Patti Callahan HenryRecensioni

To keep her children safe from the dangers of war in London, a mother makes the difficult choice to send them out of the city. Hazel, 14, and Flora, 5, are taken in by a kind mother, Bridie, and her son, Harry. To calm her sister, Hazel makes up a magical place called Whisperwood, a land they can escape to when reality becomes too much to bear. But a tragic occurrence separates the sisters, and the locals believe the younger girl has drowned in the river. Two decades have passed, and Hazel has never given up on the belief that her sister is alive somewhere. And then, a parcel arrives at the bookshop where she works. It’s a book about a magical place called Whisperwood. Hazel is now sure that somehow this book will lead her to her sister, because her sister was the only one who knew about Whisperwood. This lovely and delightful tale is a story of determination and perseverance. Hazel is a strong character, even as a child. Peggy, whom Hazel meets, shows growth as the novel develops. The story is well thought out and well written. It describes the problems faced by the women and children during the war years quite accurately. It’s a different look at worn-torn England, focusing on the home front and the children, a story that will surely appeal to a wide audience.

Surviving Savannah deeply touch my soul as no book has ever done before. I normally do not read this genre, but I just had know what to the survivors and what happened to Lily, her daughter, and her nurse maid slave. She was in an abusive relationship with her husband, and she hoped that
Adam was at the bottom of the sea. I felt that Everly was right to tried to seek out what happened
and who had survived when the steam boat blew up.

Megs Devonshire is not much of what you'd call a reader -- as a student at Oxford in physics and mathematics, she has little time for novels. But her little brother George, who has a heart condition, has just read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and he wants to know where Narnia comes from. Is it real? The answer that it comes from Mr. Lewis' imagination does not satisfy, so Megs, who would do anything for her little brother, goes on a quest to find the answer. Her path takes her to The Kilns, home of C.S. Lewis and his brother Warnie. When she asks Mr. Lewis her question, he does answer her -- but he does it with stories.

I found many parts of this book charming. Because the stories Lewis tells of his early life serve as a story within the story, Megs and George's actual story are slighter than you might expect, but there's still time for character development. George does fall into the trope of the angelic invalid child, too wise for his years, too good for this world, but without his illness, Megs wouldn't likely have the impetus to keep trying to ask Lewis her questions after her first attempt to catch him after a public lecture failed. The ending is drawn out, but it does answer every question the reader might have. Recommended for those interested in the life of C.S. Lewis, and for fans of historical fiction set in post-war Oxford.

A love story focusing on an Irish legend set in the SC. The mother dies young and the rest of the family struggles. There is an engagement, an old love who becomes a new love and a wonderful older lady.½

This is a story that echoes the enchantment of childhood and the magic of our most-loved myths. This is a story about the familiar and foreign places we’ve traveled to in memory and fantasy and nostalgia, those whimsical places that hold brave knights and outwitted witches and rightfully-restored kingdoms. This is a story about stories and the beginnings of stories—about how there is nothing new under the sun, about how all stories come from the same place “‘in the bright light…. The bright lamppost light where all stories begin and end’” (260). Stories, ancient as the dawn of time, are intertwined in our hearts and minds and souls, and these stories—whether real or imagined—have the power to change us and inspire us and lead us to truth. They give us hope, they fill us up, and then they send us back to the real world to deal with a broken world’s realities. In the end, that’s the real power of stories: they open us to the world and to ourselves through the good parts and the bad parts, the hopeful peaks and the scary valleys. Without even trying, stories reveal truths and embed hope and spark joy.

Once Upon a Wardrobe takes the truths of C.S. Lewis’s early life, magically weaving facts into an imagined narrative of Oxford-student Megs and her dying, 8-year-old brother George, in order to highlight a beautiful message of finding joy and hope and the importance of stories. Unknowingly, Megs is the reluctant hero sent on a quest by George to find answers about fantastical Narnia. With her logical, mathematical mind and the urgency of young George’s heart condition, Megs is as desperate to understand and find the answers as she is about curing George’s weak heart. While she wants answers, he just wants stories—and adventure. In the end, it’s the adventure that Megs is brave enough to take that teaches her the most important lesson and the one that helps her through the most unbearable loss.

