Review will be posted on 11/4/21

Nancy Mitford is living in London during WWII. The city is currently being bombed and everything is a mess. Nancy takes a job at the Heywood Hill bookshop while the owner is away at war. Nancy is known around town though; in fact, all of her siblings are notorious. One of her sisters is a Hitler sympathizer, another is a fascist, and the other is a duchess, to just name a few. Nancy takes the job at the bookshop because things with her husband aren't great, she needs the money, and she had to quit writing. All of this inspires her to start writing again. Jump to present day, readers meet struggling author Katie. While on her visit to London, she visits Heywood Hill bookshop and while there, she meets someone who convinces her that Nancy Mitford wrote a memoir and it went unpublished. This man would like to find this memoir as it's important to him and his family. Katie, who is up for anything at this point thanks to writer's block, helps him and as things progress, she is greatly intrigued by what she comes to find. Michelle Gable's The Bookseller's Secret is a decent historical tale for those who enjoy stories focusing about strong real-life women and WWII.

I only knew a few things about Nancy Mitford before reading The Bookseller's Secret and I was really enamored with Nancy right off the bat. I loved her gumption, her personality, and found her to be very entertaining, especially when she would interact with Evelyn Waugh. Nancy grew up in an aristocratic family. A few of her sisters have made a name for themselves politically as they have close ties to the Nazis. However, Nancy wants to separate herself from them as she doesn't agree.

Even though Nancy has come from a wealthy background, she has dealt with a lot. She experienced multiple miscarriages that led to her hysterectomy, her marriage is a sham, her husband is off at war and she hasn't heard from him. However, Nancy is still a charismatic person who wants to make her mark in life. I loved that she took over Heywood Hill bookshop and I really enjoyed the depiction of the bookshop and its customers. I also really liked the fact that she was a writer and overall, I found Nancy's story to be truly fascinating.

To be honest with you, the dual timeline didn't really work for me in The Bookseller's Secret. I did not care for Katie nor her pursuit of the missing manuscript mostly because I found her to be insufferable. She makes such a commotion at a family party and goes off the deep end (over nothing really) that I just found her to be like a petulant child. I did not like the sections of the novel focusing on her even though I was curious about her literary investigations.

I do think that if The Bookseller's Secret focused only on Nancy or had a more likable present day narrator, it would have worked a bit better. I will say that Nancy is such a larger than life person that she probably doesn't need a foil; in fact, she needs her own book. Nancy, and only Nancy's amazing life, brings this book's rating up a smidgen.

So, with that said, do you enjoy books about real-life people? Have you heard about Nancy Mitford? Is The Bookseller's Secret on your TBR list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

This work of historical fiction uses the dual timeline to tell the story of author, Nancy Mitford in 1940’s London, and Katie, an American writer who is blocked and visits London to change perspective. Both timelines involve the premise of an autobiography that appears to be missing, centered around a bookstore Mitford worked in and Katie visits. The story moved slowly at times, although interesting. The book was just okay for me,but if you are a Mitford fan, you might enjoy it more. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed getting to know Nancy Mitford and the rest of the cast. It was a great historical novel about WW2, the plot was great and I enjoyed the writing style was so well done. I look forward to reading more from the author.

Although a slow starter, this dual point of view, dual timeline, historical fiction did eventually pull me in. Katie’s life isn’t going well. She has writer’s block, a recently failed very long term relationship, and just told her family off at a gathering after having a few too many drinks. When her best friend invites her to London, she agrees with hopes of getting her head on straight. Katie unknowingly stumbles into a literary mystery at a local bookshop where noted author and subject of her university thesis, Nancy Mitford, worked during WWII .

As fascinating as I found the story to be, the heavy dialogue and many characters hindered the flow as I had to recall which character was which to the point of distraction. Mitford’s intriguing family did however compel me to read to the end and I was glad I did so. This book was obviously well researched and I appreciated the deeper look into an author I knew little about.

I loved the premise of this book - the hunt for a lost manuscript written 80 years ago! I think stories like this fuel the curiosity of so many, including myself. I could only imagine what it would be like to work in the Heywood Hill bookshop and to have the privilege to capture someone's story on paper!

