The Secret Book of Flora Lea

by Patti Callahan Henry

“Not so long ago and not so far away, there was once, and still is, an invisible place that is right here beside us.”

a rainstorm she was trying to catch in a thimble.

A heart,” she told Hazel, “can hold much joy and great sorrow at the same time. It’s a mystery and it’s also true.”

To Hazel, she did not appear to be a person who would steal a child, even if Hazel actually wanted Imogene to be a person who’d steal a child.

“And if you are born knowing,” Hazel continued, her voice stronger with each word, “and to be honest we all are, you will find your way through the woodlands to the shimmering doors that lead to the land made just and exactly for you.”