Every once in a while a book on my “to read” list will sit on there a bit. Usually this is because I’ve read a negative review on Goodreads or maybe someone on one of the book related Facebook groups I belong to said they couldn’t finish it. I need to keep in mind that all book reviews (like music and humor) are subjective and that what I like, others may not and vice versa. That being said, I finally sat with The Secret Book of Flora Lea.

The thing that kept bringing me back to wanting to read it was the description listed on Goodreads and Amazon. There was something about the premise, the questions surrounding the mystery involved, and my curiosity about how it would end that kept peaking my interest.

Here is that Goodreads synopsis:

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.

A tagline for the book reads, “A world war and a fairy tail collide…” and in a way, they do. However, the war is merely the setting and the catalyst that sets the story in motion.

I found that I enjoyed this book more than I anticipated I would. I really connected with the characters and found myself feeling for them. Without giving you spoilers, let me give an example. I could not imagine living in a place that was being threatened by enemy attack and having the government telling me that I needed to send my children away to stay with some other family until it was safe. That tore me up!

As the story progresses you pick up pieces along the way from the past and present to help solve the mystery. The make believe land of Whisperwood was a story that was only shared between the two sisters, so you cannot help but wonder how another author wrote about it in great detail. You wonder if the author is really the sister. You wonder if the sister told the author the story. Maybe the sister told somebody who told somebody else, etc… I wanted to know!

Not so much a spoiler here, but I will tell you that one of the things I loved about this book was that shortly before the book is over, the mystery is solved only to bring about a second mystery which brings you to the conclusion of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I went back and read some of the negative reviews again and I laughed. I had finished the book and these reviews were saying what they didn’t like about the book and I thought, “that couldn’t be farther from the truth” and “that’s being so nitpicky.” Lesson learned – let others opinions stand alone and don’t let them influence you.

Am I saying that you will love the book? I don’t know. All I can tell you is that I liked it and I feel that others, including you, might like it as well.