The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Here’s a little secret: I’ve known Patti for my entire writing career. We first met at a raucous book club weekend in East Texas (that’s a story all by itself). We’ve been friends ever since and I’ve been a fan, a cheerleader, and an admirer of her prodigious talents.

That said, Patti has outdone herself with this novel.

Seriously.

Picture yourself fleeing war-torn London, circa 1939. You’re in your teens, trying to protect your five-year-old sister, so you create a sanctuary of story. A magical place called Whisperwood, where the horrors of war are kept at bay by the power of your imaginations. But when tragedy befalls your dear sister, you blame yourself and carry that agonizing loss and secret guilt with you for the rest of your life.

Until decades later, when a book arrives at your door entitled Whisperwood and the River of Stars. The only other person who knew about this secret place was your long-lost sibling. Is she still alive? Has someone else stumbled upon your shared story? Or is this merely a breathtaking coincidence?

I’m dying to tell you. But I won’t. Because like that book arriving in the mail, I have a feeling The Secret Book of Flora Lea will soon be arriving on your doorstep ready to touch your heart.

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.