Friends & Fiction Live:
Patti Callahan Henry's The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Monday, May 1, 2023
5:30 PM 8:30 PM
The Riviera Theatre
227 King Street Charleston, SC, 29401
Check on optional VIP Add -on events below
Purchase your event tickets here and
order your copy of
On Monday, May 1st, The Charleston Place & Buxton Books Literary Series are thrilled to host a very special pre-publication launch event honoring New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry and her new book THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA!
This is your chance to meet all four of the founders and hosts of the popular web show and podcast, Friends & Fiction — the New York Times bestselling authors Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, and Kristy Woodson Harvey — as they gather in-person together for this super special Friends & Fiction LIVE event celebrating the launch of Patti’s THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA in grand style.
Mary Kay, Kristin, and Kristy will interview Patti live on-stage at the Riviera Theater about her new book, THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA. The “Fab Four” will also speak about their books (and all sorts of other topics!), answer live questions from the audience, sign & personalize books, mingle, and take photographs with attendees. As anyone who has tuned into their live web show and podcast can attest, spending time with this group of women feels like being at a party with friends. A good time and lots of laughs are guaranteed.
This is a pre-publication launch event. THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA officially releases on Tuesday, May 2, but Patti and her best author pals are going to celebrate with us — and you — a day early! When you attend this event, you’ll be among the first people to get your hands on a copy of this beautiful new book.
Gather up your besties, your book club, your co-workers, your family, and your neighbors. Come one, come all. And get ready for a super awesome night in the beautiful city of Charleston. Get your summer reading kicked off early at this can’t-miss event. It promises to be a spectacular night, so get your tickets before they sell out!
In addition to the main event — the author's talk and signing at the Riviera — we are offering a couple more intimate options for spending time with Patti and the ladies of Friends & Fiction. A VIP ticket option is available that includes a cocktail reception before the event — along with a couple of other perks which you can read about in the ticket description! The VIP cocktail hour will run from 5:30 - 6:30 pm on the gorgeous terrace at The Riviera Theater. Space is limited for the VIP tickets so get them quickly!
As an add-on to any ticket type, we are offering a Coffee with the Authors event the next morning — Tuesday, May 2 (THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA’s official release day!) — at the Charleston Library Society.
More information on both the VIP ticket and the Coffee with the Authors add-on is available as you move through the ticket-buying process!
Please feel free to email becky@buxtonbooks.com or call the bookstore at 843-723-1670, if you have any questions or need help booking.
ABOUT THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA:
When a woman stumbles across a mysterious children’s book, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed in this “transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood.
But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood.
Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years? Or is something sinister at play?
For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, EPCA, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels, including her newest, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. She’s also a podcast host of original content for her novels, Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti was also a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.
A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.
Her newest novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, is set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey and will be released on May 2nd, 2023 with Simon & Schuster Atria.
ABOUT FRIENDS & FICTION:
New York Times Bestselling novelists Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Patti Callahan Henry are four longtime friends with more than seventy published books to their credit. With chats, author interviews, and fascinating insider talk about publishing and writing, these friends discuss the books they’ve written, the books they’re reading now, and the art of storytelling. With a mission to support independent bookstores, they are always seeking new and innovative ways to introduce dynamic voices and trends in publishing. If you love books and you’re curious about the writing world, you’re in the right place.
Purchase your event tickets here and order your copy of The Secret Life of Flora Lea!