This story about a girl who finds herself to be a serendipitous storyteller is told in beautiful prose with lovely, lilting language. I really loved the story within the story, the marriage of fact and imagination. It was easy to get as bewitched by Jack and Warnie as George and Megs do, but there were definitely some moments that felt a bit too didactic and thematically redundant. But overall, I was enchanted and moved by this narrative that felt familiar in more ways than one, definitely reminiscent of the film Finding Neverland.

Dnf @ 29%, just not in the mood now. I’ll try again later.

I knew some of the story behind this book, the marriage of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. I found the dialogue to be realistic, and I like how the author did so much research, especially by reading letters only recently uncovered. I always appreciate a book that inspires me to do my own research, and this one fit the bill.½

I definitely overlooked reading this book specifically because it centered around a war and I had tired of reading historical fiction for the reason there were so many books out there. I found it at the library and decided to give it a whirl and I'm glad I did. It was very well written and the plot kept things moving along. I really enjoyed the story.

Als Hazel en Flora Lea Linden in het begin van WOII door hun moeder op de trein worden gezet naar een veilige plek buiten Londen in de buurt van Oxford weten ze niet welk avontuur hen daar wacht. Ze worden opgenomen door Bridie Aberdeen en haar zoon Harry en voelen zich daar op hun gemak. Hazel is 10 jaar ouder dan Flora Lea en zorgt goed voor haar zusje. Ze verzint een verhaal om Flora af te leiden en de zusjes vermaken zich prima met steeds nieuwe variaties van het verhaal van Whisperwood. Dan, op een moment van onoplettendheid, verdwijnt Flora om nooit meer te worden gevonden.
20 jaar later werkt Hazel in een boekhandel die gespecialiseerd is in oude manuscripten en illustraties en bij het uitpakken van de nieuwe aanwinsten vindt ze een verhaal van een Amerikaanse schrijfsters, dat verbazingwekkend veel op haar verhaal over Whisperwood lijkt. Hazel gaat op onderzoek uit om uit te vinden hoe het verhaal in Amerika terecht is gekomen en of er een link is met haar verdewenen zus. Mooi geschreven, met soms iets te veel herhalingen in de tekst.½

A summer place where 2 young girls became forever friends and summer sisters. Now, in their 50s, their lives have taken different paths.
Bonny is a doctor, but after her childhood love, Owen, comes into the ER injured, she is distracted and gives a lethal dose of a drug to a patient who dies. She is now on leave, and returns to the summer house in Watersend, along with her teen daughter, Piper.
Lainey, Owen's younger sister, comes with her 2 young children. She is still searching for her mother that left them during one summer long ago. She has never gotten over the loss.
An emotional story of finding oneself, searching for your true self, and that one thing you need to do.

The story of two sisters, 14 yr. old Hazel and 5 yr. old Flora, evacuated from London during WWII to the safety of a village in Oxfordshire. Hazel makes up a fairy tale place to comfort her little sister. During their stay, Flora disappears when Hazel leaves her alone for a few minutes. The family never finds Flora, suspecting that she has fallen into the Thames and drowned. Twenty years later, Hazel finds a book about the exact fairy tale place she created for Flora, and the story takes flight.

The story is told in two timelines, one in 1940 in the days leading up to Flora's disappearance, and the other in 1960, where Hazel, in her mid-30s, is working in a rare bookstore. The chapters are short, and sometimes I felt like I had whiplash, going back and forth every few pages. It was, however, an effective way to tell the story. My only complaint was that the writing seemed a little amateur--way too many adjectives used to describe every little thing, no matter how unimportant the detail was to the story. I've often found the level of literary skill in historical fiction to be less than contemporary fiction. Not sure why that is so, but the story itself was worthwhile.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the actor Cynthia Erivo -- I really enjoyed her narration.