I’m a fan of Michelle Gable.
Her historical fiction books are wonderful.
This novel takes place at 2 different times … 1940s and present day.
I just found Katie to be whiny and I didn’t root for her.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a good book that could have been a lot better with an editor. Intrigue- romance- it had it all but maybe too much!

An interesting book with two narrators. One Nancy Mitford, an author, who worked in a bookstore during WWII, the other, Katie a modern day author. They had one thing in common, they were each trying to come up with a new story to write.

What I found neat was that Katie had written a thesis about Nancy while she was at University. While visiting her friend in London Katie was persuaded to visit the bookstore Haywood Hill Ltd,., which is still in operation today, where Nancy had worked There she meets Simon Bailey, could he be a distant relative of Nancy’s?

Some very interesting and diverse characters are betrayed by both narrators. It is a fun, easy read which I enjoyed. I had a tough time trying to decide to give it a 3.1/2 or a 4

This book is a wonderful historical fiction. Michele Gable has written another enjoyable book. The dual timeline was a unique writing style. I recommend this book - Happy Reading!

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
A fictionalized account of the life of Nancy Mitford in the 1940s and a present day fictional person. Loved the plot and the characters. The storyline becomes a bit garbled but still is an overall pleasant read.
3.5 stars

I really wanted to like this book but alas, it just didn't pull me in. It is the story of Nancy Mitford. She takes over the Heywood Hill bookstore while the owner is away at war. It's a busy bookstore and we follow her life. She is convinced by a French officer to tell her story - to start writing again. We jump to 80 years later and th search for a missing wartime manuscript written by Nancy Mitford. The manuscript reveals more about Nancy and connects the past and the present. One thing I didn't particularly like was that the story is dialogue-driven. I really didn't find myself particularly becoming attached to any character. This is a fictionalized tale of Nancy Mitford - an author that I was not familiar with before. Honestly, this book just fell flat for me

Literary giant Nancy Mitford is at the heart of Michelle Gable’s The Bookseller’s Secret, a beautifully written dual-narrative tale that sweeps readers to a brilliantly evoked world that will hold them in thrall from start to finish.

It’s 1942 and the world is still at war. Bombs are falling all over London, lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and the enemy shows no sign of slowing down or giving up. However, Nancy Mitford has got more to worry about than air raids and German spies. Still reeling from a devastating loss, the sparkle has well and truly gone out of this once resplendent Bright Young Thing. Estranged from her husband, Nancy’s once promising literary career has crashed and burned and she has no money whatsoever after her allowance was cut. Nancy has certainly got a lot on her plate and the last thing she wants or needs to worry about are her five sisters and their penchant for getting into the newspapers for all the wrong reasons.

Crying out for a distraction and with money in very short supply, Nancy jumps at the chance of managing Heywood Hill bookshop in London while the owner is away at war. For the first time in a very long while, things are on the up for Nancy. The bookshop is booming, sales are up and her literary salons are the toast of the town. When a chance encounter with a mysterious French officer awakens Nancy’s slumberous muse, she wonders whether she might have the courage to put pen to paper again and tell the story is she desperate to tell.

Eighty years later, Heywood Hill is abuzz with the news of a lost Nancy Mitford manuscript written during the war. One woman is determined to find it and in doing so she will end up uncovering not just a literary masterpiece, but an astonishing link between the past and the present…

It is always tricky to write novels about well-known literary figures, but Michelle Gable manages to pull this off brilliantly in The Bookseller’s Secret. Whether you are a Mitford aficionado or someone who has never read her before, The Bookseller’s Secret is sure to charm and enthrall readers with a beguiling blend of exquisite period detail, richly drawn characters and page-turning intrigue.

A love letter to books, bookshops and the magic of stories, Michelle Gable’s The Bookseller’s Secret is a must-read for bookworms everywhere.

