THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA

Narrator Cynthia Erivo's quiet assurance permeates this dual-timeline audio about the powerful alchemy of storytelling. In 1939, two girls, Hazel and Flora Lea, are evacuated from London to escape imminent war. Flora Lea mysteriously disappears. In 1960, Hazel, now a rare book shop clerk, opens a package and discovers a book of the same stories she once made up to calm Flora Lea. Erivo rarely raises her voice, yet through desperate tones she expertly conveys Hazel's search for answers to the mysteries of her missing sister and the appearance of the stories from long ago. Erivo seamlessly adopts the charming lilt of young Flora and the American accent of the woman who has unwittingly written the fanciful stories that connect Hazel's past with her present. N.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2023]