The story is told in two timelines: 1939 and then 20 years later and revolves around the children evacuated from London during WWII and a 20 year mystery about what happens to one of them.

The novel to me read like a fairytale and has many bookish references and parallels.

I guessed a part of the mystery's resolution early on, but the twist at the end was unexpected as the red herrings were well placed. All in all, I think it was a historical fiction mystery which I would recommend.

WOW.

Dear my friends who like to read a book and if you the huge of Narnia fans too, this is a perfect book for you to read.

Let me tell you, I found this book by accident and when I read the summary, I was immediately attracted to want to read because Narnia, which became the most dominant attraction for me.
And once I started reading page after page, I fell in love with the narrative, with the characters in it. I fell in love with the siblings relationship between Megs and George. Megs is the best sister I've ever read. She loved George so much that she did her best to find the answer to the question George had always wanted to know from Mr. Lewis:

"Where did Narnia come from?"

because Megs is a student majoring in Mathematics and happens to be Mr. Lewis teaches at Magdalen, therefore George asked Megs to ask that question because he was very curious and really liked Narnia.

Journey of finding answers provides a new perspective for Megs and her world that was initially filled with uncertain calculations. In fact, exactness and imagination can coexist in harmony.

Mr. Lewis gave Megs his story bit by bit to share with George who was looking for the answer, and George was a smart kid with an extraordinary imagination and a great talent for drawing.

This book gives a very warm feeling as well as a nostalgic feeling when you first read the book. The feeling of finding pure happiness that is forgotten as time goes by.

With a narrative that is easy to understand and digest, this book provides a glimpse into the incredible love the Devonshire siblings had and how each story retold brings new perspectives and new happiness to both.

There are also times when Megs feels confused because of the intersection between rationality and imagination and myth. How she tries to make it orderly and rational but in the end she gets past that and tries to make peace.

"... These last few days I've been questioning the fundamental value of only logic. Of logic's ability to withstand what lies ahead in my life, in all our lives."

There are many valuable quotes in this book, one of which I like the most is:

"... Maybe we are each and every one of us born with our own stories, and we must decide how to tell those stories with our own life, or in a book. Or ... could it be that all our stories come from one larger story?"

Everyone has their own story and how everyone has their own way of telling their life.

Lastly, I. REALLY. LOVE. THIS. BOOK.

Yet another beautiful read about children during the London Blitz. This author adds fairy tales and magical lands because that is the route 14 yr old Hazel creates to help her 5 yr old sister, Flora. A lovely read.½

Alternating between 1939 and 1960, mainly in England. Hazel's baby sister was missing during WWII, never found, presumed drowned. The stories Hazel would make up and tell her for them to escape their lonliness appeared in a book for publication. How did that happen? Who submitted them. An interesting story of the time.½

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 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.

This novel takes us down the path of ‘finding meaning’…in a variety of ways! It has a nostalgic holiday feel that made it a cozy winter read.

One of the main reasons why it is not 5 stars is it took me a long time to get through the first half. It activated the ‘please, just one more chapter’ mode only during the second half of the book.

If you are a fan of the Narnia books, and/or enjoy historical-biographical type fiction, definitely add this to your TBR.

Desperately trying to catch up on books I've read in 2023, before it turns 2024. Don't think I'll make it. Review (hopefully) to come later.

There's something so enchanting about imagined worlds inhabited in childhood. The Hundred Acre Wood. Calvin and Hobbes. Narnia. Anne Shirley's fanciful stories about the landscape around her. These invented places are a comforting and happy place to be and a safe refuge when the world is too much. Patti Callahan Henry obviously understands the importance and charm of these worlds in her latest novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea.

1939. Operation Pied Piper. Hazel is 14 and her little sister Flora is 5. Their father has been killed in the war so despite their grieving mother's despair at letting her children leave, she sends them away from London, away from the bombs, to rural England. Hazel and Flora end up being taken in by Bridie Aberdeen, a warm and loving woman who has a son Harry, who is the same age as Hazel. Much of their time in the countryside is idyllic aside from the backdrop of war and missing their mother. When the sisters need to escape even this cozy life with the Aberdeens, Hazel tells Flora their own special, made-up, private fairy tale set in the magical land of Whisperwood to help them cope with the uncertainty in their world.

