Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
Patti Callahan Henry is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of several novels, including Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the recipient of the Christy Award, the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year Award, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year. She is the cohost and cocreator of the popular weekly online live web show and podcast Friends and Fiction. A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.
Patti Callahan Henry's website
This bio was last updated on 06/06/2023. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.
You speak in the author's note about your discovery of Operation Pied Piper—a piece of history lost to time for many people. Were there other bits of history you discovered in your research for this novel?
Before I started writing this novel, I knew that British children had been sent to the country during World War II for their safety, but I'd been unaware of its operational name. As I dug a little deeper, curious about the impact of exile on the children of war, I discovered that this scheme had been given the title of a German legend about a piper who lures children away from their homes and town. Those children were never seen again. As I read and conducted my research, I wondered this: Why would the British government name a scheme to keep children safe after a legend of lost children? Curiosity often leads me to story, and this time was no different. Children weren't just sent to the country—they were also sent to America, Australia, and Canada by ship (sometimes with fatal results). WWII is full of untold stories, and in The Secret Book of Flora Lea I try to bring some of the Operation Pied Piper tales to light—from the small facts about how children sat in town halls while hearing the ringing voices of "...
Lucy Ashe is an English teacher at a school in London. After training at the Royal Ballet School, she decided to change career plans and go to university. She studied English literature at St. Hugh's College, Oxford, before ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Try:
The Dance of the Dolls
by Lucy Ashe
Lissa Evans grew up in England, in the West Midlands. After studying medicine at Newcastle University, she worked as a junior doctor for four years, before working as a radio and television producer.
Evans turned to ...
(more)
If you enjoyed:
The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Try:
Crooked Heart
by Lissa Evans
We recommend 4 similar authors
The Stolen Child
by Ann Hood
An unlikely duo ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate.
This Strange Eventful History
by Claire Messud
An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history.
Only the Brave by Danielle Steel
A powerful, sweeping historical novel about a courageous woman in World War II Germany.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
