The Mayfair Bookshop is a dual storyline that begins with famed author and socialite, Nancy Mitford during WWII. Nancy is part of a group of spoiled, champagne loving 20 something year olds who don't take life seriously and desire to spend all of their parents' money on sparkly dresses, booze and cigarettes. But once WWII begins, Nancy realizes that life is more than materialistic possessions and begins to help the war effort.
Lucy is a modern day book curator and Nancy Mitford fan. When she gets the opportunity to go to London to look for a rare book, she takes the opportunity she has to solve the big mystery of who "Iris" is in Nancy Mitfords personal letters and embarks on a journey back into time.

Like many others, I found the start of this novel to be a bit slow, and almost gave up on it a few times, but stuck with it and really enjoyed the story and the characters in the end. I enjoyed Nancy Mitford's storyline much more than Lucy's and felt like the modern storyline of the book could've used a little more attention and excitement, but overall enjoyed the book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinions.

Nancy Mitford is one of the Bright Young Things taking England by storm after World War I. Her family includes five sisters and a brother, they grew up outside London largely secluded from society. This created an interesting relationship, especially between the sisters. As the 1930s go on Unity and Diana start absorbing Fascist ideas and flocking to the rising star Adolf Hitler in Germany. While Jessica, Nancy's younger sister, becomes involved with a man tied to the communist party.

The story follows Nancy and her budding writing career. The state of her marriage is also center stage in the story. Unfortunately, it is not a happy one. However, she finds solace in writing and working at the Mayfair Bookshop. Fast forward to the present, Lucy St Clair, a book curator is traveling to London for two weeks to work in the Mayfair Bookshop, acquiring books to take back with her to the states. She has an ulterior motive, a longtime admirer of Nancy Mitford and a distant relative to one of her beaus, Lucy is trying to find out more information about a woman named Iris who played a role in Nancy's life.

While I enjoyed learning more about the Mitford family, I thought the book ultimately fell a little flat for me. In the early part of the book, there would be times in Nancy's sections where she would be someplace, and then, without warning, it would shift locals making it difficult to follow at times. Also, I thought that Lucy's entire storyline could have been left out altogether. Even though she finds Iris in the end, the whole situation just seemed anticlimactic.

While well written, I had a hard time getting through this book. I really did not engage with the story or the characters. I enjoyed the modern day story line more than the storyline in the 30's.

- I had never heard of Nancy Mitford prior to reading this book so I read it as fiction but upon learning this was based on a real writer I think I’d be more interested in reading her novels than this novel about her. This was told in alternating timelines. Nancy’s story was during the 1930’s London and WWII. I think the attempt was to portray Nancy as an ordinary woman dealing with her daily struggles with her unfaithful husband and her facist family. But to a reader not knowing the famous Nancy Mitford background it came across as a bit tedious. She was portrayed as a writer so I kept waiting for the big book that would save her but it never happened. Instead she just trudged from job to job and stayed with her unfaithful husband. Lucy’s part of the story was modern day. Lucy was temporarily investigating a mysterious note found in a Nancy Mitford novel. As she discovered more about Nancy she became empowered to follow her dream and move to London. Overall I enjoyed the book but I felt it was a bit drawn out. I think Nancy Mitford fans would enjoy.

In this dual timeline book, in alternating chapters you read about Nancy Mitford's life during WWII from her point of view, and then the alternating chapters are in present day in Lucy St. Clair's point of view. Lucy,a book curator, lands a job working at Heywood Hills in Mayfair, which is where Nancy worked. She brings with her a first edition of Nancy’s work, one with a somewhat mysterious inscription from the author. Soon, she discovers her life and Nancy’s are intertwined, and it all comes back to the little London bookshop.
This was a very enjoyable book. I love dual-timeline books like this, and really enjoyed reading about Nancy's life as Lucy was digging into it, trying to solve the mystery of the inscription in the book. This is perfect for fans of WWII historical fiction, and those of us who love books about bookshops, libraries and books.

