Robin’s Rave Reviews 2023
You may have seen my excitement opening my book mail when The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry arrived. If you missed it, here it is on Facebook and Instagram. Now let me tell you how good this book is! The further I got into the book, the faster the pages flew by, and I was hooked. When I finished, I looked around and realized I’d left my world behind for a time. This book has already been on the NY Times Best Sellers List for two weeks since it came out in early May.
SummaryDuring WWII, Operation Pied Piper sent English children out of the cities to the countryside to protect them from falling bombs. The novel revolves around sisters (fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora Lea) who are sent to a small village outside Oxford. Luckier than some, they are billeted by a kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in an enchanting stone cottage along the River Thames. Hazel creates a fairytale about Whisperwood, an enchanted forest, as a comfort mechanism for her sister. When Flora mysteriously vanishes, Hazel blames herself. Twenty years later, Hazel comes across a fairytale book from America called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Could the sister who disappeared so many years ago be alive? Could Flora be the author?
The Secret Book of Flora Lea examines the bond of sisters, the conflict of loving two men at once, the scars of guilt and grief, and a young woman who never gives up hope. And to keep you guessing, Patti adds surprising twists to the 20-year-old mystery. So good!
Check out my other reviews of Patti Callahan Henry’s work: Once Upon a Wardrobe, Surviving Savannah, and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
