Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 27, 2021
After the death of her father, the breakdown of a long-term relationship and an addiction that led to the loss of her job and a failed suicide attempt, Hannah Williamson agrees to return to her father’s hometown in Mississippi to care for her aging grandmother, and try and get her own life back on track. While working at the local newspaper there, Hannah comes across some unpublished letters, written by a young woman in the 1920s who was placed into a residential care facility after a shotgun accident left her paralyzed. Hannah instantly feels an attachment to the protagonist of the letters, Evelyn, and feels that there is a story waiting to be told. But as she begins to investigate the story, she unearths a lot of unrevealed secrets that the small town in the South would like to keep hidden and now Hannah must decide how far she is willing to go to bring Evelyn’s story to life.
Emily Bleeker’s newest novel, “What’s Left Unsaid” is a complicated novel to be sure. Hannah is not your usual protagonist that we see in this type of novel, struggling to overcome immense losses as well as mental illness. That combined with the very emotionally charged topics of addiction, suicide, racism and sexism, and “What’s Left Unsaid” is not an easy read. It is, however, a gripping and passionate one and Hannah is a likable character all the same.
The plot of this novel is actually two stories in one, one narrated by Hannah in the present time, as she deals with all of the complications in her life and the other narrated through letters by the young woman, Evelyn, as she tells her equally traumatizing story. The letters by Evelyn help Hannah find her inner peace, and renew her passion, but that is not their only connection (which is slowly hinted at until being revealed in one, big powerful twist at the end).
Bleeker’s novel has a strong focus on racism, especially Black racism in the deep southern United States. A large portion of this novel focused on the long-standing attitudes of multi-generational white families in the Southern U.S, and the old-fashioned opinions that have led to a lot of racial tension throughout the years. It is obviously a very relevant topic, which will strike home with readers, regardless of what side of the fence they stand on.
“What’s Left Unsaid” ends on a happy note, with the right amount of justification being delivered. It is part historical fiction, part modern Southern romance, but it is completely and compulsively readable. I have read (almost) ever novel by Bleeker, and I always look forward to what she will deliver next.

I'll start out by saying this was the first book I've read by Emily Bleeker, and it absolutely will not be my last. Her writing style is incredibly engaging.

What's Left Unsaid drew me in right from the start. The idea of a big city journalist, moving home to her roots, working at the local paper, and uncovering a town mystery was exactly the kind of book I needed to read next. I loved how we not only witnessed the unraveling of Evelyn's story, but also Hannah's own personal story and healing journey.

There are a lot of tough subjects addressed including sexual assault and race, but Emily tackled them in a very tasteful way. I will admit, the middle of the book got a little bit long for me, but it wasn't long before it picked back up and I was incredibly engaged with the story again.

Definitely will be recommending What's Left Unsaid to others.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, Suzy Approved Book Tours and Emily Bleeker for providing me with the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this book even though i felt it was a little slow reading in some parts.. A young woman returns to the South to take care of her grandmother and recover from a series of misfortunes, including a broken engagement and the loss of her father etc. While working with a small town newspaper, she stumbles upon a story submitted years ago but never published. Who was this mysterious woman who wrote the article and how does it affect the family and friends that she has made here. A satisfying read.

I enjoyed reading this book...it's written in a slower pace, but constantly unraveling some of Evelyn's letters (secrets), dealing with some of the racial issues from the past, dealing with mental health, without bein overwhelming. Now, the big family secret at the end is pretty juicy!! This book is based on a true story, I'm dying to find out Fred's real last name!!!

Thanks NetGalley, Emily Bleeker and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced readers copy!

I liked Hannah and the nd. K symphaized with her. She has a downgraded job and was left for another woman. I didn't like her bossy co worker who tryed to humble her.

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.

#WhatsLeftUnsaid #NetGalley


After some devastating losses in Hannah's life, she goes to Mississippi to help care for her grandmother.

While there she gets a job at a newspaper, not reporting, but going through old files sorting things. She comes across letters by a young girl, Evelyn, and becomes obsessed wanting to learn about her and why her story was never published.



The story continues, being told by Hannah and Evelyn's letters.



I was just as obsessed as Hannah was at discovering Evelyn's story.

The mystery unfolds and kept me turning the pages very quickly.



I confess that some of the subjects were hard to read about, and Hannah was very selfish and I was glad about the letters because I finished the book because of Evelyn.

That said, the mystery was compelling and the story was good and held my interest.

3.75***






I would like to thank Emily Bleeker and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Hannah Williamson has a bad breakup and loses her job in Chicago and moves to Senatobia,MS to care for her grandmother. While organizing at the local newspaper she finds letters from Evelyn from the 1920s. She begins investigating the story with help from Guy.

