1930’s: Nancy Mitford was a socialite, author, and one of the six Mitford sisters. Present Day: Lucy St. Clair is a book curator sent to London to work at Heyward Hill on a special project. This London bookshop will provide a connection for these two women.

Nancy lives a life that looks grand in the outside but reality was quite different. Her husband is always broke, doesn’t like to keep a job and is continually unfaithful and not good at hiding it. One of her sisters is involved with Hitler while another is married to a Nazi officer. Nancy finds a job at Heyward Hill to help make ends meet and finds herself in the process.

Lucy is still healing from her mothers death so the project in London is a welcomed distraction from her life. While I’m London she finds interesting books for her project and was able to learn about Nancy and solve a mystery about an inscription in one of her books.

I thought it was very interesting that we get a look at the goings on during WWII but from the perspective of a civilian. How Nancy dealt with love and loss during this period. The scandal of having sisters who were Nazi sympathizers. Nancy helped with the war effort but her life went on outside of war.

Lucy is at a place in her life where she’s happy where she’s at but the thought of new adventure is just too appealing. We see how Nancy and the letters she’s left behind touched Lucy and lead her to a life that she wasn’t necessarily looking for or expecting.

I loved the characters, the dual timelines and dual perspectives…just a great read.

I received this book in exchange for honest opinion.

I was initially was interested in the book because of the dual timeline and the main character is a book curator! Sign me up! My dream has always been to work in a bookstore. This book didn't disappoint. Also, I didn't even know Nancy Mitford was a real person until picking up this book! Now I want to read more by her.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this free eArc in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was beautifully written! The two timelines flowed so well together and created more depth to the story.

I did not know much about the Mitford family prior to reading and this book piqued my interest to do some of my own reading to learn more!

This is a wonderful gem. A dual-timeline with two women whose lives intersect fifty-years apart in a London bookstore. It was a good read.

Well researched and carefully crafted novel that would appeal to all book lovers. This is a novel that would be especially appealing to fans of Nancy Mitford and her work. Eliza Knight brings Mitford to life and her dual narrative and timeline structure work well to tell this story.
I really enjoyed this!

I absolutely loved this book. It was so well written and kept me intrigued even after I had finished the book. I had never read anything about the Mitford sisters before and this book left me wanting to read more.

THis story brings the stories of two women together. Nancy Mitford from the 1930's and Lucy St. Clair from the present time. It is a story that shows no matter what era you are in, the past is always there and can be related in the future. It is weaved perfectly, and gave me all the feels.

** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**

Excellent research went into this book, I knew nothing about Nancy Mitford and now want to read all the books she’s written, she had an extraordinary life and family. The dual timeline was interesting as the mystery of Iris was solved.

I love books about books. This was a very interesting novel and I really enjoyed reading it,

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

A brilliantly researched look at a slice of a woman's life too often overlooked given the numerous scandals and fables surrounding her family. Knight's clear passion for the Mitford family dynamics is welcomely weaved into an ode to the power of books and words to forge community. There are few authors who are as prolific as Knight.

I had the privilege of interviewing Eliza on my fb page here: https://www.facebook.com/rachkmc1/videos/1176889459808527

I enjoyed this dual timeline historical fiction novel about the Mitford sisters - it had me googling so many things to see what was true, proven history and what was just rumor. I was also motivated to watch all the documentaries I could find on the Mitfords, so my interest in the topic was definitely piqued. I found myself somewhat less interested in the contemporary story line that takes place in the book and rushing through those chapters to get to the past story about the Mitfords. I'm not sure the book would have worked as well without the contemporary side, but to me it felt a little like "filler". However, the writer is talented and there was great character development throughout. I'll be looking out for more books by Eliza Knight for sure! Highly recommend for fans of Historical Fiction and specifically fans of WWII timelines.

Books about books and bookshops? yes please!! This was a wonderful historical fiction with a duel timeline. It tells the story of how Nancy Milford came to be at the Heywood Hill Bookshop despite all the obstacles both in the world and her own life that she had to face. This was a beautifully told, rich and engaging story of a woman who did not perish in the face of adversity. Rather she made her own way, with her own rules and I simply loved it.

I really wanted to enjoy this story because it was about Nancy Mitford. However, there is very little focus about her owning a bookshop until the end. The modern storyline was unnecessary and did nothing to enhance the plot. Thus, I would have enjoyed it had it been focused solely on Nancy. Still, I recommend this for fans of The Bookseller’s Secret!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Love the era and set around a bookstore, what could be better!
Wonderful tale of Nancy Mitford with a dual timeline. Pacing was a bit weird but still I enjoyed every minute.

This one started off slow but as the war picks up, so does this book. I really loved Nancy's point of view-although it was hard to understand where she was coming from at some times. Lucy's point of view bored me a tad, but it was mostly because there was SO much action in the flashbacks and little happening on the present day side of things. Overall, a good book especially if you are interested in the Mitford sisters.

Thank you to William Morrow, Book Club Girls and NetGalley for this ARC.

