#BlogTour ‘The Mayfair Bookshop’ by Eliza Knight

About the book…

1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.

Present Day: When book curator Lucy St. Clair lands a gig working at Heywood Hill she can’t get on the plane fast enough. Not only can she start the healing process from the loss of her mother, it’s a dream come true to set foot in the legendary store. Doubly exciting: 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—a place that changes the lives of two women from different eras in the most surprising ways.

My thanks as always to the wonderful Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invite to read ‘The Mayfair Bookshop’ by Eliza Knight, and publishers Harper Collins for my gifted review copy.

I previously only had the most tangible awareness of who the Mitfords were, as a part of ‘The Bright Young Things’ group of privileged members of the aristocracy prior to reading this book.

However, privilege does not always confer benefits which one would assume comes with it, and it makes it starlting and revelatory to read about Nancy Mitford’s mother raising chickens and selling eggs to make ends meet and constantly worrying about making ends meet.

Nancy was one of 6 sisters and 1 brother, a large and rambunctious family that used their own idioms to create a sense of belonging and intimacy-it could have come across as exclusionary but the more I read, the closer I felt when recognising who was whom.

A writer, most famous for her novel ‘The Pursuit Of Love’ , her life was anything but calm as she navigates the between war years, her sisters fascist leanings, her unfaithful husband and her own pursuit of happiness and a lasting love that transcends anything she could write.

Her life and letters are being combed through by modern day book lover, Lucy, who is in secondment to the Heywood Hill bookshop, much beloved by Nancy, on a mission to build a literary library for an American client. She also has a vested interest as she is tangentially linked to the Mitfords and is keen to discover who the mysterious ‘Iris’ is, to whom one of her novels contains a handwritten dedication. Given the numerous friends and relations of the Mitfords, all with their individual nicknames, it is a literary mystery which unravels as Lucy visits Chatsworth house, reads Nancy’s letters, and embarks on a pursuit of her own.

A seamless mix of literary fact and fiction, this is a book which beguiles, intrigues, leaves you with a need to read Nancy’s books for yourself, and an admiration for this in dominatable spirit which did not give up in the face of almost insurmountable odds. I found myself saddened at the book’s conclusion, completely loving the recommended reading and author notes which added such richness to the text, and look forward to reading Nancy in her own words.

This is a book for book lovers, book shop lovers, literary lovers and those who love a great story, well told

About the author…

Eliza Knight is an award winning, USA Today and international bestselling author. Her love of history began as a young girl when she traipsed the halls of Versailles and ran through the fields in Southern France. She can still remember standing before the great golden palace, and imagining what life must have been like. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, her weekends were filled with visits to museums, and historical reenactments. Join Eliza (sometimes as E.) on riveting historical journeys that cross landscapes around the world.

While not reading, writing or researching for her latest book, she tries to keep up with her three not-so-little children. In her spare time (if there is such a thing…) she likes daydreaming, wine-tasting, traveling, hiking, staring at the stars, watching movies, shopping and visiting with family and friends. She lives atop a small mountain with her own knight in shining armor, three princesses, two very naughty Newfies, and a turtle named Fish.

Twitter @elizaknight @RandomTTours @Harper360UK

Links-http://www.elizaknight.com/