The Secret Book of Flora Lea: A Novel

In 1939 London, sisters Hazel (14) and Flora (5) are evacuated to the English countryside to escape the war. Living with the warmhearted Bridie Aberdeen and her son Harry, Hazel creates a secret fairy-tale world called Whisperwood to comfort Flora. But tragedy strikes when Flora mysteriously disappears by the river, leaving Hazel burdened with guilt for decades.

Twenty years later, Hazel—now working in a London rare bookstore and preparing to join Sotheby’s—receives a package containing an illustrated book titled Whisperwood and the River of Stars, the very story she once invented for Flora. Shocked, Hazel begins a desperate search for the truth, uncovering long-hidden secrets about her past and her sister’s fate.

Set against the backdrop of wartime England and postwar London, this moving and atmospheric novel explores loss, love, and the unbreakable bond between sisters.