I’m a big historical fiction fan particularly one with a dual time line so this was a must read for me This book begins in the 1930s with the life of Nancy Mitford, London socialite and author and then turns to the present day with Lucy St Claire a book curator who is given work space at the Mayfair Bookshop that Nancy worked in during WWII.
Nancy’s life is fascinating and we read of the the horrors of living in London during WWI. Lucy has received a cache of letters written by Nancy and a book with a mysterious message that Lucy hopes to solve.
A mystery, a loveless marriage, family relationships all make for an enjoyable read.

This was a lovely book with history, love, books and a little bit of mystery. I loved the dual timelines and how they intertwined. I adored Nancy and how she faced life with boldness.
There is so much more I could say, but you should just go read it!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Even though Nancy Mitchford is a London socialite and author, her seemingly perfect life was actually kind of sad and depressing. Lucy St. Claire, a book curator, gets some workspace at The Mayfair Bookshop, where Nancy worked during World War II. She has letters that Nancy wrote and is excited to be in the bookshop, which serves as a look into Nancy’s life. The dual timelines of Nancy, in the 1930s, and Lucy in the present-day bridge together their stories. I usually love historical fiction, but I just could not get into this one. The characters all fell kind of flat to me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Eliza Knight and William Morrow/Custom House for the ARC. The Mayfair Bookshop releases April 12th

This review will be posted to my Instagram blog books_by_the_bottle in the near future.

The Mayfair Bookshop by Eliza Knight tells the story of Nancy Mitford (past) and Lucy (present). I love Nancy Mitford! What a delightful refreshing character!! I love her wit! A great idea to include her letters! It was interesting that things didn’t go perfectly for her in life but eventually it did! So good for her!Tying the past and present was nicely done and flowed very well. At the end of the book it would be a good closure to have what happened with Unity and the other sisters. I will recommend this book. Thanks for letting me review this book

This book is written in dual time lines. 1930's Nancy Mitford a socialite, author with real life struggles.
Present day Lucy living and working in London at the same bookshop where Nancy Mitford spent a lot of time.
It took me a while to get into this book. Found Nancy's life interesting as I read more of her horrors of living in London during WWII.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

The Mayfair Bookshop is told from two points of view: Nancy Mitford, an author during WWII, and Lucy, a young woman trying to find an old friend of Nancy’s in present time. Nancy’s timeline tells like an autobiography, in first person, while Lucy’s point of view tells in third person. Despite the fact that I’m not a fan of historical fiction, I found myself almost skimming over Lucy’s part of the story, because I needed more of Nancy’s.

Nancy’s life is told through her own point of view, but the author interspersed various letters into the story that Nancy sent to friends. It adds such a personal touch to the story, and made it feel more real than a fictional story. I’m excited to see if Eliza wrote any more stories about Nancy, because I would love to read them!

I can’t tell you that the story was predictable or not, because I didn’t want to try to figure anything out. I was absolutely enthralled with the story, and wanted it to last as long as possible, while also being unable to keep from putting the book down.

Do I recommend The Mayfair Bookshop?
Absolutely, I do, especially if you love historical fiction. Lucy’s and Nancy’s stories were told in such a delightful way, and made for a very sweet story. I can almost guarantee you’ll have a hard time putting it down. I read this book whenever I could, even when I was busy with other things.

I knew very little about Nancy Mitford before reading this book. This story of her life woven in with the present day story of Lucy was so fascinating, I couldn’t put it down! I loved that the book was a mix of story along with letters sent to/from Nancy. I cannot wait to recommend this to all of my friends. I received a free, early copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

There’s something we have to get out of the way first thing. And that’s the absolutely astonishing similarity between the plot of this novel and last year’s The Bookseller’s Secret: A Novel of Nancy Mitford and WWII, by Michelle Gable. Both are dual narrative novels, with one narrative featuring the real-life 20th-century novelist Nancy Mitford, and the other a contemporary young woman investigating a mystery involving Nancy Mitford’s time working at the famous Heywood Hill bookshop in London’s Mayfair during World War II. I would just love to know how in the world two different authors came up with this notion for a book and, even more so, how they and their publishers reacted when they found out about the other book. But I’ll probably never have my curiosity satisfied on those points, so I decided just to read both books and see who does it better. Spoiler alert: since I one-starred Michelle Gable’s book last year, the odds were with Eliza Knight from the title page. OK, on to the review.