1960. Years after the war, Hazel is working for Hogan's Rare Book Shoppe in Bloomsbury. It's her last day on the job before moving over to Sotheby's when she finds a manuscript written by American author Peggy Andrews titled Whisperwood and the River of Stars. It is the story she always told little Flora, who went missing, presumed drowned, while they were billeted in the country. But neither she nor Flora ever told anyone else the story so she can't understand how this American author could possibly know it. Impulsively Hazel takes the valuable manuscript when she leaves Hogan's, and sets out on a quest to finally answer what happened to her little sister.

This story is an delightful look at imagination and the power of stories through the lens of the very real Operation Pied Piper and the specter of the "lost children" (those who were evacuated but never returned home) from that time. Hazel is a sympathetic character, trying to live her life but really still stuck back in 1939, feeling guilt and grief over Flora's disappearance. The manuscript is so similar to the story she used to tell her sister that it makes hope bloom in her, pushing her to uncover what happened back then. The book spills over with the enchantment of stories and shines with enduring love for family. Readers will themselves want to be invited into Bridie's welcoming country home and work in the back room of the rare book shop. Hazel seems to be a sweet, intelligent, fairly modern young woman and the reader winces when people around her encourage her to let go of her quest, cheering her at every turn as she continues on regardless. The end was the weakest part of the story as it was telegraphed with flares and predictable, but there were a few welcome twists and turns to get there, which helped make it less frustrating in the end. Obviously this is a WWII book but it's really more about the homefront than it is about the war. The mystery pacing starts off slowly and picks up speed as things start to come together for Hazel and the alternating time line helps to build anticipation. This is a endearing read, especially for those who spent a lot of time in books or other imagined worlds when they were young.

This book is one of the 2023 Women's National Book Association's Great Group Reads.½

A historical mystery that will remind you of childhood fantasy novels while explaining the reason a specific trope of them exists.

This book is beautifully written and crafted. The language, the characters and the various settings of the book just pop out. as you read Patti Callahan is a skilled craftsman. Unfortunately, the plot of the book fell down a bit for me. I found it disjointed as it slipped back and forth out of 4 or 5 time zones. I also found the end rather rushed, and a few more coincidences than I wanted to accept. The story begins from a little-known era of WWII in England. In 1939, and during The Blitz, many children were sent out of London to the county in order to get them safely out of harm's way. Unfortunately not much research or time was taken with the placements for these displaced children. Some lucked out and lived in loving and caring homes, others were placed with less than acceptable people who used them as unpaid labour. Others were lost either through carelessness or neglect, or from wandering away, or some even at the bottom of the ocean when they were sent to America. Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora were lucky because they were placed in a loving home with a caring mother and her son. Then tragedy strikes and Flora goes missing in the fall of 1940. Hazel and her mother spend years and years trying to find out what happened to Flora. Hazel appears to get some help in her search from a book, written about an imaginary world that she created and that no one but her and her sister knew about. This book sets in motion a search to find Flora twenty years after her disappearance. Hazel has to face some truths and residual guilt from what she thinks was her fault. This book will be enjoyed by those who love fairy tales and quiet, reflective stories. I did enjoy the book because of the beautiful language, but I felt it fell short in the plot and in the completion of the story..

I really wanted to like this book. Interesting topic, interesting people, etc- but I had to put it down in the end because it was badly written. Confusing location changes, inappropriate references (like a “queen-size bed”), etc that made me doubt the truth of anything that was written.
Actually came here researching the author because I was finding it so troubling.
Needs editing, needs fact-checking, and despite my interest in the subject, I just can’t continue.

Once Upon a Wardrobe was just exquisite and so very heartwarming.
Five BIG stars! This is my second Patti Callahan book, and it definitely won't be my last.