I wanted to like this book a lot, but it had such pacing problems that I never quite got into it. This book purports to be a dual timeline novel, yet Lucy's modern day storyline is so flat and only exists to serve the historical timeline. After reading all 400+ pages, I still don't understand why Lucy cared so much about this supposed secret.

Meanwhile, Nancy's storyline was much more interesting and engaging, but it too suffered from pacing problems. I was never sure of what her arc was supposed to be and felt myself get to the end and just threw my hands up and said "and?"

I am interested to learn more about Nancy Mitford, but I was disappointed by this attempted novelization of her life.

Thanks to the Book Club Girl Early Read program & NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I am rating this novel at 3.5 stars as it promised more than it delivered, yet it checked my boxes for a good read: historical fiction about a London bookstore and a writer, with a present day mystery. Author Eliza Knight incorporated the real life bookstore, Heywood Hill Ltd, and acclaimed writer Nancy Mitford – one of 1930s London’s hottest socialites, authors, and a member of the scandalous Mitford sisters – in a dual-narrative story also featuring Lucy St. Clair, a fictional modern day American book curator looking for change in her life.

The oldest of six children of the notorious Mitford family (think Kardashians of the 1930s), Nancy is one of the 1920s’ Bright Young Things, who after 10 years of partying is now ready to marry and settle down. Current day Lucy is in London for two weeks, curating books for her American employer. The connection between the two women is the Heywood Hill bookshop in the heart of Mayfair, London, and a book Lucy owns, written by Nancy and inscribed to “Iris.”

Lucy also has a collection of letters written by Nancy, which she hopes will reveal who Iris is, as Nancy left the book in the bookshop for Iris, who never picked it up. Lucy’s recently deceased mother (and also a Nancy Mitford fan) purchased it years ago, along with the letters. The novel alternates between the two women and their time periods, with the majority of pages focusing on Nancy during the London war years. And I thought Nancy’s was the better story.

The Nancy chapters often begin with an excerpt from the real-life Nancy’s letters to friends like author Evelyn Waugh. What I found confusing is frequently the chapter began with a letter to someone, such as one of her sisters, but was crossed out and the rest of the chapter was her thoughts. Or the letter suddenly ended without conclusion as the rest of the chapter continued with Nancy’s first person narration. I would have liked an explanation from the author after the novel’s conclusion that explained why she chose to write the novel incorporating the letter format when the letters were very brief and Knight soon changed point of view from letter to interior monologue. On a positive note, I appreciated that while Nancy’s chapters were told in the first person, Lucy’s were in third person. Made it much easier to remember who the story was focusing on.

Nancy’s life is sad, as she is unhappily married to Peter Rodd. They are unable to have a child, and Peter is repeatedly unfaithful. On top of this, they are always in debt due to his overspending and under-employment. In addition to her heartache with Peter (who she nicknamed “Prod”) she feels responsible for two of her sisters’ misguided infatuations with Hitler and their support of the fascism that will soon lead to World War II.

One of the highlights of the book, and of Nancy’s life during this time, is her friendship with Sophie, a woman she meets while volunteering during the war. “Ours was a friendship born on the brink of war, and fed by comradery when our country was at its worst….Time again and again, friends have been my saving grace, the people who raise me up and motivate me to go on.”

In addition to the theme of friendship, the novel concludes with both Nancy and Lucy finding personal courage to pursue their own happiness. Lucy considers her efforts to locate the mysterious Iris. “Maybe it was meant to be my quest because I needed it. Without the search for Iris, and all the places it took me, I might never have discovered the things about myself I needed to learn to take my dreams into my own hands.” When the time came, Lucy had been the one to find the courage to pursue her own happiness – her own future – much like Nancy Mitford herself.

Enjoyable dual timeline historical fiction focused on author/socialite Nancy Mitford and her family, along with the Mayfair Bookshop where she worked for a time during World War II. I particularly liked Lucy's present-day story.

You don’t have to be well-versed in the goings on of The Mitford Sisters to be swept away by this particular novel. It is told in dual timelines; one in the late 1930’s featuring Nancy Mitford, a famous author of the time, and another in present day in England with Lucy, a book curator who is a fan of Nancy’s work. I love a good biographical fiction where I can immerse myself into a life and time I was unaware of. This story immediately drew me in and I could hardly put it down. Nancy was from a privileged family full of strong, independent women. Though she was flawed, her determination to find happiness despite all of the hardships she faced was admirable. I thought the use of the Bookshop to tie the two timelines together was brilliant. Lucy uses her time at the Bookshop to trace a name inscribed in a copy of an original Nancy Mitford book she was gifted. The search for the mysterious “Iris” kept me turning pages as I followed her trail of clues through both timelines. This is my favorite type of escapist read! Highly recommend for lovers of historical fiction and stories of fascinating women.

I enjoyed this dual-narrative historical fiction read. Both main characters, Nancy and Lucy, were intriguing. Nancy's life became incredibly fascinating - I found myself reading through the second half of the book, much faster than the first, as her story became increasingly unpredictable. The story of Lucy and her adventure in London, digging deeper into the history of Nancy, was a sweet addition to this story.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.