This novel alternates from present day to London during WWII. In the present day, we meet Kate, a successful author with writer's block, and unfulfilling personal life, and an obsession with Nancy Mitford. The alternating chapters focus on Nancy Mitford, her slow-to-start writing career, her family, London during the war, and her work in a bookshop. This bookshop is also featured in the present-day chapters, and the story is woven around the possibility of an autobiography Nancy may have penned and left in said bookshop. Love interests in the form of a possible tangential Mtiford for Kate, and a French officer for Nancy are the icing on the cake.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book. My review opinions are my own. I enjoyed my first book by the author " A Paris Apartment" This is one of those authors that captures the reader from beginning to conclusion. . I loved this book and read it straight through .

We are transported to the time of World War II. The real life author Nancy Mitford is the subject of this fascinating story. Her life is on a downhill trajectory of divorce, loss of job and no motivation to continue her stalled writing career. Needing income and to escape her family pressure she takes on running a bookstore for the owner who went to war. Soon she is immersed in the life of a bookseller and holding grand events to draw in business. When she is asked to write the story of a officer , her writing his book brings unprecedented changes to her life including love . The manuscript is left missing for decades long after Nancy is gone. It is buried secretly in the bookstore? What secrets were Nancy hiding ? Who was she protecting ?

The dual timeline fast forwards 80 years and Katie is determined to find the missing manuscript Nancy Mitford worte . She visit the bookstore and is sure she can find the manuscript and piece together the mystery of the story to conclusion.

This is a fascinating story ! I loved the dual timelines . The writing is so well crafted it was captivating reading. I highly recommend this book for your reading enjoyment. Very well done to the author.

The Bookseller's Secret is a beautiful story based on the life of author Nancy Mitford.

I was excited to pick up The Bookseller’s Secret by Michelle Gable. This is dual timeline historical fiction, starring Nancy Mitford in 1942 WWII London, working in a bookshop and writing a memoir that was never published. In the modern timeline, a struggling novelist named Katie is looking for this manuscript along with some inspiration to get her own career out of a rut.
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Nancy is the eldest and possibly most acerbic of the bunch. She went on to great success as a novelist, but I loved this peek at her before she hit it big. Her family is the ultimate eccentric aristocratic family, with the right name but the crumbling house. Her sisters are controversial politically and her friends are bright young things like Evelyn Waugh. We get to see inside her long time affair with Gaston Palewski (second to de Gaulle). I felt like it was an insight into a vulnerable time and I loved that! It rang true to what I know of this family.

I enjoyed the modern day story as well, though I honestly didn’t care for Katie. She came across as a bit brisk, and I guess I just wanted to like her more? This is a small and silly thing, but she regularly cursed and it seemed crass and unnecessary. I was still engaged and turning pages in the modern storyline though.
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I think any fan of historical fiction would enjoy this, and most especially if you have any knowledge of the Mitford sisters. If you don’t, maybe this will send you down a rabbit hole. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

I highly recommend this book, as it was truly a compelling story that I became completely engrossed in.. The characters were charming and I loved the blend of intrigue and romance.

This dual time period historical is set during WWII (but not really a war story) and the present. In the 1940s, the focus is on a real person - author Nancy Mitford, who when the book starts is struggling to get her career of the ground, her marriage is strained and she is short on money, so she takes a job working at a bookstore in London and also is working on a memoir. The present day story is about Katie, an author struggling to write her next book and split up from her fiancé (and who wrote her college thesis on Nancy Mitford), who goes to visit her friend in London and goes to that same bookstore, and winds up trying to help a guy she meets there find Nancy Mitford’s lost and never-published wartime memoir.

I have never read a Nancy Mitford book and knew nothing about her going in, and there is such a large cast of characters of her family and friends (many of whom are only talked about and either never appear or do in only one scene) so it was a little difficult to get my bearings on the historical part - the kind of book that is well-researched perhaps to a fault. But perhaps a Nancy Mitford fan would feel differently?

I have loved all four of Michelle Gable’s previous books and been a fan of hers since the first book, so I was excited to get an early copy of this one (out 8/17/21). So I’m sorry to say that this one just didn’t live up to those for me. I enjoyed the story, and it kept me reading, and if you’re a fan of hers (or of Nancy Mitford) I certainly would still say to read it. But if you haven’t read Gable’s books before, I’d say start with one of her others (my favorite is I’ll See You In Paris). 3.5 stars.