After reading Becoming Mrs. Lewis and listening to the Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis podcast, this book feels like a glorious extension. I am captivated by Joy Davidman and her love story with C.S. Lewis and was happy to be emersed in their world again.

This beautiful story takes us to Worcester, England, where 8-year-old George is basically bedridden due to a heart disorder from birth. George spends his days reading and getting lost in his extraordinary imagination. Most recently, he has been captivated by the brand-new book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and he has persuaded his big sister, Megs, to find out where Narnia came from. Megs attends Oxford, where the author of this book, C.S. Lewis, teaches. Megs is all numbers and equations and not the bookish type, but for her beloved brother, that is not expected to see his ninth birthday, she is willing to get the answer.

Megs's journey is extremely touching, and she gets much more than she could have ever expected. I loved the way Callahan weaves subtle ties between the characters and the real C.S. Lewis's life and other important people in his life, like his mom and Joy. I was a mess of tears at the end of this book. The ending was lovely, heartwrenching, hopeful, and a beautiful reminder of the importance of stories. One of my favorite reads of 2022!!!!

"Reason is how we get to the truth, but imagination is how we find meaning."

"I'd believed— fool that I was— that because I knew this end was coming, I was prepared, that I would not grieve as I had. As if one can pre-grieve and get it out of the way. It's not true. Grief is the price I paid for loving fiercely, and that was okay, because there was no other choice but to love fiercely and fully."

"For a breath or two, I wonder about this magical world we live in. It's a mystery we can never understand. For a moment, a small and breath-holding moment, I know it to be true: there is more, something more I can't see, a vivid truth that can't be described by logic or words alone, a truth that delights the heart."

"Maybe we are each and every one of us born with our own stories, and we must decide how to tell those stories with our own life, or in a book . . . Or could it be that all our stories come from one larger story?"

― Patti Callahan, Once Upon a Wardrobe

"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, 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 start of The Secret Book of Flora Lea, a reminder that we are a myth-making people; it is how we make meaning of the meaningless and sense of senseless. It is why we tell stories.

- Author's Note, by Patti Callahan Henry

In The Secret Book of Flora Lea, Patti Callahan Henry skillfully weaves a moving and magical story. I really enjoy reading Callahan's books as she always has the perfect blend of historical accounts and a magical fairytale-like atmosphere which surely comes from her love of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Set in 1939 in England, war has been declared, and Hazel (14 yrs. old) and Flora (just 5 yrs. old) are whisked away with over three hundred other children in London, in the British dubbed Operation Pied Piper.

Operation Pied Piper was enacted to safeguard the city's children from looming bomb threats. Hazel shares stories from her made-up world, Whisperwood and the River of Stars, to help little Flora cope with being far away from home. While the girls are forced to live with strangers in the country to stay safe from war, the unthinkable happens, Flora vanishes. Hazel's world is turned upside down.

Flora’s disappearance shapes and haunts Hazel’s adult life.
Hazel never gives up hope that one day she will find her sister, and when a book with a very familiar title comes across her desk at work, she is reignited by that objective alone. She must find out what happened to her sister, even if it means risking the life and love she has pieced together in the wake of her sister's disappearance.

This is one of the best books I've read in a long while. The Secret Book of Flora Lea has captured my heart ❤️, filled with profound joy, deep sadness, and everything in between.

Five stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for an extraordinary story that beautifully combines reality, fantasy, love, and hope.

Here are some more of my favorite quotes;

"Telling stories is one of the greatest powers that we possess. It's like a dream you can fill with what you want. And the knight doesn't always have to save the princess; sometimes she saves herself."

"Of course the story could never be exact; no story ever retold was perfectly told. But it would be true.
Her pen moved across the paper, her heart opened, her breath evened out, and she returned to her first love, the love she'd once left in fear and guilt: story."

"A choice to make? Therein was freedom, she thought, the ability to make a choice she never thought she'd have the opportunity to make. But she had to be careful. Freedom, for all its claims of wonder, also had its price."