The Secret Book of Flora Lea

The five people gather in the garden. Hazel tries to find out where Peggy’s mother learned the Whisperwood story. Peggy becomes defensive of her work, and Hazel assures her she’s only looking for the truth. Peggy’s mother suddenly arrives, having followed them to London. She received the letter Hazel sent to Peggy’s publisher, then learned of their whereabouts from Wren’s mother. Peggy learns that her mother sold the priceless book and illustrations that Hazel stole. Hazel’s mother appeals to Peggy’s mother to help find her lost daughter. Peggy’s mother admits that she heard the story from her sister Maria, who heard it from a motherless girl she cared for in Newcastle. Hazel’s mother encourages Hazel to bring this new information to Dorothy Bellamy. Hazel is reluctant but recognizes that the journalist may be able to help. She calls Dorothy and makes an appointment to meet at a pub in Binsey.

Hazel waits for Dorothy and considers all she has risked to find Flora. Dorothy arrives and introduces herself as Dot, noting that the pub is familiar to her. Hazel finds Dorothy disconcertingly familiar. When Dot removes her coat, Hazel sees Flora’s distinctive birthmark. She recites the opening to her story, which Dot instinctually completes. Hazel tells Dot she’s the lost child they’ve both been searching for in their own ways. Dot is hesitant but recognizes Hazel; she has a sudden influx of memories of two different lives. She remembers falling in the river and becomes overwhelmed with her identity.

Hazel frantically invites her mother to come join them, then returns to Dot. They discuss their shared past and the Whisperwood book that arrived at Hazel’s shop. Dot mentions her Aunt Imogene, and Hazel realizes Imogene is the one who took Flora away. Hazel’s mother arrives and warmly embraces Dot, but Dot doesn’t remember her. Dot asks for time to talk to Imogene and understand what happened.

Peggy and Wren walk together late at night, after an evening of music and dancing. Peggy considers the love for him she’s felt all her life and how they have been brought together by a story. At their hotel, Peggy received a message from Hazel saying they found Flora because of her. Peggy comments that it happened very quickly and wonders if the journalist turned out to be Hazel’s sister. She thinks about the new haircut she got that morning and how much her mother will dislike it. When they reach the hotel, they find Peggy’s mother sitting in the lobby waiting up for her. Unexpectedly, she compliments Peggy’s hair. She makes amends with Wren and asks if she can spend the night with Peggy. Peggy confesses she’s sleeping in Wren’s room, so her mother books a room of her own. She tells her mother that Flora has been found.

Hazel frantically invites her mother to come join them, then returns to Dot. They discuss their shared past and the Whisperwood book that arrived at Hazel’s shop. Dot mentions her Aunt Imogene, and Hazel realizes Imogene is the one who took Flora away. Hazel’s mother arrives and warmly embraces Dot, but Dot doesn’t remember her. Dot asks for time to talk to Imogene and understand what happened.

Hazel tells Kelty the news, and they discuss Imogene’s treachery. After they hang up, Barnaby arrives at Hazel’s apartment, exhibiting clear signs of a difficult night. He is angry at Hazel’s abandonment, though he expresses joy and wonder at her news. They agree to talk after Barnaby has a much-needed shower. While he’s away, Hazel receives a phone call from Lord Dickinson, who confirms her job offer. Hazel shocks him by declining. Barnaby returns, and they discuss Hazel’s confusion about what she wants from life: freedom and truth. She tries to tell him about how she shut her feelings away after her desire for Harry sacrificed Flora. Now, she is afraid of feeling too deeply. She plans to call Aiden and turn in Imogene, then decide between Barnaby and Harry.

Hazel accompanies Aiden to Imogene’s house. Dot answers the door, saying that Imogene went to visit Iris before facing conviction. While they wait for Imogene to return, Hazel and Dot visit each other. Dot reflects on her interviews of children affected by the evacuation. Eventually, Aiden goes to Iris’s house and discovers that Imogene has run away. However, she shortly returns to confess how she saved Flora from the river. Imogene’s sister had recently lost a child to illness, and Imogene gave her Flora as a replacement. While Aiden arrests Imogene, Imogene tells Hazel that she was hiding in the church; Hazel remembers hearing her cry when she made her vow and thinking it was an owl. After Aiden and Imogene leave, Dot struggles with her guilt over her aunt’s arrest. She argues that she was taken out of love. Hazel convinces her to come see Bridie.

Bridie greets Hazel and Dot, recognizing Flora right away. Harry arrives, and Dot introduces herself as a reporter from Vanity Fair; Harry doesn’t initially recognize Flora but does shortly after. Harry reveals he came because his mother called him to come earlier that morning. Dot thinks about her two different families, including her husband and child; she hasn’t told them about her new discovery. As she visits with Bridie and Harry, she sees the remains of a bonfire in the field; the fire reminds her of the day she was taken away. Someone was calling her name, and she went to the river. When the voice called again, Flora slipped and fell in. Dot realizes that Imogene was watching her when Hazel and Harry went away. She reconsiders everything she thought she knew. Hazel realizes that losing Flora wasn’t her fault after all. Dot recounts how Imogene drugged her and lured her away. They go inside for tea, and Hazel thinks about how close Flora was for so long. Dot reflects on how their shared story brought them back together. After she goes home, Harry and Hazel talk about the miracle they’ve discovered and about what to do next. Hazel prepares to go home and thinks about the choice she needs to make.

While her family is sleeping, Dot types up her own story. Recently, she visited with a psychologist who specializes in childhood trauma and is working on getting her memories back. She went back to Binsey alone to explore the area and visited Frideswide’s well, now called St. Margaret’s well. Dot types up her story as the River Child on the day she was taken; it ends with her knowing that because she disobeyed Hazel and tried to become the river, she can never go home.

Hazel, Dot, and their mother spend their days trying to fill in the gaps in Dot’s memory. Hazel keeps her distance from Barnaby while she decides what to do. She is convinced she loves both men. Using her Virginia Woolf pen, Hazel begins to write down her stories. Later that day, Hazel goes to her previous bookshop to ask for her job back. She interrupts an interview but tells the interviewee that there’s an opening at Sotheby’s. Edwin is happy to have Hazel come back. She begins work, and soon Edwin receives a phone call from Pauline Baynes, the Whisperwood illustrator: She has heard the story and wants to donate several new illustrations to Hazel’s edition. Toward the end of her shift, Harry arrives, looking for Hazel. Hazel realizes she has always loved him above all else.

It is 1962, and Hazel and Harry are married. They live in the St. Ives artists’ colony and are expecting their first child. Together they run a gallery and bookshop where Hazel is debuting her memoir. Edwin has recently passed away, but Kelty and Midge are in attendance. Hazel’s mother and her London family also arrive, along with Peggy, Wren, Bridie, and other friends. Together, they celebrate Whisperwood and the storytelling tradition.