{"product_id":"life-she-was-given","title":"Life She Was Given","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBefore We Were Yours\u003c\/i\u003e meets \u003ci\u003eWater for Elephants\u003c\/i\u003e in \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author Ellen Marie Wiseman’s vivid, daring, emotional novel about the devastating power of family secrets—beginning in the poignant, lurid world of a Depression-era traveling circus and coming full circle in the transformative 1950s.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a summer evening in 1931, Lilly Blackwood glimpses circus lights from the grimy window of her attic bedroom. Lilly isn’t allowed to explore the meadows around Blackwood Manor. She’s never even ventured beyond her narrow room. Momma insists it’s for Lilly’s own protection, that people would be afraid if they saw her. But on this unforgettable night, Lilly is taken outside for the first time—and sold to the circus sideshow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMore than two decades later, nineteen-year-old Julia Blackwood inherits her parents’ estate. For Julia, home was an unhappy place full of rules and forbidden rooms. She hopes that returning might erase those painful memories. Instead, she becomes immersed in a mystery involving a hidden attic room and photos of circus scenes featuring a striking young girl.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt first, The Barlow Brothers’ Circus is just another prison for Lilly. But in this rag-tag, sometimes brutal world, Lilly discovers strength, friendship, and a rare affinity for animals. Thanks to elephants Pepper and JoJo, and their handler, Cole, Lilly is no longer a spectacle but the circus’s biggest attraction . . . until tragedy and cruelty collide. It will fall to Julia to uncover Lilly’s fate and her family’s shocking betrayal, and somehow make Blackwood Manor a place of healing at last.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving between Julia and Lilly’s stories, Ellen Marie Wiseman portrays two extraordinary, very different women in a novel that is tender, heart wrenching, and hopeful.","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57461849489790,"sku":"NW9781496749864","price":13.59,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781496749864.jpg?v=1779748953","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/life-she-was-given","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}