My thoughts
Patti Callahan Henry is a wonderful author and this is her best book yet. Her latest release and it's pure magic. Historical, magical, enchanting, filled with so many emotions.
"Not very long ago and not very far away, there once was and still is an invisible place right here with us. And if you are born knowing, and to be honest we all are, you will find your way through the woodlands to the shimmering doors that lead to the land made just and exactly for you."
This is the opening of this story. A story of a lost little girl. A lost family.
Hazel and Flora Lea are sent to safety during the war in operation Pied Piper. Much to their mother's sadness they are sent to stay with strangers. They are a couple of the lucky ones it seems as they get taken in by a wonderful woman and her son. From there their lives will never be the same. None of them. Both families are quite taken with each other and well loved by each other. Dot and her son Henry love having the girls with them but the circumstances are sad. They grow to love living with such wonderful people and have a great life. Until everything changes. Everything breaks. Flora Lea goes missing and Hazel blames herself. Henry blames himself and even Dot feels the guilt. Hazel can't seem to get over the loss of her little sister.
Hazel had always told Flora stories of a very magical and enchanting place called Whisperwood. It was their secret place where anything can happen. Where all the beautiful magic happens and they can be anything they want. They don't share this with anyone. It's their own special secret. Hazel always told Flora that if she told she would not be able to come back to her. Tragically Flora Lea goes missing and is presumed drowned. Hazel blames herself and turns her back on Henry and his mother. She has to blame someone and since it's Henry she loves she blames that love.
Twenty years later while working in a bookstore Hazel comes in contact with a book. A book with a very familiar title. Whisperwood and the River of Stars. How can this be? That is her story told to Flora Lea all those years ago. But this is written by an American author. Now Hazel is on a quest to find out how this author knows about this story. About the magic that was only meant for her and Flora. What she finds is a lot of truths. Truths about herself and the ones she loves. The ones she's lost also. Will her life ever be the same again and if things are as she suspects will she finally be able to let go and accept true love?
This book will take you on the trip of a lifetime. You'll get to know the most wonderful characters. The most awesome places. The beauty of landscape and the beauty of true love. The sadness of lost love and of a loss so deep things may never be right again. From one country to another then back again you will experience a journey that makes you weep and laugh. Lights up your heart and breaks it in one paragraph. It's just a beautiful story told as only an experienced author can tell.
Thank you #NetGalley, #PattiCallahanHenry, #Atria for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.
Five hugs stars and it would be many more if possible. I highly recommend this book and have lots of tissues as you will need them. Even the happy make you cry.
Synopsis
When a woman stumbles across a mysterious children’s book, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed in this “transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric” (Christina Baker Klein, #1 New York Times bestselling author) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood.
But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood.
Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook 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? Or is something sinister at play?
For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).
1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood.
But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood.
Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook 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? Or is something sinister at play?
For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).
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