The Fireside Chats

I finished reading this book over the weekend. I’m surprised I had the time to finish any reading given it was Black Friday weekend and I was working (and how tired I was from working this weekend).

I don’t normally read historical fiction but I made an exception for this book because it was about books (and working in a bookshop). The book travels back in time to London during World War 2 where it follows author Nancy Mitford as she tries to find that next book to write and ends up working at a bookshop in London. You also get a glimpse at Lucy, a curator from D. C., who finds herself working on a project at the same London bookshop in present day. I enjoyed reading through both perspectives, however, Nancy’s chapters seem a bit longer than Lucy’s.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books about books or who enjoys WW2 fiction (or both). {Note: Just a fair warning…..there may be some adult material in this book.}

Synopsis: USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight brings together a brilliant dual-narrative story about Nancy Mitford—one of 1930s London’s hottest socialites, authors, and a member of the scandalous Mitford Sisters—and a modern American desperate for change, connected through time by a little London bookshop.

1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.

Present Day: When book curator Lucy St. Clair lands a gig working at Heywood Hill she can’t get on the plane fast enough. Not only can she start the healing process from the loss of her mother, it’s a dream come true to set foot in the legendary store. Doubly exciting: she brings with her a first edition of Nancy’s work, one with a somewhat mysterious inscription from the author. Soon, she discovers her life and Nancy’s are intertwined, and it all comes back to the little London bookshop—a place that changes the lives of two women from different eras in the most surprising ways.