Hannah was a likable character and i felt like the story unfolded in such a way it kept you interested. The ending had somewhat of a twist for me

Great book. Kept me interested. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Colossal let down.

I have a problem when female authors write females as weak. Hannah's boyfriend has cheated on her, and she blames this for the variety of bad decisions she makes in her life. It was pathetic to read. We've all gone through breakups.

I also felt that What's Left Unsaid tossed in some "unnecessary" social issues. It was written around the time of BLM, and it felt like the author felt the need to add in some things about race and arrest in there, just because one of the characters was black.

(FTR, I fully support BLM, but that tangent in the storyline felt very forced.)

I received the Advanced Reader Copy of this book through Netgalley as the definition of the book intregued me. The idea that the Bleeker gained the inspiration from her Real-Life Great Aunt Evelyn’s story had me interested to see where it would lead. I don’t agree with the reviewer Jeff on his statement “there is *so much* ‘white people are evil’ ‘racial discussion’.” I think there was an adequate amount of discussion involving a Northerner’s opinion on the South. However, I feel the discussion could have benefited by bringing in an African American/Black author to better articulate the experience of a post-segragated South.

The reason I ended up giving the novel 3 stars is in part that I found myself way more interested in Evelyn’s letters, and the story of Evelyn, then the main plot of Hannah Williamson’s life. The writing of Evelyn’s letters was elevated compared to the general story, which personally seemed a little too “Halmark Channel” for me.

Overall, this was a very easy read and would recommend it as a beach read on vacation. I will update once a full review has been posted on my blog.

This novel is based on the authors great-grandmother’s story and she tells it from the heart. Emily Bleeker shares the struggle of Hannah Williamson, who leaves her home in Chicago, after a devastating breakup with her fiancée, the death of her beloved father, the loss of her job as an up and coming journalist and a mental breakdown when she attempts suicide. After her release from a facility and therapy, she flees to Mississippi to care for her elderly grandmother, while also taking a job in the small hometown newspaper. There, she happens on some files containing letters from a woman called Evelyn, that sets her on a mission to tell this woman’s story.
This novel has it all, betrayal, loss, relationships, mental health challenges and the struggle to survive them, new friendships, and the renewal of her love for journalism.
Emily Bleeker’s characters are complex and interesting, and the challenges she faces when shedding big city living to rural and racial issues is interesting.
I’ve read previous novel by this author and she never fails to entertain. This story if of particular interest, because it is about her own great grandmother.
My thanks to NetGalley,Lake Union Publishing and the author for the ARC. All options are my own. Just a wonderful read.

What's Left Unsaid is an interesting story that focuses on the mysterious events of a young woman's tragic life from the past and the woman who sets out to solve the mystery and tell a story.
Hannah Williamson is recently single and struggling to find her place in the world as she deals with the aftermath of her break up and the death of her beloved father. She moves to Mississippi to take care of her grandmother and while working at the local newspaper discovers the story of Evelyn, a girl from the 1930's who was paralyzed in a shooting. Hannah investigates the past in an attempt to solve the myster of Evelyn's shooting. Along the way, she discovers a lot about herself, her family, and even becomes open to love again.
Ms. Bleeker's novel features a female protagonist that is both complicated and frustrating. I have to admit that Hannah had me rolling my eyes a lot. She becomes so obsessed with solving Evelyn's story and stalking her ex that she loses herself. Just when you find yourself rooting for her she does something else that makes you want to shake her and will her to be better. There was also a lot of mentions of race, which I wasn't expecting but in hindsight I should have because Hannah is in Mississippi learning to adjust to living in the south.
I wouldn't let that deter you from reading this book though because overall it was really good and the ending is satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this novel.

After a devastating break up then leads to the destruction of her entire life, Hannah Williamson flees Chicago for Senatobia, Mississippi to care for her grandmother who has suffered a fall. While working for the local newspaper, Hannah unearths a series of letters from the 1930s from a young girl named Evelyn. Evelyn's letters tell the tale of her first love, loss and a tragic event that changes her entire life. Hannah is determined to discover Evelyn's identity and her fate. She develops a friendship with a local man, Guy Franklin, and he quickly also becomes interested in Evelyn's story. The pair work to unravel the secrets, and slowly, Hannah begins to recover from her own loss.

I quickly fell in love with this story. Hannah is struggling for sure and discovering Evelyn's story helps her to deal with her own issues. There are a lot of issues discussed in this novel, including death, suicide, and trauma. I especially liked that we are only told the story from Hannah's POV, so everything she knows about Evelyn is everything we know as well. I think it really added to the mystery. Evelyn's story is heart-breaking for sure. This is a well-told story and definitely sucked me in pretty early on, Hannah's grandmother was a pretty interesting character as well. Her story would be a good book for sure!

