Book Review: The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

 The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry - 4 Stars 

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. 

We are in 1939 and 1960 for this story where we follow Hazel as a young girl and grown woman. Her sister Flora disappeared when she was young and no one was able to find her. Cut to 20 years later when Hazel is working in the bookstore and receives a package that has illustrated books representing the made up world "Whisperwood" that she and her sister created when they were young. Only Hazel and Flora should know of Whisperwood so what does this mean? Is Flora still alive out there somewhere? Did someone else know of their made up world and create the story themselves? Why did she receive this package? The plot thickens as we follow this journey to see what really happened so long ago....

I really enjoyed this story of these two sisters. The dual timeline gives us so much backstory in what happened but also while keeping the reader engaged to try and figure it out along the way. Patti really has such a great writing style that makes you think and feel like you are right there in the moment. This book really takes a look at what it was like during the war time when many parents sent their child or children off for safety purposes. We see what this family endured together during this time and how their lives were changed, but also we see the hope that remains even 20 years later.

I love how Whisperwood was almost like a Narnia type of world and how it was almost like its own character in the story and how it was the key to the mystery of Flora missing.

Did I see the plot twists!? Absolutely not! Very well done!

My only criticism is I wasn't crazy about the romance stuff going on with Hazel and there were times I thought maybe we should have more of the current 1960 timeline vs the previous but I understand why we had so much back and forth. I just got confused sometimes of where I was at since I was listening to the audiobook and had to make sure I paid very close attention to what was going on. 

Overall, recommend to anyone who loves a good historical fiction story about family, specifically sisters.

Content: missing child, some war details, a few curse words, small bedroom scene but nothing crazy or explicit in my opinion.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5911497669
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3WVgIUZ

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