Although I already posted an excerpt from this book as part of a blog tour, I wanted to make sure and post a review as well. I found The Bookseller's Secret, by Michelle Gable, to be a wonderful mix of historical and contemporary. We learn so much about an author who is becoming popular again, thanks to an recent adaptation of her most famous book, The Pursuit of Love. Nancy Mitford's life was full of larger than life people, and events. She and her family were the Kardashians of their day. The six sisters were mostly famous for being beautiful, and for courting controversy. Several of them wrote books, with the most famous author amongst them being the oldest daughter, Nancy.

I really enjoyed learning about Nancy and her family, as well as the contemporary story of Katie, an American author looking for inspiration, as she looks into letters that Nancy wrote. The historical details were rich, and the characters were well drawn in both time periods. Along with the characters, the romances were wonderful. The only thing I could have liked better, was if the pace was a bit quicker. But, as author Michelle Gable says at one point, what's important is the journey, not the destination.

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

I really didn't know anything about Nancy Mitford's life, or the so-called Bright Young Things that she and her friends had been referred to in their youth. Nancy's portion of the novel takes place in her middle years, after all the escapades of her twenties. Her contemporaries were some of the most celebrated writers of the age, including, Evelyn Waugh, who wrote Brideshead Revisited.

But, aside from all the small details about life in England during WWII, what really caught my attention was how the author captured the attitudes of many of these elites. I've always thought that, since England was at war with Germany, nearly all British people hated the Nazis. I've heard rumors about the former King Edward VIII being a Nazi sympathizer. But he seemed to be an outlier. Apparently, that was not the case. Many people of Nancy' social class admired Hitler, and didn't understand why his persecution of the Jews was such a big deal. I found this quite shocking! But, I think it rings true.

Characters:

Nancy is the oldest of seven children, six of whom are female. In her family, if you wanted to be noticed, you had to do something outrageous. By the time we meet Nancy in middle age, one sister is in jail for being a fascist, another is an outspoken communist, and still another had been a mistress of Hitler! While Nancy had written a few books, she hadn't really hit her stride yet as an author. With such familial chaos, and a world at war, Nancy starts to finally understand that she wants to live life on her own terms. That means finding love outside of her loveless marriage, and devoting the rest of her energy to writing. This means bucking social expectations just as much as her infamous sisters do, which is terrifying.

Katie, the American in the modern part of the story, is also in transition. She is reeling from a broken engagement, and can't find any ideas for her next book. After one solid hit publication, she is under immense pressure to churn out a sequel. But she bristles at the idea. She has always been a fan of Nancy Mitford, so when she has the chance to read her letters, and solve a mystery surrounding her life, Katie jumps at the chance. While Katie isn't faced with the same rigid social expectations that Nancy had in her day, she still has set the bar pretty high for herself. And her family is almost as messed up as Nancy's was!

Romances:

Both Nancy and Katie find love in unexpected places. Nancy meets a French military man who, while not attractive in the traditional sense, is immensely charming and full of confidence. Nancy has never had any qualms about having an affair. But she finds such a connection with this man, that she realizes that her marriage is intolerable. She has to fight her husband on getting a divorce, or at least letting her go. It's a pretty brave struggle at a time when men considered their wives to be practically their property.

Katie, who has been with the same man since they were children, doesn't even know how to rebuild her life. Given that everyone in her family worshipped her fiancé, it took a lot of guts for her to realize that they weren't really a good match, after all. Then she meets an Englishman who is as obsessed with Nancy Mitford as she is. He is trying to find a lost memoir that Nancy allegedly wrote during the war. But why is he looking for it? Their romance happens so quickly that Katie doesn't quite know if she can trust her feelings. Also, if they stand any chance of a long term relationship, she would need to move to England. How is this going to work? Love will find a way.

What I Was Mixed About:

Pacing:

As I said in my introduction, the book moves very slowly, particularly in the WWII portion. While a lot of time passes over the course of the war, not much happens to Nancy herself. To be fair, writing a novel is not an exciting, heart-racing endeavor. It take time to gather ideas, write, and then polish a manuscript. But, there are many long scenes with dialogue between Nancy and her writer friends, and little else occurring. I wish there were more about her childhood and her wild sisters, the inspiration behind her most famous novel, The Pursuit of Love.