The Nancy Mitford thread of the novel begins in the late 1930s, shortly before Nancy’s marriage to the pompous, lazy and perennially unfaithful Peter Rodd. The Nancy chapters often begin with an excerpt from the real-life Nancy’s letters to friends like Evelyn Waugh. Nancy’s pre-war time with Peter is depressing, since they are always in debt due to his overspending and under-employment, Nancy fails to have the baby she yearns for, and Peter treats her with disdain.

Mitford fans will want to read more about Nancy’s famous family, especially those who were Hitler friends and part of the British Union of Fascists. And yes, there is plenty of that. We also read about Nancy’s aid work during the war, her social life, her early novels, and finding love and happiness. Those who know their Mitford history will recognize it all, but it is well told and the fictional elements don’t strike a false note. I will say, though, that Eliza Knight leaves out the sharp tongue and cruel humor that Nancy was known for at times.

The contemporary thread, featuring young book curator Lucy St. Clair (a name straight out of romance fiction if there ever was one), has Lucy given work space at the Heywood Hill bookshop for a couple of weeks, where she gets on like a house afire with the current staff and meets a charming Scot. Lucy is especially happy to be there because it’s where Nancy Mitford worked for a time during World War II, and Lucy’s mother left her a cache of Mitford’s letters and a book inscribed with a mysterious message. Lucy hopes to find the intended recipient of the message and learn the story behind the inscription.

While this book is definitely far better than Michelle Gable’s book, I can’t say it was better than an OK read. The Lucy story is bland and predictable. Nancy’s story is more interesting, but Knight doesn’t have a lot to add to reality, and so much of what Nancy goes through is just depressing. If you’re a big Mitford fan, this wouldn’t be a waste of time to read, but it mostly made me want to re-read The Pursuit of Love.

I had never even heard of Nancy Mitford prior to requesting this book. Now after having read it, I wonder if foreknowledge would have made the book more or less enjoyable. Either way this was a wonderful read with an intricately woven storyline between the lives of two women across different Timelines. If you enjoy historical novels and learning about people and places that actually exist, maybe not in the way they did in the book though, I highly suggest swooping this one up!

The Mayfair Bookshop is a dual timeline novel that follows the life of novelist Nancy Mitford, beginning in her years as a Bright Young Thing in Britain after World War I, through her marriage into World War II, and her years immediately following the second world war. Through this part of the timeline the reader is exposed to her early publishing struggles, her unhappy marriage and the complicated dynamics of her family. Reading this as an ARC, there is no historical notes to indicate how much of the complications in Nancy’s personal life are based on real facts and how many are conjecture, but this is probably the most interesting part of the book for me. I was vaguely acquainted with the name Nancy Mitford, but have never read any of her books. Finding out how divided her family was between the Allies and Hitler and the fascist regime was surprising to me. Beyond that I struggled to find the storyline interesting – it never felt like the story emotionally pulled me in – despite storylines personally and professionally that could have. The other side of the story, told in modern times by a curator working on an amorphous project that takes her to Heying Hills bookstore where Nancy worked during the war, seems particularly thin and in the book primarily to promote a connection between Nancy and what I’m presuming to be a fictitious friend. I’m not entirely sure what the project ever was, and because Lucy is so preoccupied in tracing “Iris” through Nancy’s letters, the reader never gets the opportunity to settle in to the atmospheric setting of a storied bookshop in London. The book had potential, but ultimately didn’t draw me in enough to feel truly engaged with either one of the storylines. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Amazon claims that the print edition of this gem of a book is going to clock in at 432 pages. I finished it in just over a day because once I started I did not want to put it down for anything. I have been fascinated with the Bright Young Things and, in particular, the dynamics of the Mitford sisters for years and have several of Nancy's books sitting on my e-Cloud collecting e-Dust. They probably won't be just sitting there for much longer. Eliza Knight did such an amazing job of pulling me in to Nancy's life that I am now itching to read the books that her character talked about writing.

