This was mostly fine. (Until it wasn't.) The dual timeline worked well, and I didn’t come close to guessing what happened to Flora. The cover is beautiful. It involves valuable books and a bookshop.

However, the story is way too long, and it reads like a book set in England but written by an American. Hazel was fairly annoying, and I HATED the ending. Hated. Knocked a full star off my review. Not the mystery of Flora, but Hazel's romantic decisions.

Spoiler

Hazel and Harry were children, OMG. I could not believe the author had Hazel choose Harry over Barnaby and I did not for one minute believe they would live happily ever after. I could hardly finish the book after that. The choice of a child, not a healthy adult woman.

I seriously would not recommend this book to anyone based on that alone.

I love Oxford and found the Oxford location of interest. Points for mentioning Tolkien and Alice.