Download The Life She Was Given AudioBook Free
From acclaimed author Ellen Marie Wiseman comes a vivid, daring book about the disastrous electricity of family secrets - from the poignant, lurid world of a Depression-era visiting circus and arriving full circle in the transformative 1950s. On a summertime nighttime in 1931, Lilly Blackwood glimpses circus lighting from the grimy home window of her attic bedroom. Lilly isn't allowed to explore the meadows around Blackwood Manor. She's never even ventured beyond her small room. Momma insists it's for Lilly's own protection, that people would be afraid if they found her. But upon this unforgettable nighttime, Lilly is used outside for the very first time - and sold to the circus sideshow. More than 2 decades later, 19-year-old Julia Blackwood has inherited her parents' estate and horse plantation. For Julia, home was an unsatisfied place full of strict guidelines and forbidden rooms, and she hope that going back might remove those painful thoughts. Instead, she becomes immersed in a mystery involving a hidden attic room and images of circus moments featuring a dazzling young girl. Initially The Barlow Brothers' Circus is merely another prison for Lilly. But in this ragtag, sometimes brutal world, Lilly discovers strength, a friendly relationship, and a uncommon affinity for pets or animals. Soon, because of elephants Pepper and JoJo and their handler, Cole, Lilly is no more a sideshow spectacle however the circus' biggest interest...until tragedy and cruelty collide. It will fall to Julia to learn the reality about Lilly's destiny and her family's surprising betrayal and find ways to make Blackwood Manor into a location of healing at last. Moving between Julia's and Lilly's tales, Ellen Marie Wiseman portrays two remarkable, very different women in a book that, while sensitive and heartbreaking, offers occasions of delight and indomitable wish.
