Patti Callahan Henry

I had no idea a true mystery inspired this novel! But wow, what a book, a gift! I read late into the night and more than I should have during the day. It’s that good, so beautiful! I liked the Secret Book of Flora Lea, but this one…this one is even better! I will provide a summary and then share some thoughts. In 1927, Clara was eight years old when her mother Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, the famous author, vanished without a trace. Bronwyn wrote a book when she was just twelve years old show more and the book became a bestseller. It included a magical made-up language of her own. Bronwyn did write a sequel but never published it. Clara’s loving and devoted father raised her but she lived with feelings of loss and abandonment.

By 1952, Clara was grown and raising her daughter Wynnie. She was an accomplished illustrator. She had been married and divorced and living at home again with her father in South Carolina. She receives a strange phone call from England from Charlie Jamison. Charlie is dealing with his father’s death and while going through his father’s belongings, he finds a journal enclosed within a leather satchel which contains a letter addressed to Clara. The letter and the journal are to be delivered to Clara in person. Clara is immediately suspicious. So many have claimed to know her mother’s whereabouts or the location of her mother’s secret dictionary of words, the key to translating her sequel. However, Clara decides to travel to London with her daughter. There they face the peril of the Great Smog of London, which almost kills Wynnie due to her asthma. Charlie helps them out of London to his mother Pippa’s cottage in the Lake District country. Clara finally begins to learn the truth about her mother and herself.

This book is such a treasure. I lived in it for two days and didn’t want to leave. I will recommend it to everyone I know. The storytelling is rich and layered and the characters have so much depth. The imagery is amazing. The detail of the landscape and the flowers, trees, etc. is breathtaking. The historical detail is on point. The relationship between mother and daughter, family, community, friends, found family - it’s all there. It’s everything I could want in a book! I want to obtain the hardcover to add to my library as soon as possible (hopefully signed)! Thank you to the Publisher Atria Books for providing this book for review consideration via Net Galley. All opinions are my own. show less

I don't even remember how I heard about this lovely book.... maybe in hunting around for (relatively) non-violent tales of Britain during the blitz, which somehow has become a topic of great interest to me.

In any case, it is wonderful. At first, probably because I seem to read SO many British authors, I couldn't help but notice tell-tale signs that the author is American. But the compelling stories, the shimmering-on-the-edges magic, the sadness that never got to be too much (but it surely show more could have), and the love that infuses each page were far more important.

For the past week or so I have neglected emails, house chores, and work tasks while obsessively reading this book night and day. And I wouldn't have it any other way. This is a treasure for anyone who loves the power of story and the beauty of words strung together with skill and care. show less

While I have never read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, this book left me enchanted and wanting to read that classic by C. S. Lewis. It was beautifully written, emotional, and filled with love. Every page was magical!
Young George Devonshire is dying and his sister, Megs, desperately wishes to help him. When George asks her to find C. S. Lewis at Oxford where she is a student and ask him where Narnia came from. What follows is a beautiful story of how Megs meets the Lewis brothers, and show more the stories she carries back to her brother, George. A fellow student, Padraig, helps Meg forget logic and accept love.
May we all discover the magic of a fairy tale and let our imaginations run wild and grow with love. show less

I loved The Secret Book of Flora Lee, and wanted to read this next book by this author. The book was enjoyable, especially after I had just finished two hard-hitting noir mysteries, but it fell short a bit. It started out positive with Clara finding out that her mother's papers had turned up in England. Clara lived in South Caroline, and her mother left her and her father when she was eight years old with no explanations and no further word. Clara struggles growing up and marries not so show more brilliantly, but she does have a daughter who is her guiding light as she makes her way through adulthood, divorce and efforts to get her life in order after her husband has burned his way through their savings because of a gambling addiction. Clara take her precocious eight-year-old daughter on a trip to England in an effort to retrieve her mother's long-lost papers. After all that the book seemed to lose some focus for me and turned into a schmaltzy tale of love lost and new love found. A lost family and a new family found. and through it all Clara seems stuck at age eight feeling abandoned by her mother. I kept thinking that Clara should grow up and move forcefully ahead with her own life. I enjoyed the book and the language was beautiful, but it left me with empty hands at the end. show less