track and care for her bedridden grandmother while dealing with emotional issues after her father’s death and a devastating breakup, journalist Hannah’s compulsion to discover the fate of a young woman named Evelyn who wrote letters to the editor nearly a century ago makes for a fast-paced, fascinating dive into old newspaper archives and encounters with dangerous people in the small town of Senatobia, Mississippi. I was excited to read this book because I had thoroughly enjoyed this author’s previous works. However, What’s Left Unsaid missed the mark for me. Hannah, although dealing with valid emotional issues, is not likeable and remains unlikeable until the end of the book. In her obsession to “get back to the big time” – a big city newspaper again, she lies, threatens and manipulates, and puts her grandmother’s health in danger as well as doing serious damage to the reputation of the man who is helping her try and solve this mystery and seems to care for her. Evelyn’s story has elements of racism and abuse that deserve to be brought to light and the underlying corruption exposed, but those issues take a back seat in the story, a back seat to Hannah’s need to regain her career. It’s an interesting story but could have been a stronger indictment of injustices of the past that have been hidden and carried into the present.Thanks to the author and Lake Union Publishing for providing an advance copy of What’s Left Unsaid via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.