I've always seen books by and about Nancy Mitford (and her famous sisters) but haven't yet read one. After reading Michelle Gable's fascinating novel, The Bookseller's Secret, where Nancy Mitford plays a large role, I have already made a list of books about Mitford to add to my To-Be-Read pile.

We begin the novel in the present day with a young woman named Katie struggling in her career as a novelist. She had one successful book, and now her engagement to her boyfriend of many years is over. When her best friend Jojo offers to pay Katie's airfare to come to London stay with her, her husband and four young children, Katie gratefully accepts.

Jojo tells Katie about a very special bookstore, G. Heywood Hill Ltd., where the owner is a book concierge for a mostly wealthy clientele. For a large sum of money Felix will compile a personal library, consisting of books unique to each customer's interests. (My dream job!)

Author Nancy Mitford worked at the G. Heywood Hill Ltd. bookstore during WWII. Nancy is one of six sisters, some of whom are notorious for being friends with Hitler, as well as being Fascists and Communists, and she was friends with famous writers of the day, like Evelyn Waugh, who hung out at the bookshop. (Picture "Friends" as a group of intellectuals on a WWII BBC show.)

Katie becomes intrigued by the rumor that Nancy Mitford had written a memoir, and that Felix was in possession of it, which he vehemently denies. Then she meets Simon, a school principal, who was also looking for Mitford's memoir for reasons of his own.

The characters in this novel are so interesting and well drawn. Nancy Mitford jumps off the page, with her clever quips and saucy attitude. It's impossible not to fall in love with her. Between her infamous family, her husband at war whom she hasn't heard from in three years, the French colonel who she falls in love with, her mission as a spy for Britain, and her struggles to write her next book, Nancy has a fascinating life. If you are a Nancy Mitford fan, you'll definitely want to read The Bookseller's Secret.

Other intriguing characters include Katie's grandmother, who is about to be kicked out her fantasy football league for her bad behavior, Jojo and her precocious son Clive, who is a real hoot. All three of these made me laugh. I also appreciated that the author wrote an informative real-life epilogue for several of the characters we meet.

The question that lingers is "did Nancy Mitford write a memoir and if she did, where is it?" You'll have to read The Bookseller's Secret to find out. I highly recommend that you do.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on the Summer 2021 Historical Fiction Reads Tour.

1.5 stars rounded up.

I am such a huge WW2 historical fiction reader and was so excited to read a book about the Mitford sisters, Nancy Mitford in particular because she wrote two books that have been on my list for years. I was really looking forward to reading this one. However, when I started, I found it very difficult to connect with the characters, The modern-day character of Katie just felt flat to me, she is supposed to be a writer in a huge slump and I just found her to be whiny. I didn't understand the need for a romance with her, it felt like it was just there to be there in my opinion. Then we get to the parts about Nancy Mitford and her life during WW2 and it seemed like the author was just recreating both storylines the same and changing names and small bits of details.

I found that there was too much dialogue in this book so it was a lot more telling versus showing which in all honesty made me lose interest more than once. I also wish that there was more in-depth information and feeling within Nancy's storyline. As opposed to it being told to us, The author could have had her go through her life its not like there aren't resources out there to find this information.

I also thought there was going to be more suspense I mean the book is called the Bookseller's Secret. I just find that there wasn't enough mystery about this manuscript that Nancy supposedly wrote. also can we talk about the fact that the author turned Nancy into something that she wasn't. She wasn't a good person, she and her siblings were part of the Bright Young Things who felt seriously entitled I just couldn't with this book.

Thanks to Graydon House, Harlequin, and Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I just finished @mgablewriter ‘s new novel, #thebooksellerssecret , and after looking at a million pictures of Nancy Mitford, had to make a reel! #partner @graydonhousebooks .

This dual-timeline historical fiction novel is set in both WWII London, where we see a floundering Nancy Mitford as a bookseller, getting inspired to write #ThePursuitofHappiness and the present day, where another floundering writer is looking to Mitford for inspiration.

Nancy is the character that shines in this book and I love that she’s such a dynamic force.