This book was received as an ARC from William Morrow and Custom House through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love the historical fiction novels that travel through time intertwining two similar stories where its settings are in the past and future. This time the story begins in 1938 with Nancy Mitford escaping the politics of the war and the elite society of the Mitford Sisters and gets a job to help her family at the Heywood Hill Bookshop and finds herself in an adventure of a lifetime. Now in 2022, Lucy St. Clair finds herself working in the same bookshop discovers some works Nancy wrote encrypted with a secret message which opens Nancy's eyes and long kept secrets are revealed. Learning and reading these long kept secrets is the reason why I love historical fiction novels and this is the perfect book to get lost in and read on a rainy day. The contrast of careers from a bookseller to a curator is much overlooked for the invigoratingly enticing story Eliza Knight brilliantly wrote.

A historical fiction novel for the ages telling the story of two women that will change the course of history for years to come. This book deserves 5 stars.

What a wonderful historical fiction piece. This has a dual timeline and focuses on the Mitford family.
I love every and all stories that involve The Mitford's as they are such an interesting family.
The intertwine of Nancy and Lucy is wonderful.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Books about books! About writers and how they began! Those are books that keep me reading. . .and this is one. I had only heard of the Mitford family in the broadest terms, in books about WWII. So to find an author or two in the group of siblings was a plus, and the focus of this book centered on a bookshop. . .in England. . .Book vacation!

This was a welcome combination of the historical reads I enjoy, and romance - which I rarely read - they so often can only end one of two ways (right?). The Mayfair Bookshop was time well spent, and resulted in books added to my TBR (to-be-read list) and a much better understanding about who was who in Europe's literati pre- and during WWII. If you are a Mitford fan, or Evelyn Waugh, even, this book will please you! Before this read I didn't even know them and now am an eager-to-continue-investigation fan.

A Sincere Thank You to Eliza Knight, William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review. #TheMayfairBookshop #NetGalley

Dual time line - modern and post. I felt they didn’t read well together.

Was interesting to read about Nancy who I’ve never heard of before this read.

Book takes off after Page 300

Was a miss for me

Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

Would actually say I would have rated this book 3.5. It was good, but I wasn't totally vested in it. I had actually never heard of Nancy Mitford before and reading this book did send me down the internet rabbit hole to learn more about her and her family.
While the book did seem well researched and well written, it felt like it covered too much time and jumped around a bit. I never fully got the relationship between her and Peter. The dual time (the modern times) also didn't seem as developed as it could have been.

It was interesting to learn about someone from history I hadn't known about before and it was not a bad read.

1930’s: Nancy Mitford was a socialite, author, and one of the six Mitford sisters. Present Day: Lucy St. Clair is a book curator sent to London to work at Heyward Hill on a special project. This London bookshop will provide a connection for these two women.

Nancy lives a life that looks grand in the outside but reality was quite different. Her husband is always broke, doesn’t like to keep a job and is continually unfaithful and not good at hiding it. One of her sisters is involved with Hitler while another is married to a Nazi officer. Nancy finds a job at Heyward Hill to help make ends meet and finds herself in the process.

Lucy is still healing from her mothers death so the project in London is a welcomed distraction from her life. While I’m London she finds interesting books for her project and was able to learn about Nancy and solve a mystery about an inscription in one of her books.

I thought it was very interesting that we get a look at the goings on during WWII but from the perspective of a civilian. How Nancy dealt with love and loss during this period. The scandal of having sisters who were Nazi sympathizers. Nancy helped with the war effort but her life went on outside of war.

Lucy is at a place in her life where she’s happy where she’s at but the thought of new adventure is just too appealing. We see how Nancy and the letters she’s left behind touched Lucy and lead her to a life that she wasn’t necessarily looking for or expecting.

I loved the characters, the dual timelines and dual perspectives…just a great read.

I received this book in exchange for honest opinion.

I was initially was interested in the book because of the dual timeline and the main character is a book curator! Sign me up! My dream has always been to work in a bookstore. This book didn't disappoint. Also, I didn't even know Nancy Mitford was a real person until picking up this book! Now I want to read more by her.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this free eArc in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was beautifully written! The two timelines flowed so well together and created more depth to the story.

I did not know much about the Mitford family prior to reading and this book piqued my interest to do some of my own reading to learn more!

This is a wonderful gem. A dual-timeline with two women whose lives intersect fifty-years apart in a London bookstore. It was a good read.

Well researched and carefully crafted novel that would appeal to all book lovers. This is a novel that would be especially appealing to fans of Nancy Mitford and her work. Eliza Knight brings Mitford to life and her dual narrative and timeline structure work well to tell this story.
I really enjoyed this!

I absolutely loved this book. It was so well written and kept me intrigued even after I had finished the book. I had never read anything about the Mitford sisters before and this book left me wanting to read more.

THis story brings the stories of two women together. Nancy Mitford from the 1930's and Lucy St. Clair from the present time. It is a story that shows no matter what era you are in, the past is always there and can be related in the future. It is weaved perfectly, and gave me all the feels.

** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**

Excellent research went into this book, I knew nothing about Nancy Mitford and now want to read all the books she’s written, she had an extraordinary life and family. The dual timeline was interesting as the mystery of Iris was solved.

I love books about books. This was a very interesting novel and I really enjoyed reading it,

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

A brilliantly researched look at a slice of a woman's life too often overlooked given the numerous scandals and fables surrounding her family. Knight's clear passion for the Mitford family dynamics is welcomely weaved into an ode to the power of books and words to forge community. There are few authors who are as prolific as Knight.

I had the privilege of interviewing Eliza on my fb page here: https://www.facebook.com/rachkmc1/videos/1176889459808527

I enjoyed this dual timeline historical fiction novel about the Mitford sisters - it had me googling so many things to see what was true, proven history and what was just rumor. I was also motivated to watch all the documentaries I could find on the Mitfords, so my interest in the topic was definitely piqued. I found myself somewhat less interested in the contemporary story line that takes place in the book and rushing through those chapters to get to the past story about the Mitfords. I'm not sure the book would have worked as well without the contemporary side, but to me it felt a little like "filler". However, the writer is talented and there was great character development throughout. I'll be looking out for more books by Eliza Knight for sure! Highly recommend for fans of Historical Fiction and specifically fans of WWII timelines.

Books about books and bookshops? yes please!! This was a wonderful historical fiction with a duel timeline. It tells the story of how Nancy Milford came to be at the Heywood Hill Bookshop despite all the obstacles both in the world and her own life that she had to face. This was a beautifully told, rich and engaging story of a woman who did not perish in the face of adversity. Rather she made her own way, with her own rules and I simply loved it.

I really wanted to enjoy this story because it was about Nancy Mitford. However, there is very little focus about her owning a bookshop until the end. The modern storyline was unnecessary and did nothing to enhance the plot. Thus, I would have enjoyed it had it been focused solely on Nancy. Still, I recommend this for fans of The Bookseller’s Secret!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Love the era and set around a bookstore, what could be better!
Wonderful tale of Nancy Mitford with a dual timeline. Pacing was a bit weird but still I enjoyed every minute.

This one started off slow but as the war picks up, so does this book. I really loved Nancy's point of view-although it was hard to understand where she was coming from at some times. Lucy's point of view bored me a tad, but it was mostly because there was SO much action in the flashbacks and little happening on the present day side of things. Overall, a good book especially if you are interested in the Mitford sisters.