The current-day storyline? Eh. It was nice and sweet and helped add a little sense of mystery to the tale, but each time a Lucy chapter came up I couldn't help but hope that it would be a short one so I could get back to Nancy and whatever she was dealing with .... and she dealt with quite a lot. That being said, I still actually wouldn't mind this becoming the first of a series of some sort with Lucy and her Mayfair friends and colleagues delving into other literature-based mysteries. I wouldn't mind that at all.

I have read a lot about Nancy Mitford and her infamous sisters, including a book of her and her sister's letters to each other, several non-fiction accounts of the Mitford family and the fictional novel by Michelle Gable, "The Bookseller's Secret". So when I came across this one on Net Galley I had to request it. Having finished Bookseller's Secret not that long ago, I wasn't sure what I expected from this one. I was worried that it would be a re-written version of the novel I had just finished. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that even though it is about Nancy Mitford and yes, set in the same general time as the first novel read as the first novel read and the same bookshop, it was not just a retelling of the same story. the center/focus of this book is about Nancy herself and how, through time she brows as a person, maturing, coming into her own, discovering there is more to life than flitting, superficially from party to party as one of the era's "Bright Young Things".
Trapped in a loveless marriage with a unfaithful husband who expects her to provide him with extra income, Nancy is forced to open her eyes and confront reality when war and hardship seep into her sheltered world.
I truly enjoyed this fictionalized account of Nancy's life. It is well researched, historically accurate, and for me the writer's style was smooth and flowing, making the reading interest hold and fast. Recommended to historical fiction fans, Nancy Mitford fans and bookstore lovers everywhere. This book is out April 12,2022, make sure to grab a copy!
Thank you to the publishers at William Morrow and Custom House and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

I’m a sucker for historical fiction, and books about bookshops always catch my eye. That being said, I knew nothing about this one before starting it, and I was halfway through the book before I realized the book was based on a real person! I really enjoyed Nancy’s story, and the glimpses into the rest of the Mitford family, and plan to read more about them. Lucy’s story was interesting, but I wasn’t as taken with her obsession to find Iris as much as I was with Nancy’s story.

Overall an enjoyable read, and one I would recommend.

Thanks to Book Club Girl, NetGalley, and William Morrow and Custom House for the ARC copy of this novel for review.

Eliza Knight pens a ‘wondair’ historical account of the savoir-faire of the 1930’s unleashing magical connections amid social constrictions. This journey into the life of the London elite, the glitz, and the parties is captivating.

On the one hand, is Nancy Mitford London in the 1930-1940s London, England and her trials and tribulations of being a writer, socialite, eldest of six, struggling with love or lack of, and war. On the other is Lucy St.Claire, a bibliophile on a short work trip to London to curate books and a personal mission of uncovering a mystery concerning a Mitford book that was left behind.

The duality of the timeline is intriguing, where the reader delves into the lives and experiences of the two characters. I felt that the two parts could stand alone as two separate stories. However, the ingenuity of alternating between the past and the present lent a perspective and a pause, especially during the WW2 events.

I am fascinated by Nancy Mitford’s emotional development and her steadfastness at a time fraught with uncertainty and fear. Her pursuit of happiness reveals sensitivity and makes you want to know more about her. Her drive to do what is necessary and her unhinged loyalty are admirable. So much so that I am tempted to read her books.

The publication date is April 12, 2022. Do plan to read this book.
Thank you, @netgalley, for this advance copy in exchange for a review.

After reading a few fictionalized stories about Nancy Mitford, I felt I had read this story already (although, I believe you could dive into her life several ways and from several different time periods.) and of course, you'd have the World War II story centered around Heywood Hill Booksellers in London, England. The cast of characters includes several of the Bright Young Things, some of the Mitford family, Evelyn Waugh and other writers during World War II in England, but the modern-day story really didn't pull me in the way the story written around Nancy did. Even though I knew her WWII history, and there were several different twists in the modern-day story, they seemed to be resolved rather quickly and almost nonchalantly.

While I haven't read any of Eliza Knight's other works. I think she can weave a story. Perhaps she just wasn't given a chance with Lucy's story.