The Secret Book of Flora Lea

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Publication date: May 2, 2023 by Atria Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 🍷🍷🍷🍷

Summary: When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.

In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars . Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.

My Thoughts: Patti Callahan Henry writes magic without a hint of science fiction. This book provides wonder and whimsy as a means of escape for both its characters and its readers. The characters show the depth of love and the depth of despair. In a subtle nod to Narnia, Henry takes readers back to the countryside of WWII England where children were evacuated to to escape the bombing in the cities. In the country without their mother, elder sister Hazel helps her younger sister Flora cope by creating a world they can escape to through their stories. 

When that magical world invades her present twenty years later readers see a different side to Hazel. This Hazel has a hole in her heart. Desperation turns her life upside down as Hazel makes sacrifices to uncover the truth of her past. While the story unfolds slowly in the beginning, Henry once again prevails as a writer on top of her game. 

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.