Thanks so much to Atria Books for the copy of this book!

Hazel and Flora Lea are evacuated from London into the English countryside during WWII. Hazel begins telling her younger sister fairy tales about a magical place called Whisperwood to distract and comfort her from the hardship of the War. One day as they’re picnicking by the River Thames, Flora Lea goes missing and is still lost 20 years later when Hazel comes across a book about Whisperwood in a rare book shop. Can it mean that Flora Lea is still alive…?

I really enjoyed this story. While it dealt with WWII, it wasn’t super heavy on historical information and could make a great read even for someone who loves mystery but not typically historical fiction. I really love how Patti played off of the story of the pied piper in Flora’s disappearance, since the Operation to evacuate people out of urban areas was called Operation Pied Piper. I loved the sister story in this book, the way their mother and the woman who took care of them during the War acted in support of each other, the perseverance, and the backseat love story. This is a great read for book lovers, since it’s a book about books and includes a rare bookshop. It’s also such a wonderful picture of the power of storytelling and magical lands and how we can create these and how they can shape us.

Read if you:
- love the magic of storytelling
- enjoy stories about sisters
- are a fan of books about books
- like historical mysteries