Available July 26, 2021.

Finding the truth is far easier than accepting its aftermath. It doesn't always settle in the right places.

Emily Bleeker introduces us to a highly complicated, sometimes thorny-edged, deeply flawed main character. I have to put that out there. Hannah Williamson is wrapped tightly in a webby cocoon of her own makings. Perhaps she has just been programmed genetically to sometimes topple when life leans hard. Either way, Hannah seems to elbow her way into tough situations and then discovers that the safety of the shore is not always nearby.

When life scrambles your eggs, you hunt for a better basket. Hannah, a thirty-one year old journalist, is leaving Chicago in her rearview mirror. She worked for a time at the prestigious Chicago Tribune. But a failed six year relationship with her ex, Alex, has sent her into a downward spiral. The death of her beloved father knocked her to her knees. Hannah got hooked on sleeping pills and eventually lost her job. She laid on the couch and obsessed about Alex until she could no longer function. Hannah was in a bad place.

But sometimes life hands us a flashlight. All we have to do is add batteries. It came in as a call for Hannah to return to Senatobia, Mississippi where her ninety-one year old mamaw, Mable, needed caring for. Hannah quickly packed. She was fortunate to secure a job at the Tate County Record newspaper working for the editor, Monty Martin. You are no longer working for the Tribune when you are relegated to the dusty basement to photocopy records. But Hannah will come upon something in that dark ol' basement that will set a spark inside of her. It will also change the lives of so many.

While sorting through a mountain of papers, Hannah discovers letters written by a young woman named Evelyn in 1935 to the newpaper's then editor. Evelyn begins to tell her story as a young girl growing up in the area. The events are heartbreaking and Hannah receives installments in a piecemeal fashion because of the chaotic filing. It appears that Evelyn's story was never published, but that doesn't stop Hannah from searching for the rest. Monty has no idea of what is happening below the floorboards in that basement.

What's Left Unsaid takes us on a journey from the 1920's to present life in Senatobia. Emily Bleeker nudges us to observe the ill conditions of life in a society where abuse, racism, bigotry, misogyny, and outright cruelty existed. Through the voice of Evelyn, we will certainly feel the jolt of it.

And all the while, Hannah will be on a mission to publish Evelyn's story to appear before the eyes of the present. Bleeker allows Hannah to step out on shakey ground as she tries to find her own footing in the process. Hannah's people skills are certainly unpolished and her decision making seems to leave stains and pains upon the individuals around her. Hannah is like a landmine in the making. But What's Left Unsaid is a beautifully rendered story of rising from the ashes........ashes from the past and the ashes of our own making.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to Emily Bleeker for the opportunity.

This was such a good book that I had a hard time putting it down! I enjoyed Guy’s sense of humor and how he teased Hannah. I really liked the passage where he talks about the fence growing through the tree. We need to face our problems rather than run from them. I’m glad I read this book and highly recommend reading it.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Hannah has had her life torn apart. So goes to stay with her grandmother to help her recover from an accident. This leads to Hannah working for a small town paper. When she is given a job to scan all the records she comes across a story of a young girl from the same small town during the depression. In reading Evelyn’s story she learns she was shot and lived in a home in a wheel chair until her death. Will Hannah discover Evelyn’s last name? Will she find out who shot her and put her in the chair?

This is a really an interesting story that mixes the past and present to keep you on the edge of your seat!

I really enjoyed this book much more than I expected! The main character hits rock bottom in her personal and professional life and retreats to her grandmothers home to reset, evaluate her life, and care for her grandmother. Her new job is at least 5 rungs down the journalistic ladder, but while at the local newspaper she uncovers a mystery that consumes and intrigues her. A dual timeline helps tell the reader part of what went on years ago, but enough was kept secret that I didn’t guess the big reveal until we were almost upon it. Complicated family dynamics, mental health issues, a budding new friendship, and poor choices leading to tragic consequences round out this dramatic literary novel. Very well written, this book will keep your attention from cover to cover.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’ve really enjoyed the authors previous works, but this one didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the main character, which made this a slow one to get through.

When the main character's life is kind of falling apart, she finds a mystery and delves into it head first to find the truth. It's not always pretty. I found this book hard to keep my interest. The main character, Hannah, just wasn't all that likable in my opinion. But the overall premise was interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I usually like this author but this one didn't work for me. It was so slow that even the parts that were interesting felt like it took too long to get there and ruined it for me. Others might like it more but i wanted to be grabbed and absorbed and it just didn't happen