Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

New York Times Best-selling Author Patti Callahan Henry opened the Selma and Dallas County Public Library’s Lunch at the Library series for 2023.

On Thursday, Henry discussed her latest book, “The Secret Book of Flora Lea” to a packed audience. The book, set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey, is about a woman who discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, and finds that long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.

“The book is set in a time, 1939, where children are sent away,” Henry said. “The book is a mystery.”

Kirstin Harmel, a New York Times bestselling author, praised “The Secret Book of Flora Lee” in her review.

“Patti Callahan Henry is a master of the elusive fairy tale, and nowhere is her talent on better display than in the pages of The Secret Book of Flora Lee, a bittersweet tale of loss, destiny, and the strings of deep love that bind us together across the years,” Harmel wrote.

This was Henry’s sixth visit to the Selma-Dallas County Public Library as Selma is a short drive from her home in Mountain Brook.

“I love the Selma-Dallas County Public Library and the people that run it,” Henry said. “Libraries are my heart. I try to support libraries when and if I can. I made a vow long ago when I was first published that I would never say no to libraries.”

Henry said that she enjoys meeting readers of her best-selling books.

“I love talking about my books, of course, because they are living things to me,” Henry said. “But mostly, I like to talk about what the books mean to them, which is why I love talking to library groups or reader groups.’’

Selma-Dallas County Public Library Executive Director Becky Nichols said it is always enjoyable to have Henry being part of the Lunch at the Library series.

“Patti is a wonderful speaker with her own brand of storytelling and talk.,” Nichols said. “She’s a good friend.”